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.