First Pics

Realized today that I never posted our new baby boy's u/s pics. So, here they are :) In the third one, he's got one fist in front of his nose and the other is rubbing his eye.

Let it snow!

We got the most snowfall we've had since we moved here yesterday. We ended up with about 6 inches. It was/is beautiful...as long as you weren't out driving in it. It's crazy that 6 inches of snow could shut down an entire NE part of the state. The interstates were shut down due to overturned tractor trailers and the side roads didn't get cleared. It took Mike almost 7 hours to get home from work last night. He left early at 5:30 and walked in the door at 12:30. Dad left the shop at 4:30 and after only making it 2 miles in 2 hours, he gave up and walked the mile to our house where he spent the night. Unfortunately he didn't have his anti rejection meds with him so he missed his 7pm dose and was 2 hours late on the 7am one. It took mom 5.5 hours to go from Johnson City to within a mile of their house. At that point, the van was stuck and she walked the rest of the way. What a mess! On a good note, the boys have had a blast today. The have been outside pretty much all day sledding and playing in the snow. Even Noah was anxious to get out there. He brought me his jacket and hat first thing this am. Unfortunately Mike had to head back to work this morning for a 24. It's so pretty out though. Just wish it would stay for Christmas!

So Sweet

This evening, Liam came up and rubbed my belly. He asked where the baby was exactly. I showed him and told him I had felt the baby moving a few minutes earlier. He grinned, rubbed my belly again and then said, "Mommy, I love the baby!". My heart melted!

Too long

It has been way too long since I've updated. This will be a hodge podge of things
I've been meaning to write. Life is good here. The boys finished up their fall sports. Connor's team tried hard but unfortunately never did win a game. The problem was that they had to combine the JV and varsity this year so they had kindergartners who had never played on the same team as 3rd graders with 2 or 3 years experience. Connor's team had mainly new players. Connor was quarterback and his coaches were really impressed with him. He takes it seriously and gives it his all. He scored a touchdown at almost every game and was always a leader in the flag grabbing department :) Landon did awesome at soccer. His coach called him their star player :) Soccer just seems to come naturally to him. During one game, he scored 7 goals. Landon will start basketball in January. The boys got their report cards last week. Connor got straight A's and Landon did great too. He brought one C up to an A and another B up to an A. All in all 3 A's, 2 B's and a C in handwriting. He takes after his dad in that department! We are very proud of both of them.
Liam is doing great. He is so smart! He writes his first name and is working on his last name. He loves to draw and practice his letters. He is always "reading" to Noah. He is always the first to volunteer and answer during circle time at the preschool. He is still very shy though and pretty much refuses to talk to people. He LOVES music and is always singing.
Noah is growing fast. He is very strong willed and independent. He can through a major fit when he doesn't get his way. He loves to make people laugh though. His favorite word is "look". He'll put a basket over his head and run through the house yelling "mommy, look!". He also LOVES to eat and is always getting into the cabinets. He uses the step stool to get up on the counters and get food. I'm always catching him with a slice of bread out of the bag. He'll eat just about anything!
Mike is doing good. School is going well. He only has a few more weeks in this semester. He has started working part time at Indian Path in the ER. It's a blessing because since it's still for Mountain States (same as WINGS), the time he puts in there is overtime. He still wants to keep working at leats one day a month at Bristol as well.
I'm feeling good. Tired but good. I started feeling the baby move this week. It's so neat! After some lab mix ups, all my tests have come back good. I failed the one hour glucose test but passed the 3 hour. I had cut down on my cards a few days before the one hour and then flound out later that you shouldn't do that. It can cause a false positive. At least I know for the next test! Landon told me the other day that we'll know if the baby is a girl if at the ultrasound, it has a lot of hair. According to him, girls have a lot more than boys. We'll see if his theory holds true :) Still working at the preschool. Unfortunately, our old boss moved and we have a new one. It is just not the same and the atmosphere has changed. They have also changed the policy as to when babies can start so instead of me starting back in October, I will now have to take the full year off. It will be wonderful to home with the kids full time but it will be a struggle financially. I do still have my part time job with Chad so that's good. I'm also going to get back into candle making. We are just trusting that God will provide as He always has. Mike getting in at Indian Path is evidence of that! So, all is well at the Burton's! Crazy but good :)
I'm really going to try and do better about posting. I know I'm going to forget things if I don't do better.

Here We Grow Again!

I am so excited to officially announce baby #5 is on the way! It has been a hard secret to keep but we wanted to wait until we had the utrasound. Well, we went last Friday and we saw a a heartbeat! The heart rate was 150 and baby measured right on target at 7 weeks 1 day. I was so nervous that morning, I was sick to my stomach. When I saw that tiny heart beating, I just started crying. I was so relived! Liam and Noah were with us and Liam thought it was so neat to see the baby. When the boys got home from school, we showed them the pictures and told Landon( we had told Connor a few days before). He was excited and immediately said, "I hope it's a girl baby!". We explained that that was up to God and we would be happy with whatever God gave us. He said he's going to pray and ask for it to be a girl. It's hard for me to imagine having a girl although it would be great. I don't think I would believe it even if they could tell on ultrasound. Not until I was holding the baby and could see for myself! I am just excited to be adding to our family! It's been a rough couple of weeks though. I have been non stop nauseous. Our poor house is a wreck. I just keep telling myself it will get better and as yucky as I feel, I'm okay because I know the baby is okay!

Cute Question and Soccer Star

I've been meaning to post this for a while. The other day, Liam and i were watching tv and there was a commercial for press on nails. A minute later he turned to me as asked "mommy, who made our claws?". I said "What claws?". He held up his fingers and pointed to his nails and said "these!". I tried not to laugh and told him "God made them". He said ok and went back to paying with his blocks. It was so cute! On another note, Landon had his first soccer game today. He was so excited and scored 4 goals! I was so proud :) I'm looking forward to Mike getting to see him play. Liam was supposed to be playing as well but the first day of practice he had a melt down, started crying and refused to go onto the field. So, no soccer for Liam this season! Connor is playing flag football. He's been looking forward to it since the end of last season. He has his first practice this Tuesday. I think he'll be practicing Tues and Thurs, Landon practices Thurs and they both play on Saturdays. Let the fun begin!

Back to School

Today was the first day back at school for Connor and Landon. They were so excited. Connor set his spiderman alarm but they were up before it even went off at 7:00. They were dressed and has eaten cereal all by 7:15. I was planning on taking them to school but we watched for the bus anyway to see what tie it came since the school start and end times as well as the bus route has changed. We were pleasantly surprised that the bus came later this year, at 7:45. We all piled into the van soon after and headed off. It was crazy of course. Parking is not the best at the school. We pared at the church across the street and unloaded. I felt like a mother duck leading her ducklings across the street :) Connor got dropped off first. His teacher already knew him and greeted him by name. He put his bag in a cubby and went right over to his desk with barely a goodbye for me. His teacher is Ms. Bragg and she seems really nice. Next we made the long trek to the first grade wing. Landon's teacher is Ms. Burdine. Unfortunately, she didn't seem as warm or friendly as Connor's teacher. She told Landon good morning and where to sit and then asked me the basic first day info. Then she turned away. Hopefully, I'm wrong because Landon needs a warm teacher. In fact, when I walked over to tell him goodbye, he was tearing up. I kissed him and told him to have a great day and there went the arm in front of the face. I could tell he was trying so hard not to cry but wasn't succeeding. It broke my heart. I'm praying he does okay. He is so sensitive. It's a half day today so they'll be home for lunch. I'm anxious to hear how the day went for them. Tomorrow, I start back and Liam is in my class. Praying that goes well also. I'm just afraid he'll get whiny with me. I'm ready to get back on a schedule though. The summer has been nice but I think we are all ready to back into the swing of things.

Miss Understanding

We had a guy coming over today to tint the fixed glass windows in the living room so we had to cancel plans for the splash pad and hang out at home. My friend Lori offered to come over and hang out with us. We were upstairs while all the kids played in the basement. The kids had come up and I told them that they needed to clean up the toys downstairs. I said that they could keep the blocks out but they needed to put the miscellaneous toys away. Liam came over and asked "Who's Miss Laney?". I said "What?". He asked "Which toys are Miss Laney's?". It then dawned on me he had misunderstood what I had said. I just had to laugh as I tried to explain what miscellaneous meant.

21st Century Boy

I was doing the hokey pokey with Liam today and he was really getting into it. We were on our left arm when Liam suddenly stopped and said, "Mommy, pause the game, I have to go potty" and ran to the bathroom. It was SO funny! He came back and said "okay, start it". I love it when my kids make me laugh :)

Happy Birthday America!

We celebrated the 4th of July yesterday. Mike had to work but my parents went with me and the boys to a cookout/ pool party at Bryan and Lori's. The boys had a blast swimming but it was a litle too cold for me. Too bad since I was looking forward to swimming. We had some good food and a relaxing time. The kids got to do sparklers and Bryan set off some small fireworks. The smaller kids were leery but Noah laughed and clapped when one went off. He has NO fear.From there, we went straight to the fireworks. They actually started a few minutes early and did a good show. Noah was more excited about playing with the steering wheel and making the vanity light on the visor come on than about the fireworks. Landon and Noah were both out before we got home. Landon never did wake up and slept on the couch. Noah woke up for a minute but went right back to sleep...sand covered. I didnt have the heart to wash him off before bed. Connor and Liam didn't last too long and thankfully they all slept in. Connor didn't get up until 9:00. Hopefully, Mike will be able to be with us next year.

Take Me Out To The Ballgame!

Our church had "Crossroads" night at the ball field in Johnson City this past Sunday night so we decided to take the boys. Before the game, the church had a cookout with free hotdogs, chips, amd drinks. We enjoyed the picnic and then headed up to the bleachers which thankfully were covered since the sky was looking pretty dark. The kids were excited, at least for the first 30 minutes. Connor did great and Landon did okay but Liam and Noah were VERY restless. Liam did entertain himself for while by flirting with the little girl behind us :) Noah went back and forth between Mike and I and then decided it was fun to crawl around on the ground. Whatever kept him entertained! The clouds burst in the 2nd inning and the covered bleachers came in handy. No lightening though so the game went on. They had a dance contest at one point and the winner got a free pizza. I tried to get Connor to dance but he wouldn't go for it. We made it through the 6th inning and then headed home. Next time, it may be just me, Mike and Connor.

Wear them out!

The boys had vbs again this morning. While they were there, Mike and I went to Lowes to browse. Our carpet has not fared well with the 4 boys and pets and is covered in stains. We are regretting not putting hardwood in. We looked at the wood floors but they are so expensive! We want something rustic loking to fit with the house but the cheapest thing we found that would go was almost $7 a square foot. Some were $13 a square foot! My creative hubby is contemplating using pine planks (1x6's I think) to create our own unique floor. We would just have to sand them down really well and then stain them. We may even find the old fashioned looking nails to nial them down. I figured we could distress them as much or as little an we want. Not something we can do just yet but it would only be $1.60 a sq foot. MUCH cheaper. I'm also trying to talk him into building us a new dining table. I'd like a square one. We'll see. Noah entertained us in the store by making silly faces and giving out tons of hugs and kisses. He has started giving real hugs, unsolicited. Then he'll pucker his lips and make a smacking sound to let you know he wants to give you a kiss. So sweet! After Lowes, Mike and I enjoyed lunch with Noah at Chick-fil-a before picking up the boys. After a quick lunch, our neighbor picked up Connor and Landon and took them the the pool. They were so excited. I am too! I'm hoping that they will be nice and worn out and will go to bed a little early tonight!

They Learn Early

I kept meaning to post this story about Liam. Mike had him and Noah in the tub a few weeks ago and Liam was washing himself. He was singing as he did it and then stopped when he got to his groin area. He felt his scrotum and then looked up at Mike with a surprised look. He then said, "Daddy, my peepee has a brain!". Mike laughed and replied, "It sure does bud, just didn't think you'd realize it this early!".

Slacker

I have SO been slacking on this blog. I'm sitting outside watching the boys play so I figured it would be a good time to do a quick check in. We are still recuperating from our long drive home from Wisconsin. The older boys did really well for the most part but Noah had a rough time. He didn't sleep very much and did not like being confined to his car seat. I know car seats are a must but I have to say I missed the days where kids could stretch out and move around the back seat. I remember making a pallet of pillows and blankets in the floor board and napping there. Mike says he remembers laying up in the back window. Amazing we're still alive! But then again, that was before dvd players so I guess we did what we had to do to get through a long ride. The trip was so worth it though. We had a great time in WI. It was so relaxing and great to be with family. It makes me sad that we can't see them more often, especially for thr boys. They loved being surrounded by doting grandparents, aunts and uncles and incredible cousins :) It was also great to have some time for Mike and I to be together, something we don't get much of here. Although I'm hoping Grammy and Papa will have them over when they get back from FL ;) For now, it's back to the day to day stuff. Mike has been gone every day since we got home. He did luck out and get to come home early yesterday (2:30 instead of 8:30). So at least the boys got to spend Father's Day with him. He works so hard and I am so proud of him! He's off on Wednesday so I'm looking forward to that.
The boys are staying busy. They are going to VBS this week each morning from 9:30-12:15. They LOVE it and it gives me a chance to run errands or clean house. We were planning a trip to FL but with my recent pay cut I don't think it will happen. Plus, the only tie we could go with Mike's school is this Friday to next Wednesday and I don't we have the energy to go on another road trip so soon. I feel bad because I know Grandma really wants to see the boys but I just don't thinkit will happen this summer. It's hard with the boys being in school. Maybe we'll be able to go down for a few days at Christmas break. Time will tell I guess!

The Most Important Decision

I was helping the boys get ready for VBS the other evening when Connor started to tell me about a conversation he had at school. He said he told one of his friends that he was a christian. I asked him what made him a christian and she he because he had been baptized. I informed him that he had never been baptized. I then sat him down and explained what it really meant to be a christian. I told him that you had to believe that Jesus was God's son and that he died for our sins. Connor said "I believe that." I talked to him a little more and then told him to think about everything and when he was ready he could come to me and I would pray with him. About 5 minutes later, he told me he was ready. I prayed with him and then of course started crying. I was so proud! He asked me more about baptism and I told him that was the next step. He's a little nervous about that so I told him we can hold off and talk about it later. About 20 minutes later, Landon came up and told me he wanted to accept Christ (he had been listening when I talked to Connor). I asked him some questions to make sure he understood and then I prayed with him. I was a huge honor! I am so pround of both of them. I told them it was the boggest decision they would ever make. They were excited and told Mike the minute he walked in the door the next morning. Part of me worries though about them REALLY understanding everything. I know it's really on ongoing thing though. As they get older, we will have to teach them biblical principles and help them to make the right choices. I am just so glad that they know God. I know there have been times in m life that I honestly don't think I would have gotten through with out my faith and God. I want my boys to have that same relationship and I'm ecstatic that they have laid the foundation!

Messy Mommy Moment

I had a gift card to Riverfront Seafood so Mike and I went for lunch with Liam and Noah. Halfway through lunch Noah start fussing a little and grunting. Then he did the sign for "change". We figured we could wait a few more minutes and then just take him to the van to change. Well, 10 minutes later the waitress came with the check and said " uh oh mom". I said "yeah, he was grunting". she said "no, it leaked out". I pulled his high chair over and was mortified. He had had a blow out that had exploded into the high chair! So here I am in the middle of a crowded restaurant trying to discreetly use baby wipes to wipe the poo out of the high chair and off his leg. I finally got him out and practically ran out of the restaurant hoping no one would see or smell my poo covered baby and lose their lunch! It took every wipe I had to clean him up. He of course thought the whole thing was hilarious and was happy as could be. Ahh, the joys of parenthood! On a side note, he has now started signing "change" and bringing us a diaper every time he poops. So, I'm hoping he'll be as easy to potty train as the others were!

Poor Baby

We had a great time at our friends' house yesterday swimming and cooking out. Unfortunately, Liam woke up sick this morning. He has thrown up twice and is just feeling blah. He doesn't have a fever or anything else, just an upset tummy. Poor thing. I feel so bad for them when they are sick. Hopefully, it doesn't last long and no one else gets it. So, we are just taking it easy today. Did some thorough cleaning and organizing. The weather is nice so at least the other boys can play outside.

DVDs and an AWESOME surprise

Jenn and I had been taking pics of the kids in our class all year long. Last week, I started sorting through them to make a dvd for each child. We had close to 800 pictures! It took a long time to sort each child's pictures. It took even longer to burn all 16 dvds but it was so worth it. Watching their pictures set to music was so sweet. I cried just making them! I was working on them Monday night when there was a knock at the door. It was our friend Areli (she and her husband bought our old house in rock Springs and also ended up in our church small group). She said she had a surprise for me. She had been looking for wax paper and in the process had removed a drawer to see if it had fallen behind it. There, she found an envelope with my name on it. Inside was $112 cash!! I couldn't believe it! God is good!! I was SO thankful!! She made my week! We had already gotten a nice surprise from them a week ago. Jonathan showed up one evening with a beautiful sofa type log table and bench he had made from one of the trees he had cut down. They are moving and thought we might like it. It fits the house perfectly and we love it! Their thoughtfullness is such a blessing to us! The boys think the bench is so cool and love to sit on it. As for the dvd's, we handed them out Tuesday and I'm anxious to see how the parents liked them. Tomorrow is our last day so we'll see. I really love working at the preschool but I'm ready for the summer break!

It's Been Awhile

I've been slacking on my posts again. Ever day I remind myself to check in but something always comes up. So I'm going to play catch up. Mother's Day was a couple of weeks ago. Mike was off for it the first time in 3 years so that was great! He picked up doughnuts on his way home from work and had the boys bring them in to me along with a sweet card and a silver charm bracelet with four charms, each one a picture of one of the boys. It is beautiful and I've gotten a ton of compliments on it. We went to church and enjoyed a great sermon and then went o to lunch at Garfields with mom and dad. We spent the rest of the day enjoying the beautiful weather. The following week went smoothly. Monday was MOPS and I had a good time as usual. A new mom with twin 6 month old boys came. Tuesday and Thursday went smoothly at work. Thursday was teacher appreciation day. I got some really nice and sweet gifts like a handpainted mug (the little boy was so proud and kept telling me "I used special paint so it won't come off in the dishwasher!". I also got flowers, a Pals giftcard, baked goods, a personalized can coozie, a couple other gift cards, including a $50 gift card to River Front Seafood!
Friday I took the boys to see my friend Jenn's son graduate to his next belt in karate. They thought it was neat. I let the boys stay up lateer hoping they would sleep in. Ha! they were all up by 6:55. Mike got home at 7:45 and told me there was yard sale down the road. I went and found some really good bargains. They had really big jar candles from Longaberger for $1, brand new tote bags for 25 cents, a huge bottle 3/4full of Sunflowers perfume for 10 cents and the big splurge, a treadmill for $40. Mike had just told me the night before that they had finally gotten word at work that they are going to be getting new quarters. They will no longer be stuck in the closet sized, windowless space they have now. They will have a large living area, a shower, and windows with a garage door they can open to go outside and grill. They will finally have room for some exercise equipment. I thought about having him take the treadmill but instead, we're keeping it and he's taking our old elipitcal machine. Lori has also given us her old one for him to take. After the yard sale, Jenn and I drove down to Pigeon Forge to shop the outlets. We found a really neat store we had never been in before called the Beehive. Very cool stuff. eerything from purses and jewlery to furniture. We had a nice time and got some good deals. Mom kept the older boys Saturday night so Mike and I decided to use the giftcard I got to go to dinner. Jenn offered to keep Noah so it could be just Mike and I :) On the way to the resturaunt, mom called upset and said she was in Johnson City and had locked her keys in the car. Dad was at the house with the boys and nocar seats. Unfortunately , we were just pulling into the parking lot of the resturaunt, with reserations 30 minutes away. I told her we were no at all comfortable with dad driving them without the carseats. I called dad and he said, "they're watching Spongebob. they'll be fine while I go get you mom." WHAT???????? I told him NO WAY!! Mom was mad at him for even suggesting it. In the end, they stayed with mom's neighbor while dad ran to unlock the van. I didn't relax until mom called to say she was home. The food was good though and we had a nice time. Sunday we went to church and the sermon was great. I feel so good about the decision to switch churches. Crossroads is feeling like a really good fit. After church, we drove to Greenille for the Iris Festival. It was sad. I think we were there a total of 45 minutes. Oh well. We came home and relaxed the rest fo the day. Busy, fun weekend!

Kid's Expo

They had a Kid's Expo at the fairgrounds in gray today. I met mom and dad there with the boys. Thankfully, the rain held off. They had a lot for the boys to do. there were a lot of exhibits set up; everything from Bays Mountain to health and safety exhibits. Every booth was giving out candy or trinkets and many had games or crafts for the kids. The had an obstacle course set up that they could go through that simulated the way the heart works. They even had an area that was giving out new, free Carter's brand clothes. One item per child. I got a pj set for Liam, shirts for Landon and Noah and a pair of denim cargo shorts for Connor. They had food for sale and it was surprisingly inexpensive. The boys and I ate for $5.25. We all had a good time and enjoyed being ablr to be outside for a change. It has been raining and storming her for over a week. there were even a couple of tonadoes sighted last night. One was within a mile of mom and dad's. Connor and Landon went to the farm with mom for a while when we were done and I took Noah and Liam home for a nap. Unfortunately, they were short ones so no nap for me. Now, the older boys are on their way home and I'm getting ready to cook some hamburger for nachos. The boys love them. Hopefuly, after such a busy day, they will go to bed a little early so I can as well :) I rented "Bride Wars" and hope to stay awake to watch it!

Moooooommmmyyyyyyy!

I've heard that yelled a lot this afternoon. Connor and Landon have been at each other ever since they walked in the door from school today. They were taking turns with the wii and Landon apparently laughed when Connor's car went off the road during mariokart. Connor got upset and told Landon he didn't like him. I broke in and got on to Connor for saying hurtful things. Then I talked to Landon about laughing at people. He said, "I wasn't laughing at him, I was just thinking about a joke a friend told me." So I asked him what the joke was and lo and behold, he couldn't remember. I made them hug and tell each other they were sorry. Two minutes later, Landon said something mean to Connor. Connor said, "Landon, you hurt my feelings!". Liam then chimed in with "Landon, you hurt my heart!". That led into a discussion about how if you hurt someone's heart, they have to go to the hospital. We had 5 minutes of peace and then Connor said something Landon didn't like and he retaliated by yelling "mommy, Connor has a flower for you but he hid it in the basement!". Connor preceded to bust into tears because Landon ruined his mother's day surprise. Landon got a swat on the behind for that one and I had a talk about how words can hurt and you can't take them back. He then spent the next 20 minutes in his room. Connor, Liam and Noah were getting along fine so I went to the bedroom to fold laundry. A few minutes later, Landon joined them. Almost immediately, the fighting started back up. I heard some yelling and then a lound thump. Landon started crying/screaming and yelled "I can't feel my legs!!! I'm telling!!!" Can anyone say "drama king"??? About that time, Noah starts screaming and I see why as Liam comes around the corner dragging Noah by his legs. AAAHHHHH, calgon take me away!!! Thankfully, apologies have been made and hugs given out and all is fairly quiet now as they all have a snack (food does wonders!). How long until bedtime????

New Van

Well, I finally talked Mike into getting a 12 passenger van. Our mini van which supposedly seats 7 was just getting too tight. I was tired of never being able to have anyone ride with us and being completely squashed on trips. It's nothing fancy but it's newer (still under warranty!) and we have plenty of room to spread out, not to mention there's plenty of room for any future baby Burtons! Move over Jon and Kate, here come the Burtons! Just kidding, Mike would die if he read that! I haven't attempted any drive throughs yet and that scares me but I'll get used to it. The boys think it's cool because it's so big :) Mike likes the idea that it has a steel truck frame and is sturdy and safe. For a moment I worried about looking dorky driving it but as my friend Kristen said, we won't look like dorks, just like a family that loves kids!

Bond Between Brothers

I was watching Liam with Noah last night and I am so proud of the bond they have. Connor and Landon are really close but Liam just ADORES Noah. He wants to be at his side all day long. Noah is old enough now to "play" with him and it is so cute to watch. They chase each other around the living room and Liam will give Noah rides on a blanket by pulling it around the house. Noah just laughs and laughs. Liam loves to help with Noah as well. He'll get Noah's cup and fill it with water if he notices it is empty and never hesitates to share his snacks with Noah without even being asked. Of course he can be a little too helpful at times. He tends to get in Noah's face a lot which can irritate Noah but I try to remember it's because he just wants to be with him all the time. Noah's middle name is Matthew which means "blessing from God" and it is so true. God knew what he was doing when he gave us Noah. He not only blessed us with a perfect son but he also blessed Liam with a best friend.

Ewomens conference

I went to the Extraordinary Women's Conference this past weekend. It was really good. I even got to stay the night in Johnson City Friday with my friend Lori :) It was fun to have a slumber party :) I missed my boys though! The conference had some great speakers, one of whom was Karen Kingsbury, one of my favorite authors! I got to meet her and get her autograph and I have to say she is is so nice and genuine. She was also a great speaker. She read her children's book "Let Me Hold You Longer" from the stage and had everyone crying. I got the book years ago and have never been able to read it without crying. Charles Billingsly led the music and boy does he have an a,mazing voice! Matthew West did a mini concert that was awesome. Chonda Pierce spoke as well and she is hilarious! I had a great time but was ready to get back to my boys Saturday afternoon. Unfortunately, I came home to a sick child. Landon had a fever and a belly ache. Thankfully, it was short lived and he is fine now. I am so thankful I have a husband who encourages me to take time for myself. He even made dinner Saturday night :) I'm including a coupke of pics from the conference.

Field Trip

Today I got to go on my first field trip with Connor. We went to a local farm first. It was set up really nice with many different stations that explained many different elements of the farm. They had a station about turning trees into paper, growing plants, sheering sheep, modern dairy farms, and many others. They even got ice cream sandwiches at the end :) There was one scary moment at the beginning when one of the little girls went over to the teacher, said she didn't feel good and proceeded to collapse on the ground. I don't think she actually fainted but she was awfully close. She was really pale and clammy. We put cool rags on her neck and got her some water while the teacher called her parents. Thankfully, sitting in a truck with the a/c and a nice cold popsicle, she perked up. Looks like she may have been dealing with ow blood sugar. Her mom arrived a little while later and though she was pretty much back to normal, decided to take her home. After the farm, we headed to Appalachian caverns. After a picnic lunch we headed down into the cave. It was really neat and interesting. The difference in temperature was crazy. You could feel it getting colder with every step you took. The tour guide showed us something called moon milk on the cave wall. While it is usually on the soft side, the patch we saw had basically died and had turned into stone.He said it is made of mostly the same thing as TUMS and that if you have heartburn, you could just lick it and it would instantly cure it (when it's still soft). He said he had tried it and it really does work. Apparently the indians used to use it. It made me wonder though, who the first person was who thought, "let me lick this substance on the cave wall and see what happens". We also got to see a couple of bats, which thrilled the kids. Connor took some pictures so I'll get them uploaded soon. He was thrilled to have a camera to take pics all byt himeself. I think he inherited my love of photography! It was a really nice trip and I'm so glad I was able to go!

Sitting By the Fire

Spring was definitely in the air yesterday. The weather was PERFECT. Mid 70's with a nice breeze, not a cloud in the sky. It was one of those days that just makes you smile. I had a planning meeting at work in the morning and we ordered pizza. Great start! Not long after I got home, the landscaper next door delivered the sod we had ordered. We spent the afternoon laying that and enjoying the beautiful day. The sod looks so good! It's so nice to have grass. I just wish we had ordered more so we could have done all the bare spots. Connor and Landon got home just as we finished. They helped us straighten up the back patio and then we headed in. The boys had had a walk a thon at school and they were worn out. Connor walked 13 laps (3 1/2 miles) in an hour and Landon walked 6 laps(1 1/4miles) in 30 minutes. They're trying to raise money for new smart boards in the classrooms. They did really good. Anyone who raises $100 gets entered into a drawing for a 52" plasma tv. That would be nice! While I was making dinner, Jenn called and asked if she could bring the kids over for an hour while she ran an errand. So, while the kids played, I got dinner finished and then we ate out on the deck. When we finished, Mike made a fire in the fire pit (that we had yet to use) and we roasted marshmallow and made smores. The kids had a blast. Tristen and Trinity had never had them before so they really enjoyed it. Noah especially enjoyed sharing everyone's smores :) Truly a wondeful day and night!

A few pics :)

Just wanted to post a few new pics of the boys. I finally got one of Noah plugging himself in :)

A little late

I've been meaning to post this for weeks now. A while back, I was able to go hear Candace Cameron speak at a local church. She played DJ on "Full House". It was really neat. She gave her testimony and spoke about her relationship with Christ over the last 10 years. At one point she talked about how she witnessed to Tom Arnold while they were filming a movie together last year. Not only was she a good speaker, but she was beautiful! She looks so much prettier in person than she did on tv. Here are a few pics :)

Busy but fun day!

We had a jam packed day today. This morning, we took the boys (minus Noah who stayed with Jenn) to see "Monsters vs Aliens". It was really cute and the boys really liked it. After that, we went home and planted our garden. We're doing lettuce, tomatoes, carrots, green beans, potatoes, and corn. It's out first go at it so hopefully something will grow! When we were done, we headed out to my friend Jenn's daughter's birthday party at a gymnastics center. The boys had a blast! On our way home, we stopped at McDonald's for dinner. My mom gave each o the boys gift cards so they got to have a kid's meal ( a rare treat since we usually just do the $ menu). We headed home and finished putting up some wire around the garden to keep the many rabbits out. Now we are getting ready for family movie night. We rented "Prince Caspian", the sequel to Narnia. It has been a wonderful day and I'm looking forward to a great night :)

Fevers, real and not so real.

This has been a long week for poor Noah. He started running a fever Easter Sunday. He still had it on Tuesday so he stayed home with Mike. He was a little cranky and had diarrhea a few times. We took him into the doctor on Wednesday and they couldn't find anything. His ears were clear and he tested negative for strep. The doc said, just fluids, tylenol and rest. Thursday, his fever was gone but he woke up with really puffy eyes. Several people said maybe it was allergies. Then Thursday night, he broke out in a rash all over his belly and back. My mom took one look and said it was Roseola. Sure enough, when I looked it up, he had all the symptoms. From the high fever and puffy eyes, to the rash that appeared as soon as the fever broke. Poor little guy was just feeling crummy. Thankfully, he is much better today. Liam had watched us take Noah's temp many times over the week. this morning, he got the thermometer and put it under his armpit. When it beeped, he pulled it out and announced that his "armpit was 20 pounds". Mike said "you've got a problem if your armpit is 20 pounds". It was so cute!

Egg Hunts and Peeps Necklaces

I took the boys to an egg hunt at a local church this morning. They started out with letting them make a necklace out of a marshmallow peep and fruit loops. I made one for Noah, which he promptly ate right off the string. They told them the Easter story and then let them each dye an egg. After that, they had the egg hunt. It was over pretty quickly. They had all the kids come back in and had a lunch of hot dogs and chips. It was nice but Noah was a little cranky. It was past his bedtime and he's got teeth number 10 and 11 coming in so he was ready to go. Connor and Landon wanted to go to the farm with mom and dad while Liam and Noah stayed with me. I told Liam to go lay on my bed and rest while Noah took his nap. Two hours later Liam came out. I asked him if he took a nap. He said "Yes, I took a nap with my eyes open." :) It's been a little chilly and windy today but the sun has come out so I think we're going to head outside. It's days like today that I wish we had a hammock!

Oh be careful little ears what you hear!

Liam loves music and loves singing. He is always walking around the house singing to himself. When we are in the van he always asks us to "Please uppin the radio!". We were on our way to Lowes this morning and as usual, Liam was in the back singing. We have a contemporary christian radio station on 99% of the time and he was singing along to one of the songs. It was the sweetest sound! It hit me just what a huge influence we have on our children. I realized that Liam would be singing along with whatever music we had playing. He is totally dependent on what we expose him to. The old saying"children learn whast they live" is so true. It made me think about what a huge responsibilty we have to our kids. I know the time is coming when Liam will be exposed to things I would rather he wouldn't. I just pray that we raise our kids to be strong enough and wise enought to make the right decsions. For now I will just enjoy listening to my 3 year old sing "There Will Be a Day" in the backseat :)

Nasty Wasps!

Poor Landon got stung by a wasp today. Mike and I were in the basement when he came screaming down the stairs. He was holding the back of his neck and said he hit a bee off his neck. I knew it must have been a wasp since we have seen quite a few outside the back door. The sting was right at the base of his hairline. It was really red and swollen. I mixed up a baking soda paste and put it on the sting. I told him to keep his head down for a minute to let it start to dry.
He started crying and said "But I don't have anything to look at!". I asked him what he meant and he said "All I have to look at is the floor!". I had to laugh. So I helped him lay sideways on the floor so he could watch something other than the floor :) At least we know he's not allergic to wasps now!

Relaxing Day

After we picked the boys up from Jenn's this morning, we came home and packed a picnic lunch. My work was having a family picnic day at the park. We couldn't have asked for a better day! The weather was beautiful and the boys had a blast! It was so nice to get out and enjoy the beautiful weather. We came home and put the younger 2 down for a nap and Mike steam cleaned the floors while I sat out on the deck and finished my book. I'm going to sneak a little laundry in and then we are headed back outside to play :) I'm trying my friend Kristen's recipe for dinner and it sounds so yummy! Tomorrow is supposed to be even nicer weather. My Aunt Jean is stopping by on her way to Ashville to have lunch with us and my parents. I'm looking forward to eating on the deck. What a perfect weekend!!!

A First

Yesterday was Mike's 36th birthday. My friend Jenn offered to watch all the boys so we could go out and even volunteered to let them spend the night. I questioned her sanity for a minute. She insisted that she REALLY wanted them to and knew her kids would be so excited. I didn't know if Liam and Landon would stay the night but when I asked them, they said they wanted to. Noah has never been away over night before. I was a tad anxious (I only cried a little!) but he did great. Jenn promised to call immediately if any of them got homesick and we only live 5 minutes away so that helped. I called twice to check on them and all was great. I called first thing this am and Jenn said they had been great. No fighting and very well behaved. I was very relieved. When we went to pick them up they said they had a great time and couldn't wait to do it again. I was really glad they had a good time but I have to admit I was glad to have them home. I missed them SO much! Mike and I used the free time to go to dinner at Applebees and see the movie "He's Just Not That In To You". It had some funny parts but wasn't quite what I expected. It was rated PG13 and I don't know how it got that. Quite a bit of cursing. In the end, I wished we had gone to see "Bride Wars" instead. Oh well. It was still nice to get out.

You're in trouble!

The boys were downstairs playing today while I was cleaning the kitchen. Liam came running up the stairs crying and said that Landon hot him. I told him to tell Landon not to hit again or he would not get the play the wii for 2 days. Liam ran to the door, opened it and yelled "LANDON, MOMMY SAID YOU LOST THE WII FOR A MONTH!!!". I just had to laugh tomyself. Nothing like a little exaggeration!

Fun Day

The boys were on spring break last week and we wanted to do something fun. The weather was yucky so we decided to take them to lunch and then to the movies to see "Race To Witch Mountain". We didn't tell them where we were going so when we pulled into the parking lot by Fazoli's (it's in the same shopping center as Hobby Lobby) we said "surprise! We're going shopping!" Liam yelled "NOOO!" and Landon started to whine. Connor said " I'll go shopping with you mommy":) We parked and went into Fazoli's to the relief of the boys. After he was finished eating, Connor said "That sure was good mommy. Thank you so much for lunch". It was so sweet. Then we headed to the movies. It was good although Mike and I each missed some while we were struggling with Noah who we didn't have a baby sitter for. He only slept for the first 30 mnutes and then was ready to get down. Mike and I took turns at the back of the theater with him. Mike took the boys to the bathroom after it was over and Connor said "This sure has been a fun day daddy! Thank you for bringing us!" It was one of those moments that makes your heart smile. I ended the day at a consignment sale that my friend Lori had given me a ticket to. Got a few things for the boys including an Elmo bike helmet for Liam. He was thrilled. He wore it that night and even wore it to school the next day :) It was adorable! It's an image I want to burn into my memory.

Mama's boy...at least for a night

Mom, Dad, and Chad took Connor and Landon to see the Harlem Globetrotters last night. They were really excited about going and the plan was for them to stay the night with Mom and Dad afterwards. Mike and I put Noah and Liam to bed and settled on the couch to watch "Twilight" (a bit of a letdown after reading the book). Mom called at 9:30 and I figured she was just calling to tell us how it went. I was surprised when she said Landon was wanting to come home. The love spending the night with Grammy and are always begging to go. She put Landon on the phone and he sounded like he was on the verge of crying. I asked him what was wrong and he just said "I'm homesick and I want you". It broke myheart. I told mom to bring him home. He cuddled on the couch with us for a while and then ended up in our bed..at least until he started grinding his teeth at which point he was moved to the floor and farther away from our ears!

Busy Weekend

We had a nice weekend, at least until Sunday afternoon when I managed to lose my keys somewhere in Johnson City. Saturday morning we went to a big yard sale in Gray. It was a bust but it was a nice day and was good to get out. After that, we took the boys to dad's farm to see the new baby goats. They were so cute! Two had just been born Friday and they were surprisingly friendly. One came right up to us and let us all hold it. We claimed it :) After that, we went home and had lunch and then Mike took Landon to a birthday party at fun expedition. He was so excited because it was his first invitation from school. I met my friend Lori at the movies later and we saw "Knowing" with Nicholas Cage. It was good. Unexpected ending and really good special affects. Mike picked up an over time shift that night so it was just me and the boys.
Sunday we tried out a new church. We had a feeling it wasn't for us when we got inside and there was no one around. We had gone for the early contemporary service and apparently it's not overwhelmingly popular (only about 30 people).I found a lady getting coffee and asked where the kids went. She said "umm, I'm not sure. I think there's a room down the hall." Another woman went down the hall to check and informed us that there was no one int he nursery that morning. She said"sometimes there is and sometimes, there's not". Huh? I fought the urge to just leave and we went in with all 4 kids. the older 3 were pretty good but Noah got antsy pretty quickly. Mike stayed in the back most of the time with him. Then to top it off, there was no regualr sermon that day. They had the accountant guy talk about the budget and the capital campaign. Just our luck. I do have to say that we had at least 7 or 8 people including the pastor come up to us afterward to say hi and introduce themselves. A couple even apologized for the budget talk. Apparently, they only have children's church during the 10:00 service. Sure wish that had been on their website. They usually have someone to watch the babies/toddlers but she had had a rough morning and didn't make it for the 9:00 service. Oh well. They were very friendly, I'll give them that. Just don't think it was the place for us. Mom invited me to go shopping with her in Johnson City after church so I went. Somewhere between the mal and WalMart, I most my keys. We called everywhere and then backtracked ourselves looking for them. No one had seen them or turned them in. I was sick because the van key is the kind with the door lock buttons and cost around $75 to replace. We also ened up missing small group since I had to retrace my steps. SO frustrating! Oh well, what's done is done, I guess.

Kid Interview

Saw this on facebook and thought it was neat. Very eye opening!

Moms - Try interviewing your kids. Pretty sweet to have these answers while they're little!

This is my interview with Connor (age 8), Landon (age 6), and Liam (3)

1. What is something mom always says to you?
C: Love you
L: Be quiet (bring on the guilt!)
Liam: Good Night

2. What makes mom happy?
C: giving her a kiss
L: being good and giving her hugs
Liam: giving her a kiss (I think I should ask him the questions first!)

3. What makes mom sad?
C: when we throw fits
L: when we embarrass her


4. How does your mom make you laugh?
C: When you say something funny
L: you tickle us
Liam: you get me

5. What was your mom like as a child?
C: You had red hair and cimbed trees
L: You were a baby

6. How old is your mom?
C: 38 (huh?!?!?!?!!?)
L:30 (I like this one better)
Liam: 5

7. How tall is your mom?
C: 4' 3"
L: as tall as the window
Liam: bigger

8. What is her favorite thing to do?
C: go places with her friends
L: play with us
Liam: dance

9. What does your mom do when you're not around?
C: clean the house
L: work on the computer


10. If your mom becomes famous, what will it be for?
C: writing books (cause she reads so many)
L: she'd be a movie star

11. What is your mom really good at?
C: cooking
L: cleaning the house
Liam: cleaning up


12. What is your mom not very good at?
C: playing tennis
L: catching fish
Liam: ice cream??????


13. What does your mom do for her job?
C: teaches
L: take care of kids
Liam: ice cream (I see a pattern forming!)


14. What is your mom's favorite food?
C: chili
L: poppy seed chicken
Liam: spaghetti

15. What makes Mommy proud of you?
C: when I work around the house
L: when I get a check in my folder

16. If your mom were a cartoon character, who would she be?
C: don't know
L: Sandy (the squirrel on spongebob)

17. What do you and your mom do together?
C: go on dates
L: go to McDonalds
Liam: dance around

18. How are you and your mom the same?
C: We have the same color of hair
L: we have the same eyes

19. How are you and your mom different?
C: she has bigger feet
L: she has longer fingernails

20. How do you know your mom loves you?
C: because she tells me every night
L: you tell me a lot
Liam: she tells me goodnight and gives me a kiss

21. Where is your mom's favorite place to go?
C: home
L: go on dates with us

Mommy Moment

We are working on fixing up the front yard so we went to Lowes this morning and got supplies. Mike had to take the trailer to pick up rail road ties for the drive and I was waiting at home. I had planned to start planting shrubs but had to wait for fill dirt. Liam had been out front with me but went inside to potty. I was still outside moving plants and talking to my friend Kristen on the phone when Liam wandered out to the drive way.....naked with a roll of toilet paper! He looked at me as serious as can be and asked me to wipe his bottom and then proceeded to turn around and bend over. Ahh, the joys of motherhood!

Plugged In

I realized just how observant our youngest is the other day. Mike got me an mp3 player for Christmas, which he gets a lot of use out of :) Anyway, it has the earbud ear phones. I guess Noah has seen him use them quite a lot because the other day, Noah picked up the plug for the computer cord(it wasn't plugged in) and tried to stick it in his ear! He tilted his head to the side, put the end of the plug against his ear and said "oooh". Since then, he has tried to stick any cord he gets his hand on in his ear. Thankfully, they are all too large to fit!

My Little Cowboy

We went to the wedding of a good friend today. At the reception, Connor said he was never having a wedding. Landon chimed in and said he was never getting married. I asked him why and he said "because I'm going to be a cowboy and cowboys don't get married." It took all I had to keep a straight face. The boys enjoyed the reception though. Liam especially enjoyed dancing. He was all over the dance floor. Noah took a turn also. Halfway through the mother/son dance, they opened the floor to all mothers and sons and fathers and daughters. Connor and Landon were too embarrassed and refused to dance with me. My Liam and Noah did though :) Aunt Jean was able to go with us and it was such a big help to have her there. It's so nice to have an extra set of hands :) The bride and groom had an artist there doing free caricatures. We got one of the whole family. It turned out really cute. The friend that got married was the one who introduced me to Mike. Her daughter and maid of honor gave the sweetest speech (at least half of it. She had to have someone else finish it because she was crying). It was so nice to see my friend truly happy. It's been a long road but she's now married to her best friend and I was so happy that we were there to see it happen.

Ready For Spring!

It is so cold today! It's been in the 20's most of the day. School had a 2 hour delay due to some ice in the northern part of the county. It was nice to sleep in (at least for 20 minutes!). I'm hoping this is the last blast of winter. It's supposed to be in the low 70's by Friday so we'll see. The boys had their awards for UPWARD last night. Mike was working and I was dreading having to take the boys by myself. Trying to keep the 2 younger ones quiet and still for the 2 hour program didn't sound like fun. Thankfully, my mom stayed back from a trip to Nashville for dad's checkup to go with me. It was so nice! The boys got Upward backpacks that are really nice. They were thrilled. Landon was going to do baseball but we found out he has to be 7 and that he would have to play t-ball. He was not interested in doing that again (and neither was I). It's great for the first year but it would be boring for him to do again. He may do soccer. Connor is holding out until the fall for football. He wants to play tackle but we vetoed that. Flag is plenty good enough for now. I'm not ready for the really rough and tumble part yet!

My Baby Boy

We had Noah's 1st birthday party today. We had Bryan, Lori and their kids, Jenn and her kids, mom and dad, and Chad over. It was a jungle theme and I made Noah a monkey cake. It took forever! It was worth it though. We told the boys to clean up the basement before the party and they all went downstairs. A few minutes later, Liam came back up and started playing. I asked hi why he wasn't downstairs and he said "mommy, it hurts my feelings really really bad." I asked him what hurt his feelings and he replied "cleaning". It took all I had not to burst out laughing. That a new one! Anyway, Noah loved his cake. He put his fingers in the icing at first but when I put a taste in his mouth, he dove in. He ate a whole piece. He also liked opening his presents. We got him a ball pit and he loves it. I can't believe my baby is one. He is getting so big. He doesn't say much yet but he babbles a lot. He does say mommy/mama, dada, ball, and bub for brother. He loves to make people laugh and will make faces and then giggle. He is so good natured and happy. He reminds me of Landon in that he's sensitive. All I have to do is say "no" to him and the bottom lip comes out and he cries. He can get his feelings hurt easily. We all absolutely adore him. Happy birthday to my sweet baby boy!

Sledding and Swimming

We took out trip to NC to go sledding this weekend. We didn't tell the boys where we were going. They were so excited when we pulled up to the sledding area. It was a really nice place to sled or the kids. It was free and for kids 12 and under only (although parents could sled with their kids). We saw a quite a few wipe outs. One guy got knocked right off his feet when a sled ran into him. Mom, dad and Chad came with us and also took turns sledding with the boys. Even Noah went down with me. When we were done sledding, we went into Elk Mound and had lunch. After that, we went to our hotel in Boone. We went in a couple of neat stores and then took the boys swimming in the indoor heated pool. They had a blast. Noah loved splashing in the water. After a late dinner from Hungry Howies ( :) !!!!!!!) we all crashed. We woke up to snow on the ground and some still falling. After a great continental breakfast, we headed home. It was a really nice get away!

Birthday Boy

Landon turned six yesterday. He was so excited. Mike surprised him by going to the school to have lunch with him. I had asked him what he wanted for his birthday dinner and he said he wanted to go to a place called Gespachos. I've nver heard of it and wasn't able to find it in the phone book. Apparently he and Connor had seen a commercial for it in tv. Connor said he thought it was off exit 7. Unfortunately, that wasn't much help, so Landon settled for stuffed crust pizza from Pizza Hut :) Mom and dad came over to eat with us and then we had cake and ice cream. I had found a really cute recipe for a dinosaur bone cake and it turned out really cute. We had gotten Landon a Leapster game system back in December and had saved it for his birthday. He loved it. Unfotunately Liam loves it too so there have been a few battles already over it. We actually got Liam one also and were planning on saving it for his birthday but I don't know if we'll be able to hold off that long. All in all, it was a nice relaxed night. Saturday, we are taking the boys to Beech mountain, NC to go sledding and will spend the night as part of Landon's birthday celebration. Then sunday we will have yet another birthday party for Noah. I can't believe he's almost 1!!!

Night of Love and Laughter

Mike and I celebrated Valentine's Day last night since he has to work a 24 today. We went to see a christian comedian at the Night of Love and Laughter at Celebration Church. The comedian was Thor Ramsey and he was really good! I laughed so hard I cried! He has a book out and I plan on getting it. The best part of the night though was that at the end of the show, they invited any couple that wanted to stay, to do so and they would have a mass renewing of marriage vows. So Mike and I, along with about 10 other couples, renewed out vows to each other. It was so sweet and romantic :) The most memorable Valentine's day I've ever had. The preacher said to think about what kind of legacy we wanted to leave behind as a couple. I really just want us to be a good role model for our children. Marriage isn't easy but I want our boys to see the love we have for each other through the good and bad times. We are in it for the long haul! I thought back to our wedding day and was reminded of all the feelings I had. I love Mike even more now than I did then. I want our marriage to be an example for our children. I want them to see that with God ans each other, we can get through anything! Here are a couple of pics from last night :)

Party Day

Today Connor and Landon had their class parties. The kindergarten also had a "Royal Ball". The boys were to dress up as princes or knights and the girls were to dress as princesses. They had a mini parade and then they played music (medieval type instrumental) and they had a "dance". It was so cute. Landon of course refused to dance but it was still neat. Liam made me a card during Landon's party. He drew me (doing a headstand), himself and Noah. It was absolutely beautiful :) Being at the school brought back memories. I remember how much fun party days were. Of of the great things about having kids is getting to relive those days!