Waiting at Libby Lu

Good bye Club Libby Lu, we'll miss you

Megan went to Libby Lu, again... For the last time. It was so cute and sad. Meg had the girl do her her "Sassy"- fit Meg perfectly! Anyways, Megan told the girls "Thank you for doing my hair everyday. I'll miss you." Oh how I will miss having Libby Lu around, it worked great as encouragement. Here are the pics from our last trip to Libby Lu. Mark was BORED, Jenna was joyful, and Holly was so happy. Too bad Holly doesn't have very much hair- she couldn't get a Libby Lu Do. I wish I could have gotten a Libby Lu Do, too!

Happy Valentines Day!

This year forValentines Day I am trying to make the focus on loving your siblings. We need some work in that area. There is too much teasing, arguing, and being rough in our home. Here are our pics, which prove they CAN get along!

Jenna just ate a cookie and loved it!

Holly and Cam

Dana and Elias- feel better Dana!

Club Libby Lu

Yes again! For $4.13 how could you not take your little princess? Today we went with Madison, Jayden, Gracie, Holly, Jenna Eve, Dane, Cameron, and Elias. Mark and Carter opted out of the experience. Who can blame them? We were there for a little over an hoyr. the girls had a ton of fun. Meg & Jayden had there hair done as a Glitzy Movie star, Gracie was a royal princess, and Maddie was the rock and roll hair style. Too cute! They all got mini cookies from Mrs. Fields. Thank you Dana- even Jenna was thrilled! At one point Meg asked me if I would go to Starbucks and get her a drink. I told her I couldn't because I don't have my gift card on me. You should have seen her face "WHAT???". I explained that I left it in the car and we could get a drink with Grandma in the drive thru- which mae it all okay, but still. My Meg has attitude. Maybe she is 4 going on 10, like she told Brian's aunts. I found darling Valentines shirts for the girls, super cheap, a coordinating red shirt for Mark. Can't wait to get the pics. Love the free coupon and yes I can say no to the rest of them. Anyways- I am so sad Libby Lu is closing. What a bummer. Even sadder that they sold all their heart shaped mirrors to another store. i really want one of those. No more glitter, glitz, and pampering for the girls- at least not at 4 bucks. Oh wait, at least not until tomorrow! LOL!

Home Schooling

So, we have decided to home school Mark, possibly before this school year is over, but for sure in fall. Everyone seems so shocked. No we are not doing it on our own, I am terrified of messing up. However I have found a charter to work with and am thrilled at all the opportunities. I know it will all work out, it will just take time to get a routine. Pray for us as we start this adventure. I believe this will help Mark with his speech and reading, I am excited to learn with him. No, I will not be home schooling Megan for kindergarten- she is going to Ms. Svenson (Mark's k teacher). But things can always change.

Another trip to Club Libby Lu

I'm sure all you mommies with daughters are saddened with the upcoming closure of Libby Lu's on January 31st. We took Gracie and Meg there for a make over for Gracie's 4th b-day today and had a great time, got great deals, and loved it. The girls wsh they could go there "everyday"! Not much of a suprise, I'd love to have someeone do my hair, nails, and make up everyday too... Enjoy the pics!

Contentment

Okay, now I am going to give you my opinion. Contentment starts in the heart. We need to work on being content. It has to do with having an attitude of gratitude despite your circumstances (thank you Pastor). I feel like I am constantly surrounded by people who want, want, want- and it is really hard to teach contentment when those people are 6,4,2, and 10 months. Americans have a real problem with being content, we all want MORE. More is not the answer, the answer is found in Jesus Christ. Despite my circumstances, my hope is built on Jesus blood and righteousness. When we put our focus on HIM, everything else comes into focus. He died that I might live, this life is not "MINE", but HIS! We need to pray to be content, be satsified with what we have, not be envious and yearn after what our friends and neighbors have.

Megan

Meg just learned that Aunt Joyce and Aunt Net are at Grandma G's and we are going down to see them. She is so excited and has requested scones. Now these are not "scones", but yummy soft, hot fried breads. Oh my, they are so good! I told Meg I don't think we'll have scones, but we will have cinnamon rolls and she said "Tell G.G. to just give me the cinnamon frosting and forget the roll!" That's our Meg- just give her the sweet stuff and forget the rest!

Mark

Our Mark- He is getting so big! I can hardly believe he's 6 1/2! He loves to play games- Video games : Lego Batman, Lego Indiana Jones, Lego Sar Wars, Rayman's Raving Rabids; Board games: Sorry, Life, Monopoly, Connect 4; Card games: War, Crazy 8's, and Go Fish.
Mark is full of fun! He is ALWAYS teasing, joking, and playing. This week on his night we played WAR, snuggled, and talked.

Mark just received a award at school for reading and he was listed as advanced in math! Way to go, Markie Mark! We are so proud of our man. Mark is struggling with reading and I with him. He is still in speech therapy, making improvements, but he still has a way to go. Mark still likes to snuggle me, rough house with Dad. He works hard at memorizing his bible verses.

We love having our nights with each of the kids, it leaves all of us feeling like we've been able to enjoy one another's company and really talk with them. i would challenge parents to do it, make it work for you, but enjoy a time with each child alone- so its just the three of you, it makes for a lot of fun.

Holly's newest words!

Holly loves chips and salsa, just like her daddy. She was eating them and after each bite she says "Spice", it is the cutest thing. We have to give her, ehr own bowl of salsa, as she likes to dip her chip and lick or suck the salsa off until the chip dissolves- it's pretty nasty, but adorable evry time we hear her say "Spice". Of course now she says spice for anything hot or spicy.

She has also started saying Bubble. It's a lot of fun to hear her talking more and more, as we were pretty worried. She can say or yell mine very clearly, and she means it! Watch out- here come Holly!

Family Traditions

I forgot to post about our annual family tradition of decorating a gingerbread house and tree. We had yummy hot chocolate and lots of candy. It was very exciting, M & M decorated the house all by themselves, Holly had a litle help from Dad and Jenna was content watching.

Megan's bedtime stories

Tuesday night was Meg's night to stay up alone with Brian and I and she wanted to tell stories. Mind you, not be told, but TELL them. She always tells great stories! She told us one about a beautiful princess (that looks like mommy with pretty red hair- what a sweetie!), brownies, ice skates, waterfalls, and her daddy- the prince saving her. She has a great imagination- must be all the "coffee" she drinks! Then Megan said "It's late, can I go to bed now?" and then her "superhero" flew her to bed, where we tucked her in soundly and kissed her goodnight.

My how time flies

Let me tell you- the days are LONG, but the years are sooo short! Holly is 2! I can not believe she is 2! She totally acts like it!!! My Holly Jolly was promoted to the 2 year old room at church, and it kind of made me sad. I actually thoht I need another baby- then I realized Jenna was still in the nursery, so Brian can relax! LOL! We didn't do much for her b-day- we'll party over the summer. My brother feels bad for her, but we are not forgetting her b-day, just waiting till June to celebrate it! Holly is a fiesty little girl. I told her she is now responsible for her actions- her grace period is OVER!!! I think she is testing me to see if I will correct her when she acts up or let her get away with it! Here is happy Holly's 2 year old pic.

Jenna

Here is Jenna's 9 month old picture. My tiny baby is getting old! She gets all over the place now. She is affectionatelly known as trouble. She is a precious joy, loves to be held, and smiles at EVERYONE! She says dog, mama, dada, and Hi (twice).

As you can see, I have lots of scrapbooking to do!

Christmas!

Christmas was GREAT!!! We celebrated Jenna's first Christmas, Holly's 2nd b-day, and Jesus's birthday! It was a success. We had some friends over for Christmas day and sang happy birthday to Jesus, played games, and celebrated. The kids each got their Christmas ornaments after finding the pickle on the Christmas tree. Mark got a Batman ornament, Meg got Princess Aurora holding a crown, Holly got a Tinkerbell ornament called "A little bit of Tink!", and Jenna got a Superbaby ornament and a baby's first Christmas ornament. I really love getting each chikd their own ornament each year, they really are personal and the kids love them too! It's a fun gift to begin the Christmas season.

Thanksgiving

So, Thanksgiving was great! We went to Grandma G's and had a great time. We had NO luck doing our black friday shopping, I mean NO LUCK! It was horrible!

Okay, okay, okay

So my dear friend told me I need to update my blog, so here it goes. I will try my best not to be a slacker and regulary update. I hope this will make you happy...