Bye Bye Fro

I gave the Bubb a little trim. Justin doesn't like it so much, but it's grown on me. I miss his blonde highlights, but its starting to warm up so we could get those back without too much trouble. Such a cute kid.

Soccer time is family time

Did anybody else know the side pony was coming back? Missed that one.

Check out the Coach in action. He's a natural at this, it plays to his strengths.

Cami Cam really needs this. She is so proud to be playing and loves the extra time with Dad. She is eating it up and has really been excited about it.

I have to take Bubba where he can't see Justin or he won't stay off the field. He wanders out there saying, "Bahl!" and take the girls' balls. We have to walk a ways over to the playground, and he still gravitates to and steals all the soccer balls in sight. And there are a lot, there are probably six or seven teams out there practicing.

What a night.

A Good Day

The best investment we ever made.

Valentine Tea Party

My kids love tea parties, and then have been planning this one for months. I was hard put to convince Emma we didn't need to send out invitations before Christmas. They had to pay me with their marbles, and they happily dished them out. They had so much fun helping me decorate.



We made chocolate fondue, with strawberries, pretzels, rice krispie treats, marshmallows, and bananas to dip. Yum. I was snacking on chocolate all day.

Each girl got to invite two friends, but we only had seven at the end. They were dressed up before they had been here two minutes, and after they inhaled fondue they ran off and played happily the rest of the time. It was fun. Girls are fun.

Kid update

Our boy loves balls. It is one of the only words he can say. He plays with the exercise ball, with bouncy balls, big and small, golf balls, nerf balls, soccer balls, deflated basketballs, beach balls, pretty much any thing round he can get his hands on. It makes Justin so proud.

He also likes to play rough. He hits Justin for fun, and cracks himself up. Tonight we were all kneeling down to say bedtime prayers, and he came up behind me with a half pool noodle and hit me on the head with it saying, "OW! Ah ha ha ha!" We all laughed so hard and he was so proud of himself that he did it again, and then wacked Justin a few times, too.

now what?

I sprained my ankle, it's really cramping my style. I was putting some heavy boxes in my car and it rolled out from under me. I fell down (luckily the box didn't fall on me) half underneath my car and then sat there for a while because it HURT really bad and also because I wasn't sure what to do next. I'm supposed to go get a boot to wear, but I haven't been able to get to one of the few pharmacies that carry it during hours. I'm going to have to break down and take a million kids with me, because it's getting sore from me lumbering around on it all day. I think this qualifies me for a vacation. P.S. Nate weighs a ton!

confession

Hi friends!

I have had quite the time adjusting to my life here, and to my life with four kids. I feel like a wreck. I never finish things, I don't blog, my house is a mess, I lose my temper with the kids, I just can't seem to stay on top of anything. I am madly treading water just to stay afloat, and don't seem to make progress anywhere. But don't give up on me entirely. One of these days there will be something interesting here, and I've missed being in touch with everyone.

Lately my mom came to visit (too bad she is not still here) and we worked hard and got lots done. We cleaned out my closet and got rid of almost half of what was in there. I took bags and bags to goodwill, it felt so great. Then we (mostly mom) organized my desk area in the kitchen and lots of the cupboards that needed a little help. We painted my very red dining room back to traditional light green with white trim. Gina, I actually used a paint chip you gave me, I think it is the same one you have in your family room. It looks so great! I got new rugs for my kitchen, rewired two lamps that were broken (I'm pretty proud of that one!), and then we moved on to go through all the kids clothes and organize them. Mom eliminated my entire pile of mending, in about an hour, and it had sat there so long that the nightgowns had to be passed down to the next girl in line.

For my birthday she helped me fix up my bed, I have not had bedding since last May. We got a king sized bed and I had one set of sheets and two cotton blankets on there, and Justin and I each had a throw sized fleece blanket because my insulation sucks and it actually gets pretty cold. Mom and I got a comforter at TJ Maxx. Then we went to a FABULOUS store in Dallas that sells decorater fabrics, it was huge, and had great prices. We got this great fabric and mom made me three new pillow cases for my bed, it is so great to have it. It makes me feel like an adult again. My mom has such great taste, she comes and makes everything nicer. I should also comment that Justin is so great for all of this. He comes home and takes extra kid duty so we can finish our paint or sewing projects, and also is so easy to please he admires all improvements without complaints.

Being the incapable person I am, I'll have to post pictures of it all later as well as change my blog background because it is time for bed.