A night without my babies. . .

It's been a busy couple of days our Wednesdays are always full. We went to my mom's to spend the day it was awesome to spend the day with my mom, my sisters and my nephews. My kids defiantly LOVE Wednesdays. Last night Caylea said 4 verses I was so proud of her. We started working on her first verse for next week last night it is John 3:16 and just working on it last night and today she is doing great she almost has it down already. She wants to do 4 verses again this week so she can get a prize from the treasure box next week. She is super excited about this so I don't think I am going to have any problem with her. Carolina did great too as far as I know she was actually wanting to say her verse this week by herself so I was happy about that! Last night they needed help in the nursery so I got to play in the nursery with my son and the other babies it was alot of fun :)



This morning we got up and went to visit my Grandma and Grandpa Apple it was very nice to get to see and visit with them. We don't get to do that enough these days. My kids can't go to our monthly family dinners anymore. I was going to go last month but Caylea was crying that she wanted to go and I didn't want to make her stay home and take Carolina that is just not fair so going another time is our option. I love visiting with my grandparents and they love us of course but it just lights them up when they see the kids. It is so good to see them together!



Caylea read Sarah a book before we left it was too cute! The kids all played ball with Grandpa Apple and they took turns snuggling with Grandma Apple. The loved playing in the toy cabinet and with all the toys. Grandma made a very yummy lunch I love her chicken it's so good! Caden did a whole lot of standing and walking by himself and dancing of course if you ever want to see my bubba boy dance just sing him a little HM and he will go to town for you!



After we left there we came home so the little ones could have naps for their big night. Tuesday was Anthony's Bday and for his Birthday he said he was taking off a day of work and wanted me to find a sitter so we could spend the day together. So I did and Caylea is staying with her Aunt Rae and Isaac, Carolina is staying with Her Auntie Brandy and Elijah and Caden is staying with her Auntie Amanda and Sam. It was really hard for me to drop off my kids but I know they are all in very capable and loving hands. I know how much Caylea is looking forward to the Wild life Expo that Aunt Rae will be taking her to tomorrow, the library and playing with her buddy Isaac. Carolina and Elijah will be having so much fun you can just see how much excitement is radiating from them by talking to them. Brandy said that tonight Carolina said she was so excited!!! She is just growing up so fast! Caden boy will have a blast also I am sure playing with Aunt Amanda and Sam. I am hoping that hanging out with Sam will make him want to walk more :)



Although I know my kids are going to have so much fun and that it is good for them to have a little time away from their mommy. This is a little new for me. The last time I left the girls was when Caden was born and before that was when Carolina was born. I just enjoy my kids being at home with me. It makes me kind of anxious to not be able to see or check on them at any minute. My sister did say to call and check on bubba anytime I wanted I think just hearing that helped me. I always think people will think I don't trust them if I call too much when in reality it just makes me anxious to not know they are okay. So if you think about it tonight or tomorrow please pray for me to have peace with my babies b/c I know ultimately God is in control and that they are also in wonderful hands.

(((hugs))) Chan

Zooday tuesday

Today was a great day. The girls got up a little early but because they went to bed early. That worked for us though because we had a plan :) We got up had breakfast and did Caylea's school. It didn't take her long because she did all her writting yesterday so we just had one page of math to do there was no phonics today. Carolina wanted to "do her school" too. She even went and got her workbook so we did 2 pages the A page and the B page. It was pretty cute :) Caden had a snack . . .LOL :)

Brandy dropped Elijah off because she had the Ladies bible study at church and he wanted to go to the zoo with us :) So the kids played for a little while till we were ready to go. We didn't go till noon so I felt like I had a ton of time so I talked to my Bestie Rae on the phone for WAY TOO LONG!!! And ended up being LATE! Not that this is unusual for me but I really thought meeting at noon would make it possible for me to be on time.

We had lunch there I LOVE MY TACO SALADS from the zoo my awesome friend and zoo buddie got me hooked on them a long time ago. I am thinking when Carolina and Ash were barely one or maybe a little younger so at least 2 years ago and they are AWESOME!!! I always bring the kids lunch b/c of the food allergies today however because of my chatty self I didn't have time to make lunch. So I grabbed some frozen chicken nuggets for Caden (he can't eat out anywhere) and stopped by McDonalds and grabbed the other 3 happy meals.

The funny thing is we ate lunch headed down to the aquarium saw the sea lions, fish and ducks. Headed down the path to the park where I stopped to show Carolina the meerkats but I don't think any of the other children stopped to look at one thing. They see the play ground a mile away and take off ~Whitnee followed them while I showed Carolina the meerkats. So from there we left. I think we left at 3 so we were there 3 hours and obviously most of that time was spent at the park. Since we go to the zoo every week I feel okay with eating and letting the kids play then leaving. Since we have zoo passes then it doesn't cost us anything to get in.

Anyways we came home and I put the kids down for a nap. Caylea just layed on my bed and colored and watched tv. I talked on the phone some more. . .LOL Until Anthony came home then we sang happy birthday to him and gave him a million hugs/kisses. After dinner he went to Starbucks and got some coffee then played with the kids for a while before they went to bed. On a really cute note Caden for the first time took his toothbrush from me and "brushed" his own teeth in the past he always fought me to just get a few brushes in. He is just growing up too fast!

This is a video from the zoo playground that Caylea took.
In the morning I am getting up early to go keep the nursery for a family at church who lost their mother so if are reading this if you don't mind keeping them in your prayers as they go thru their grieving.
(((hugs))) Chan

Happy 33rd Birthday Anthony

The kids made this video first thing this morning for their daddy. . .We love you babe!

Not me monday

I absolutely did not put off putting away the kids laundry all week instead piling it up on top of the dryer but if I did do this I would of defiantly spent more than an hour putting it all away this morning.

I did not let my 5 year old and my friends 4 year old play his Wii for hours on end while they were in my care that is not like me I would NEVER do anything like that.

While I was putting the laundry away and packing and pulling out the fall/summer clothes this morning for hours on end I did not have my 5 year old do 4 days worth of writing just because she wanted to get her school done and I didn't want to stop in the middle of Carolina's clothes but if I had done that then I defiantly would of finished her school with her after lunch.

I did not take my kids in the back yard and let them get eaten by mosquito's and try to put off getting the bug spray for a good 10 minutes before I broke down and pulled it out because if I had done something like that they would of gotten like 10 bites each and that just didn't happen.

I did not let my son fall off my daughters bed this morning when he learned to climb up there NO WAY! would I just let him to fall. Would I?

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I got this from another blogging mommy. Her family sure could use your prayers for their unborn baby boy. You can click on the link above to check her out and read more not me monday's.

Saturday's Light Brigade Fall event

Saturday is usually a day for sleeping in for me. This day not so much. Caylea, Carolina and Isaac were up at 7:30 and although it was hard to drag myself up out of bed. It was really a good thing they were up a little early because we were suppose to be at the church at 10:00am. If you read my previous post then you know that I am not great with being on time. In fact I am really bad at it. So since we were all up early it gave us plenty of time to play, watch a cartoon, eat breakfast and get ready in a peaceful manner. The youngin's woke up at 9 got them clean diapers, dressed and fed breakfast all really quite calmly. They all enjoyed playing until Anthony came home from men's prayer breakfast at church (which happens to be why I didn't get to sleep in :( I can't complain about that though).
Caylea and Isaac love to pose for pictures they are too funny. Before Isaac came over Caylea was all about striking a pose in a dancing fashion she has defiantly added alot more masculinity to her posing the last few days. Which is nothing but cute in my opinion. Caden loves to dance and if you sing the boy a Hannah Montana song he gets after it dancing. I even have a little video of him dancing so fast that he feel over I will try to post it if I can. It is so funny!
It was time to go and guess what I WASN'T LATE. I was actually running on time that day! Yippee!! It was great! So at the church we had this Light Brigade Field day. The kids had obstacle courses and it was so cool they loved it. Unfortunately I missed my chance to get a picture of my brother in law Aaron running and doing a cartwheel over the very big tires on the course. But it is in my memory as something to remember. I did get a great picture of him looking up his verse (it was a part of the course). The kids all had a blast doing it and there was a ton of laughing and fun being had.
The little Glimmers had their course but I didn't get an awesome picture to show you so I though I would share this one I think it's pretty cute! Those little ones have a blast on the trampoline! They jumped until their teachers got tired of standing there and could of jumped all day I do think!
One of the high lights I think for all of the kids was the balloon fight! The little one's didn't actually fight each other with them but I let them throw one at me :) and they threw a few more and I think Sam snuck more than that :) The little one's did get to have a water gun fight and that went over really well. I wasn't sure how Caylea would do since she HATES water in her face but she did awesome!
After the Light Brigade event was over we headed home. Katelyn, Caden and Carolina went down for naps and boy did they sleep well again! I was pretty impressed I think the phone actually woke Caden up and it was after 5 the rest were up soon after that and it was time to play. Isaac and Caylea spent the afternoon playing the Wii I told Rae she would probably be mad at me if she knew how long I let them play. I figured it was a special day it's not like I would allow it all the time. Caylea was actually very upset when she found out I "let" Isaac take the Wii back to his house. I guess she thought we got to keep it. LOL
Katelyn and Isaac were a joy to have and I am so glad that I got to keep them for a while. Rae says she has a hard time getting a good picture out of Katelyn I took a ton and by the time she left my house if I said say cheese Katelyn she would show me a big smile! I don't know if she will keep that up but I know her mommy would love it if she did! :)
My sweet bubba boy with graham cracker all over his face! I missed him while I was gone at the church but I know he had a great time at home with his daddy. It's not often he get's time away from his mommy so I know that they enjoyed it!
A few more pic's from the day

Well I think I am caught up now. Today was a great day we went to church for morning and evening worship the kids love their classes but somehow I didn't get a single picture to remember the day. That doesn't happen often.
I guess that is all for now~
Good bye for now my friends
(((Hugs)))

Friday was zoo day

Our weekend started on Friday morning with a trip to the zoo. Of course the trip wouldn't have been complete without me running late of course. That happens to be Caylea's new question each time we leave the house "are we going to be late mom?" followed by an "UGG!!" when I give her my answer. The only time I can answer that question no is if we are going shopping our somewhere where no time is set.
Anyways as it turns out we are not the only one's late :) Surprise Surprise! I hate that I didn't get a good picture of everyone that was there. It was so much fun though! I Love going to the zoo and I love hanging with my friends and that my kids have so many other kids to hang out with. At time's though the group thing can cause anxiousness. Maybe a little panic from time to time is a better way to describe it but thankfully if you don't see your child one of the other mommy's usually have a quick eye on them :)
We got to the zoo at well we will say 9 because that is what time we were "suppose" to meet. I think Amanda would say we got there at 9:30 though. In my defense I was there a while before that it just takes a while to unload the 3 kids pack the stroller and such ( I do realize that this time should be taken into consideration before I leave the house however I always shoot short ~ sorry Amanda she was the only one waiting inside for us this day).
We walked around and saw all the animals. Although I hardly ever have proof of that one of these days I will get some pictures of the animals. Mostly now i just get pictures of my kids and their friends. The animals are the reason for going to the zoo right? That is my goal next time to get a few pictures of the animals. Caylea actually took this lovely picture of herself. She really does a great job for a 5 year old taking pictures I think. It makes me really nervous for her to have my camera I make her put it tight around her wrist so she won't drop it and hope she doesn't trip. It wouldn't be cheap to replace. But I get alot of great pictures I wouldn't get if she didn't take pictures.
So after the zoo we headed to Rae's house because we had planned a library trip that afternoon. It didn't happen because Rae had a cake to make. It was still fun hanging out though. Isaac taught Caylea how to play the Wii and I have to say I am pretty impressed with this game. I hate video games and I do not really want my kids playing them. I did get Caylea a leapster for Christmas a few years ago and my cousin gave Carolina her daughters b/c she never played it. I reserve these for van trips though. But they are really cool because they teach the kids things while they are having fun! I would love to have a game like the Wii that also taught them things. I am thinking I saw a commercial for such a game a few weeks ago I will be looking into that for Christmas I think.
So we left Rae's and they were leaving to go on a youth trip and we were taking Katelyn and Isaac with us so this is what my van looked like. I am always excited when I can get 3 rear facing kids and 2 forward facing kids in my van :) I have actually gotten 4 rear facing kids in there before and one forward facing. That was REALLY COOL in my book. I know that Carolina is more safe rear facing especially since she is on the light/small side but since she is almost three I was talking to her the other day just to see what she wanted because I was thinking when she turns 3 I would turn her if she wanted. So I asked her if she wanted to stay rear facing like bubba or turn forward like Caylea and she said stay like bubba. I was so proud and relieved. I think that parents just get anxious for their kids to move on to the next step that they forget or maybe don't even know what is really more safe. Almost the same thing happened with Caylea today. I was talking to her about a high back booster and she said I like this one because it's pink but I want to stay in my car seat. She is still 5 point harnessed at 5 years old. . .I was glad to hear that too! Just remember parents that every step up in car seats is a step down in safety and that rear facing car seats are outgrown by the weight limit rear facing (which is 33 or 35 lbs) or when the top of the head has less than an inch below the top of the shell. A forward facing car seat is outgrown by weight limit or when the shoulders go over the harness slot or when the tips of the ears go past the top of the seat.
Okay sorry that was so long after we came home it was play a little ,dinner, bathes, Caylea and Isaac played the Wii and Carolina, Caden and Katelyn went to bed. The kids all slept really well and the older ones woke up at 730 and the babies didn't wake up until 8 (which Rae said was really weird for Katelyn).
Since this is so long I think I am going to make another post later for Sat. because it was a big day also :)
Good night my friends
(((Hugs)))

Beautiful 68 degree weather and a day outside

Today was such a beautiful day. I LOVE LOVE LOVE the weather. Spring and fall are my favorite times of the year now that I have kids. Cool weather means comfortable, fun days in the back yard, park and zoo with my kids. I am enjoying Caylea being in Kindergarten because I know that in a few years the school time is going to increase. Right now it's only 30-45 minutes a day of actual book work so it's easy enough to do it in the evening or afternoon if we are not home in the mornings.
On to our day Elijah had stayed the night and I told him last night we would play outside so first thing this morning I was reminded of my promise so out we went. The kids had so much fun out there. I didn't realize the grass would be wet with dew when I let my little Caden loose out there so he ended up wet and muddy. Oh well! He later spilled the girls bubbles on the picnic table and plaed in the mess. He kept trying to climb up on the table where he split the bubbles and kept sliding off. Thankfully I was right there to catch him each time he landed in the pebbles. He finally figured out to go to the other side of the table and crawl on up there. He loved it :)
Brandy came to pick up Elijah and I got to cuddle my little Sarah-bear. They stayed for a few hours and we talked and ate lunch while the kids played and played and played. These kids have so much fun playing when they get together. Brandy found out today that she has rheumatoid arthritis on top of her Lupus. Please keep my sister and her family in your prayers. Please pray for wisdom for her doctors that they will be able to get this under control so that she will feel better soon.
My kids went to bed when Brandy left I think Elijah wore out the kids because even Caylea took a nap a good nap at that! This evening we went back outside first we got attacked by mosquito's. We bathed in bug spray and headed back out. The girls enjoyed their crabby sand box even though it is still a little wet b/c we left the lid off last week during the rain. It was actually easier to build sand castles in the damp sand.
We are suppose to be at the zoo at 9am in the morning to meet some friends. It's after 11 and my little Carolina is still going strong. Hopefully she will give it up soon and go to sleep so that we can get going early ( I still have to get lunches packed tonight so that I won't have to do in the morning).
Goodnight my friends :)

Dress up like your favorite Bible Character night

Today was just as crazy and long as any other Wednesday but just was wonderful also. We started off the day with a bang. My kids are always ready to eat when they first get up so getting the things they expect accomplished right off the bat can sometimes be a little stressful. As they are nothing if not demanding first thing in the morning. So as soon Caylea and Carolina had their juice and cereal bars and the Bubba boy had his juice (he wouldn't eat his cereal this morning only graham crackers) we were ready to start the day and head to Memaw's house.
I was on my way out the door and then remembered that tonight was dress like your favorite Bible character for Light Brigade. I was given a great tip by the best deal getter in the world (the consumer queen) to go by party galaxy and dress the girls up as angels for only $5.00. Great deal right!?!?! So that was our only stop between home and Memaw's house.
I was almost to the exit when my phone rang and it was my awesome sister Amanda and she told me she had a tub of scraps and would be more than happy to help me put together costumes for the girls. I was more than thrilled to hear this as I was not all to excited at the thought of dragging 3 small kids into Party Galaxy to pick up these wings and halo's. So we skipped the drive thru Edmond and headed to my mom's.
The kids had lunch as soon as we arrived. Like always because I can't seem to get anywhere before lunch time (and I was actually the first to arrive today~that is very rare). This works for us but kinda messes up nap time a lot of the time. They survive me though :)
Sarah got some floor time which doesn't always happen at Memaw's with a 5 year old, 2 two year olds and 2 one year olds running around there.
Then it was time for us (mostly Auntie Amanda) to get busy on some Bible costumes. Caylea was Mary and had a baby doll wrapped up that was baby Jesus, Elijah was David (I so wish I had gotten a picture of him with his sling shot it was too cute) and Carolina was Lydia the seller of purple. We are so lucky to have Aunties help us with these things because my poor kids' momma is just not that creative. They looked so cute tonight. Caylea was really upset to begin with (she was the first one we were dressing) because she thought she was going to look like a boy and that all of her friends were going to laugh at her. While I was trying to convince her that that would not happen and that all of her friends were going to be dressed up also her bubba laughed at her and she was convinced again that this was just NOT a good idea. Obviously she doesn't remember doing this last year she made it through and was actually excited when Memaw and Aunt Amanda found a Bible story book and showed her pictures. Thankfully Elijah and Carolina were not near as tough to convince they did an awesome job of standing still and cooperating while we figured out where to put the pins and where to tie what. :)
Then it was nap time. Brandy had a dr. appointment so I got to watch my beautiful niece and nephew (actually Elijah, Carolina and Caden were all asleep during this time). Sarah spent some time playing with her Memaw while I did Caylea's school with her. Then I got my turn to play with Sarah while Caylea read her book to Memaw.
Soon it was time to head to Church for Light Brigade. The girls did great in their costumes. Caylea said both of her verses tonight and finished her first book in Glimmers II I am so proud of her. I helped in game time for the Glimmers classes tonight while the game time teachers are on vacation and I have got to say that Carolina has improved greatly in just a few weeks. Not one time did she run up to me and want me to hold her she played her games like a big girl and had a lot of fun.
The Bubba boy got to show off his new found walking skills for everyone too. He had a great time in the nursery we are so lucky to have such great ladies working in there taking care of the babies. I know that when I leave him in there that he is in great hands(and loved) and that they will do everything they can to protect him and come and get me if any questions about food allergies arise.
We came home and got the kids in bed. We have Elijah staying the night with us so I expect to be up extra early in the morning. Although they didn't fall alseep until midnight so maybe I will still get to asleep in until my normal time who knows. Either way I know tomorrow will be another great day!
Goodnight my friends :)

On a side note I wanted to share a few pictures of my family from a year ago. . .my how they have grown. . .these were actually taken at my brothers wedding. Hard to believe he has already been married a year! Happy Anniversary Nathan and Bre!