Splish Splash

We had family and friends over for a small party this weekend to conclude the two month long birthday celebration (we are calling it 'the birthday that never ends'). The kiddos just splashed and played in the backyard. Thank goodness the Sumlins had a slip n slide for us to borrow! Paired with the hill in our backyard, it was definitely the favorite. Then the guys (of course!) figured out it would be even more fun for the kids if we added the slide. No...no one wanted to go down feet first. They all decided head first was way more fun! In the past I had sworn off birthday parties at home, but this actually worked out real well. I wish I had some pictures of the water balloons. I'm not sure whether the adults or the kids had more fun.

Five (For Real)

As we were saying our nightly prayers tonight Scott chimed in to thank God for Mary Ella as she is turning five tomorrow and she leaned over with a smirk and said "for real". Yes, our oldest daughter is treating this birthday as a right of passage of sorts. Because she is a July baby she's seen many 5th birthdays this year. She thinks that tomorrow she'll wake up with a loose tooth, a "five year old bike", and "five year old light pink back pack". Tomorrow we wake up with ,well, a five year old. We didn't know five years ago as I looked in the mirror pregnant with an 8 lb 7 oz (almost 22 inches long) daughter how much our lives would change, but oh how it did! Now I look up five years later with three brown-eyed girls depending on us to show them the way. What an awesome and worthy responsibility to have. Each of these girls has their own unique personality, temperament, and needs.



Mary Ella came into this world in God's perfect timing. If I had gotten pregnant when I wanted to, she wouldn't be here. I remember holding her for the first time thinking, "You are why I needed to wait. You belong here with us". It all became so clear. We brought her home and have been touched by her sweet spirit everyday since. If there was one quality amidst many that I admire most about her is that she is totally, completely passionate about everything she does. She giggles from her soul, she cries from her soul, and she rejoices from her soul. There is no skimming the surface. She is loyal to the core. She makes every friend feel like her best friend and there is always room for more. Oh and the details, this girl knows details and she won't let you forget them or tell a story without 'em. We could talk about a blade of grass for an hour and not repeat one thing. Did I mention she liked details?




Mary Ella, you are and always will be a unique piece that fits perfectly into our own, little "family puzzle". From the moment you could coo and smile, you engaged everyone around you from people in the grocery store to the park. You certainly engage us. So Happy 5th Birthday sweet girl. We love you and are thankful that God chose to place you with us. We can't wait to see what is in store for you over this next year as you embark on a new, exciting chapter in you life....KINDERGARTEN! We do know you'll make the best of it.



Mary Ella's current favorite things



1. Anything "Light pink"

2. "happily every after" endings (the dreamy smile on her face is priceless!)

3. Playing dress up

4. Barbies

5. Nightgowns

6. A good game of chase

7. Disney Radio

8. Dancing

9. Making new friends

10. Her new light pink bedroom and mirror

Many Thanks

Thanks for all the thoughts and prayers. Results are GREAT for one and ok for another.

My big, sweet, teddy bear family member found out today that a yucky-looking tumor (how's that for medical terminology?) is benign. Please continue to lift him up as he progresses onward with the removal.

My friend has two large thyroid tumors. Some cells from the biopsy came in benign while some others were "inconclusive". She is beginning to have trouble swallowing. Please pray for her as she makes the decision about treatment. More than likely she will choose to undergo surgery to remove the thyroid.

Thanks so much!

Lift up

I have two people I dearly love awaiting some test results this week. I won't list their names for privacy reasons (God knows who they are), but keep them as well as those who are close to them in your thoughts and prayers this week. Thank you!

Let's go camping (sort of)

So Scott and I were talking about going skiing and somehow the conversation turned to camping and Mary Ella chimed in

Mary Ella: Heeeeeey, I want to go camping.
Me: You do???? You mean you want to go camping and sleep in a tent?
Mary Ella: Ummmm, maybe we'll just go for a visit.
Me: A visit?
Mary Ella: Moooom, I just want to go roast some marshmallows and stuff.
Addy: Mmmmm, mar-mallows. I want mar-mallows too....

A visit? These kids can be so funny.

July 4th Cuties

PG

That is...parental guidance recommended......

I won't post a frontal picture of Addy, because if I did CPS just might think we need to be investigated. As of right now she has a bruise/knot on her forehead, a scratch down her cheek paired with an abrasion on her chin and a bruised arm....all from separate incidents. Addy is our little girl with a big personality. She runs forward looking backward, she climbs when she has no business doing so, and she quietly gets herself into unexplainable predicaments. She is very determined and self-motivated. Needless to say, she keeps all of us on our toes.

We went to a 4th of July party in the neighborhood. We had been swimming at the pool earlier and before dinner we brought the girls home to get cleaned up in preparation for the fireworks not realizing there was going to be a water slide at the evening bash. Well, we got there and Addy immediately set her sights on that slide while Mary Ella wanted to do the batting cage with the pink bat and pink ball. It became very clear that distraction techniques were not going to work with Addy and that we were going to have to get far away from that slide since we did not have her bathing suit with us. Mary Ella was finishing up her batting practice and we turned around to Addy dropping her skirt in preparation to go down that slide. Yes, she was undressing people! And yes, on any given day, if you should drop by our home, she just might be naked....so it is normal (at home).

Then in the following days Mary Ella began using the word, "butt" No, not a "bad" word, but not "great" one either. Well, Addy caught on wiggling that little bottom saying, "my butt, my butt, my butt". Oh my word, I wonder if she is doing this at school????? So, of course I attempt to explain to this two year old that she was not using a "nice" word. What did I get in response? Well, for a week now this is what is coming out of her mouth...

"Myyyyy...... buuuuu"
"Myyyyy..... booty"
"Myyyyy...... bala"
"Myyyyy...... booga"

To say this kid is testing boundaries would be an understatement. She pairs these little teasers with a grin of , "I know you think you know what I'm about to say...but you don't!"

The kiddos are going to a little day camp at a local preschool here and have been having a good time. Yesterday, I asked Addy, "Are you ready to go to school and see Stormy (her teacher)?"

She responded with that signature grin and said, "Noooooo, I wanna see CeCe and Nita" She is referring to her teachers in League City. If you are reading this....know that you are missed!

Honey....we have a problem

Upon the return of the children, I decided as long as the kitchen and clothes were unpacked, we would have some fun. In other words, I was in no rush to unpack everything. Don't get me wrong, I've gotten a lot done, but I felt like our kids needed me during this exciting time and that I should no longer be ruled by boxes, phone calls, or any other move related activity. So we rode bikes, walked, talked, etc.... One afternoon we were out back and Mary Ella was riding her bike around the porch. I was actually talking to Scott on the phone when I heard her shriek and she immediately began screaming and crying. There was no doubt this kid was in pain. I ran over to her and saw she'd been stung by a wasp. Now, many of you know how sensitive she is to mosquitos and fire ants, so because of this knowledge I knew I needed to get Motrin in her and put ice on it. Then I went to retrieve the Benadryl. As I was looking for it I looked at her and her face was red, her eyes a little swollen. I thought, "Golly, she's crying hard". I turn around to look at the dosing then look at her again. She was itching her feet, I said, "honey, did you get into ants too?" I walked over to her and she is covered in hives from her head to the soles of her feet. Her face was swelling so fast she couldn't even close her mouth, then she started coughing. I call Scott, "honey, we have a problem. I've got to get her to the hospital." He said to get the Benadryl down her and go. So I packed up the kids not realizing Addy's pull-up from her nap was hanging by a mere thread on one side (of course I didn't grab the diaper bag) and start going. I got to an ER that was fortunatley 2 minutes from our house and by then she was wheezing. Fortunatly they got her right back and did their "thing" and we were on our way home with steroids and an epi-pen. Here are a few pics I captured. It took three days for the hives to clear up, so evidently we have a severe wasp allergy. A couple of times I caught her rubbing the soles of her feet on the carpet because she just couldn't satisfy the itch.....poor thing. By the way, Zyrtec was much more effective in treating the hives than the Benadryl. Just thought I'd share that tidbit of info.

Perhaps one of the sweet moments came when Mary Ella was lying in the ER bed. Addy walked up to her and was acting concerned and Mary Ella reached over, being so brave, and said, "It is ok Addy, I'm getting lots better. I'll be ok." Ah, that sisterly love strikes again.

The one good thing about this is that Scott drove in that night so I wouldn't be alone with the kids if she developed breathing problems again, plus I think he just wanted to lay eyes on her. So we got an unexpected visit (and the garage got cleaned out and organized...BONUS).

Did I say e-a-sy??????

Oh wow, after the trip to the lake, I had this illusion that somehow we had turned a new leaf. From now on, we could take car trips with the kids and some out relatively sane at our destination (hey, I said relatively) So, the movers came. They started packing our stuff (stuff=junk we've accumulated but didn't have the time to adequately clean out due to 'stuff' magically seeping out of our walls). The plan was perfectly executed the morning of June 12th. My sweet, loving, wonderful, totally helpful, amazing brother came and took the kids to Jump N Jungle while I wrapped things up that morning. He returned them, we ate lunch and the girls and I hit the rode to Shreveport. I bought new movies (thanks Jeanine), packed lots of forbidden snacks (thanks Jillian), and had every thing organized, or so I thought. Twenty minutes into the ride Addy started throwing a fit. Fit lasted about 20 minutes and she fell asleep for oh, about 30 minutes. Molly fell asleep too....ahhhh peaceful. Mary Ella, of course, watched her movie. Well, after Addy awoke, she started fussing again, dropping her cup, throwing her snacks, squirming to get out of the chair. Then Molly started crying and Mary Ella covered her ears saying, " I DON'T LIKE THIS!" So after several stops, like 5, to retrieve dropped items and readjust we arrived in Shreveport where my in-laws had everything set up for us to crash and CRASH we did. Wow, we all slept hard. A trip that would normally take 4-4 1/2 hours took a little over five. I know I can blame a little of this on the two year old phase, but Addy had never EVER liked riding in the car.

I left the kids in Shreveport June 13th and drove to Tyler as they moved in our "stuff". I unpacked the kitchen like mad and on June 14th drove back down to Galveston for Scott's graduation banquet. We had a nice time and enjoyed some quiet time together. I left on the 15th and came back to Tyler to unpack some more. Scott's parents brought the kiddos over on June 16th and we began to settle. Scott had two more weeks to go, so he stayed in Galveston.

It was a whirlwind, but the move was a success overall and THANK GOD for my brother and in-laws....they saved us and gave our kids lots of attention. Thanks to them, the kids had some fun while we were productive.

Easy trip (yes I said e-a-s-y)

It is not often that you can claim a car trip was easy when you have a 4, 2 and 8 month old, but we managed to have one....finally. They did beautifully (aside from the crumbs and sticky fingerprints, they car survived as well). Five days prior to the move, we took a trip to Horseshoe Bay to visit my grandparents and extended family.

Uncle Robin taking Mary Ella out on my grandfather's new jet ski. I guess you're never too old to have "toys", right???

The girls enjoying some down time with us. After all the hustle and bustle and being having to entertain themselves for 4 weeks while I managed the water heater crisis and move via the phone, they really enjoyed this trip too.

Molly getting some sugar from my grandmother and my grandmother getting slimed in the process!

My grandfather....a gentle giant often asks, "did you little rats eat all the food?"

Mom, you know how you tell all those "funny" stories about us???? It is payback time!!!! We, well..they (I don't get to participate much. I just run after kiddies) were preparing dinner and we looked over to see this. Mom decided Mary Ella's goggles were the perfect accessory while cutting onions.

My sister and many of her friends (15-16 almost college freshman girls) were there. All I could think about is how young they looked. I've begun focusing a little more on skin care since this trip :).

This trip was exactly what we needed. I think it helped ground us after all the chaos and gave us the opportunity to have a little fun.