Family Update...

For those of you who faithfully follow my blog, my sincerest apologies for being so missing in action this month. Since my husbands amputation in late October I've been really bogged down with responsibilities here at home. I'm so happy to share that he is progressing very well, and looking forward to the day when he can lay his crutches aside and begin to walk on a new leg. He was hoping by Christmas, but that remains to be seen. His spirits are high, this attitude is fabulous, and he's so grateful to be out of the pain he was formerly experiencing.

I haven't been totally away from my crafting table though. I'm deep in the throws of creating a very labor intensive project for the now passed Magnolia-licious blog hop! I knew I would not be able to craft this month and Diana very graciously gave me the month off to tend to hearth and home...ummm....no more hearth!!

Today we went to the twins Parent's Day Out little Thanksgiving feast and program. Their class were Indians and the older class were Pilgrims. Totally adorable. Here are a few pictures of them. Jordan's class didn't have a Thanksgiving anything, so no pictures of him...let's hope at Christmas time....

Here ya go!

They started out with a wonderfully prepared Ham and Turkey Dinner...here is Brielle enjoying her roll. She surprised us both by NOT eating her veggies, which she simply lives on! This was the only part of the meal she ate...

Josslyn picked and poked away, but in the end ate nothing...of maybe a bite or two of Turkey...

Sometimes they pose well for the camera! Here they are and if you look you can see that the ladies at school took the time to braid their hair and even used pink bands on Brielle and green on Josslyn. Brielle on your left and Josslyn on the right...

Their costumes were made out of pillow cases. They really put a lot of work into them and even beaded the bottoms. The necklines were cut a little bit too large and they had a hard time keeping them on. Brielle is on the left and Josslyn on the right...

This is Miss Ginger! She is an absolute gem! The girls really adore her and she adores them. This is such a fabulous Parent's Day Out program I couldn't be happier. This time Joss is on the left and Brie on the right! What a pair!!!

Here they are on the way home. We installed a DVD player for them and got them headphones so we don't have to listen to it! Smart, huh??? Joss on the left and Brie on the right. They have been in this order almost everywhere we put them since they were infants. They get upset if you put them in each others "spots".





Happy Thanks Giving to everyone, we have so much to be thankful for!

Blessings,
Barb

I'm sorry, I just couldn't resist....

Catching the right moments with the kids is often very hard to do. I'm usually busy with laundry, preparing meals, crafting, or they are just too active to capture the moment. After posting my Potty training card (scroll down) I managed to grab my camera while Brielle was running to her potty chair. Of course both girls are in that independent time of life. They have to do EVERYTHING by themselves. That includes pulling down and pulling up their pants and using the toilet paper and flushing. Turning on a light is impossible for anyone but Josslyn these days. She gets her little chair and runs from room to room turning on and off lights. I'm tellin' ya! These two are a handful!!!

So here is the moment I was able to capture with Brielle while I was getting dinner organized...



I need some toilet paper Grammie...



All done..."I do it, I do it!"

The Birthday Girls....

I'm so late in posting birthday pictures. I've had a very full week already and it's only Wednesday evening! The birthday party was a huge success, and the girls had a blast - well, we ALL did! So here are some pictures of birthday presents and party time...

Dear Mommy and Daddy,

We just love the prezzies that you sent us. Our doll house is so much fun and we love the pianos. Grampy put our table and chairs together and now we have them all in our room! Grand-mommy and Grand-daddy bought us Dora bikes, but it's too hot outside to ride them so Grammy is putting up with them in the house. We can't peddle them yet but we walk them all over the house.

Our birthday party was so much fun. We went to Chuck E. Cheeses. Abby from our Parent's Day Out class came and Kyle came all the way from San Antonio came for the whole weekend. We had balloons and lots of tokens to ride the rides. We danced with Chuck E. and he gave us crowns to wear and we each got a big icing flower from our cake. Here are some pictures of our big 3rd. birthday...





Grandmommy and Granddaddy sent a little something for Jordan too. Here he is with his wooden Memory Game...














We are so busy growing up now. We know all our colors and shapes and Josslyn is learning to talk in 4 word sentences and is a chatter box. Brielle is still learning to put letter sounds at the ends of her words and we are both having a hard time with the letter "F", but we're practicing all the time. Our favorite TV program is Bubble Guppies, and Grammy says it's brainless, but WE love it. Jordan is loving Y camp. He comes home everyday ready to eat, eat, eat, and falls asleep as soon as his head hits the pillow. Jordan prays every night for you mommy and daddy and he is so glad that Jesus is answering his prayers to keep you safe. We can't wait to see you in August. Not many more weeks now!
We love you and miss you bunches
Big Hugs,
Jordan, Josslyn and Brielle
MWAH!

Grand kids and a Twin card...

So what do these have in common? Well, nothing really, it's just high time I posted some pictures of the kids and I have made a card with a twin image on the front. I will post the card first and then get to the "grands".

I found the little "Two Peas In a Pod" charm at Hobby Lobby and I guess that was my jumping off place. Since the little twins we have in our care (who will be 3 next week! OMG!!) are bi-racial I thought I would do their skin darker (but I'm afraid I got it toooooo dark) They are really very light skinned.

Here is a close up of the little charm that was my inspiration...



and here is my card...



a side view of the card...



And a close up...



The inside - very simple and plain...



Now onto the grandchildren...

My daughter and her youngest, Kyle, came up on Memorial Day so that I could go and spend some time with hubby while he was lounging away at the hospital. When I got back we took the kids to Mickey D's for lunch and then dropped by Walmart to by a pool and slip'n'slide! It was a huge hit. My neighbor came over and blew up the pool for me with his handy little pump, but it was the slip'n'slide that was the big hit!

Here are a few pictures of the 'grand' day!

This is Kyle in the foreground, Jordan lying down and one of the twins (don't ask me which one, who can tell from this angle?)

Here is Kyle having a 'grand' slide!

Kyle and Brielle (I can tell who is who from this angle)

This is Josslyn - they love the gentle flow of water...

And finally - everyone in the pool. The ham is Kyle!



I so appreciate you coming by my blog to see the latest happenings in our household...

Hugs,
Barb

Oh what a day....

I will preface this by saying this has been a wild ride kind of week. We've gone from drought to savage rain and thunderstorms and flash flooding. Then on Tuesday I work up with a little stomach bug, but was quickly over that. Who has the time to stay down for long. I did stay in bed for the day as I was left rather weak, so Bill maned up and took over with the children. Then we noticed that Josslyn's eyes were quite crusty in the mornings and I suspected Pink Eye which a trip to the doctor yesterday confirmed. Plus she has an ear infection and was running a fever of 100.2. Now that one slipped by us, because she was just her usual energetic sassy self!

You may have to enlarge this picture to see the goop in her eyes and the pink around the edges...



By the end of the day I was exhausted so we opted for dinner out at the Golden Corral. All went well until it came time for ice cream. I decided to get them some hand dipped multi-colored stuff. They were eating it with their hands, gently picking out the M & M's that I had added to the mix. The pictures below will explain the whole thing.....

Brielle is on the left and Josslyn on the right. Believe it or not they weigh exactly the same and are the same height. At least we think, because Brielle wasn't very cooperative when it came time for the height chart.

Just look at their pants...that's not dinner, that's all ice cream....



Here's a view of the back...



As we left the restaurant there came a deluge and we were running for the car. Jordan ran full tilt (and what 5 year old boy wouldn't?) The pavement was very slick and he fell onto his knees and skidded about a foot. He came completely unglued, and I don't blame him. Those skinned knees can really hurt! He is always wanting me to blog things about him and so I grabbed my trusty camera and captured the wound! I didn't take a picture of the bandage I put on it, but it's huge and had white tape completely covering it. He said he and Grampy were boo boo buddies. He was delighted with the fuss we made over this scrape! Kids, go figure! Then the girls had to have a band aid also, and there's no point in arguing with them, just put one on and they're happy as larks...



Thanks for dropping in to see what the latest is at our house...it's always chaotic, loud but definitely happy!

Hugs,
Barb

Happy Mother's Day from the Cherub Choir...

Happy Mother's Day to everyone. A special Mother's Day wish to the mommy of the three children. This is just for you....

Today at church our cherub choir, which is Pre-K and Kindergarten students sang their hearts out for the congregation. It was such a delight! Jordan, dressed in the white shirt and plaid pants did a super job of singing the songs he had learned along with the actions. The video below will show what a great job they all did...




Lisa, did you get your box of Mother's Day gifts yet? Please let us know if you did. Jordan made some things for you that we will have to send later...they only came home Friday.

Hugs,
Barb

These are Kodak moments....

Do you remember the commercial for Kodak? There was a little jingle and the words "The best moment of the day"...something like that anyway. Since I've not been very good about taking pictures of the kids lately I thought I would just take a few snaps of the best moment of MY day! Tee Hee!!

Here's Josslyn...



You'll notice that she's sleeping in a different bed than Brielle. Yes! I have to separate them at night so they don't keep each other up for hours. We've tried the countless trips into the bedroom to tell them to be quiet and go to sleep, but separating works in just minutes and then I carry which every one back to her own bed.

Here's Brielle...



Here's my Darlin' Boy! He never needs to be told to go to sleep...he just falls into bed and boom - he's out!



Just sending a little love to mommy and daddy. Jordan has made a gift for his mommy at school, but she won't receive it in time for Mother's Day. It came home yesterday. He printed out the message in his own printing - he's so awesome. We will send it on a little later.

Happy Mother's Day to all you wonderful mothers, who sacrifice time, energy and bodies to splendidly raise up the next generation. Happy Mother's Day to Lisa, mom of the three children. We love you mommy!!!!! X0X0X0X0X0

Hello Mommy and Daddy,

I wish I had some recent pictures to show you of the children, but with life being so hectic I just haven't had the time to grab my camera...so this is a short update on the children.

Hi Mommy and Daddy,
We're doing very well here with Grammy and Grampie! I (Jordan) am learning so much at school and love every single minute of it. I'm even learning to read a little bit. I know some words by sight, like...the, you, if and it's all starting to make sense to me! And guess what? Josslyn and Brielle are starting to potty train! Well, at least at bath time. They both sit on the potty to tinkle and Josslyn even made an alligator in the potty tonight! They are getting so grown up.

Hi mommy, this is Josslyn. Grammy bought us a ton of new books today at the store. We get to find the things that move and we listen to the I love you book you and daddy recorded for us at bedtime. And, mommy!!! I went pewps in the potty tonight - oh I'm getting so grown up. Grammy says she isn't holding her breath, but I don't know what that means. I am putting on my own sock and shoes now and mostly on the right feet. I love to take my diaper off so that I can sit on the potty. I'm learning so many new words, but mostly they come out sounding backwards.

Hi mommy, this is Brielle. Grammy says I'm the lovie girl because I just love to give everyone a hug. I love school, I love the other kids and I really love my teacher, Ms. Laila! She is so sweet and kind. Grammy says I'm the best tooth brusher this side of the Mississippi!!! I wonder what she means by that because I don't know which side is which! Oh, I nearly forgot to tell you that I'm very afraid of bugs. On the ants outside I've learned to stomp on them, but the fly's...oh they scare me out of my skin. Grammy tries to smack all the flies in the house, but I don't like to play outside because of the fly's. When she smacks them she picks them up in a tissue and Josslyn and I get to see them dead, but Josslyn is the brave one and she puts the tissue in the trash. I'm much to afraid to touch the tissue, but I love to see that they're dead! Grammy keeps saying it's going to be a long summer. Hmmmmmm!!

Well, we're getting ready to go to bed now so we all send you many hugs and kisses. Please keep safe and come home soon!

Hugs and kisses,
Jordan, Josslyn and Brielle

A busy week is now behind us....

This has been a busy week for us. The girls have played their hearts out and Jordan is learning by leaps and bounds now at school - and - he loves it! He also started swim lessons and is enjoying that with all the energy and gusto that a 5 year old contains. Maybe a little too much as he had to be timed out for a while for splashing another child when he should have been listening.

So here are some pictures of our rather busy week...

Last weekend Josslyn and Brielle attended a birthday party for a classmate at Parent's Day Out. This is how we prepared for the big celebration...



Our weather was cloudy and a little cool - but still shorts and bubble weather. Their mommy had sent the children each a bottle of colored bubbles and we had fun blowing and dripping the solution all over everything...




We bought our first Watermelon of the season and it was delicious. The girls couldn't get enough of this fabulous sweet delight and there was juice everywhere...but it was yummy.


Jordan began swim lessons at the Y this past Tuesday. Here he is with the instructor. He is absolutely fearless in the water...


My wonderful DH picked up some cheap goggles for the girls to play with. They love to wear them around the house and run around with their hands up over their heads and roaring like lions. It was hard to get them to stand still for this photo. Josslyn on the left, Brielle on the right...



Thanks to all who drop by to see our progression with these adorable and wonderful kiddos.

Hugs,
Barb

The "Darlin' Boy" turns 5...

Oh, what a long day this has been! We started out this morning taking the twins to a hearing specialist to test their hearing. Since their speech is a little delayed we thought it would be good to make sure they were hearing correctly. Josslyn flew through the test enjoying every minute of it. Brielle on the other had was frightened to pieces with the little animated animals that light up when she turned toward the sound. She climbed fight up my front and was heading over my head. We could barely calm her down and further testing was out of the question. They finally got her calmed down enough to take the test where they bounce sounds into her ear canal. What a stress-er this was for everyone. Both girls passed with flying colours! Hooray! Then they informed us that they would have to be on a waiting list for speech therapy and it probably wouldn't be until next fall! Wow! That won't do, so we contacted another clinic and they just need a Dr. referral to begin therapy.

After school Jordan arrived home to a table full of gifts for 5th birthday and a brand new bike.

This will be quite a long post with lots of pictures. We wanted to be sure to get lots of pictures for his mommy and daddy to see just how special his day was. We had a grand celebration with gift opening (or rather tearing into) lots of squeals of excitement, pizza and chocolate birthday cake. We just had to take the kids to the park tonight after dinner as the weather turned absolutely fabulous this afternoon. Besides which, Jordan needed a place to break in his new bike and helmet (we forgot the elbow pads at home and in the last few minutes of our time there he took a tumble and scraped his arm.) So here are the pictures of his wonderful 5th birthday...


























Josslyn on the left, Brielle on the right playing hide and seek in my corner cupboards...


Josslyn



Brielle


Fun at the park...


He peddled around the track about 7 times...



We came home to find our dog had gotten into the trash in our kitchen and spread it out all over the place. ARGHHHHHHH! The reason we have the lock on it is to keep the dog out, not the kids. In fact the girls are amazing little cleaner upper's. They love to throw things in the trash, including their earrings. We have a hard time keeping earrings in their ears, and they always come and tell me when they've done it. I guess their quite proud of their accomplishment.

Everyone is in bed and asleep...sigh....I'm ready for bed too!

Be back soon with more creations and more pictures of the kids...

Hugs,
Barb