She's 4!!!!!!!!

We had a great day with our birthday girl... The house was clean with balloons and streamers and the Happy Birthday banner hung, presents on the table, and red crape paper wrapped around the kitchen chair she usually sits at. We had special birthday cereal (coco marshmallow maties) and then got dressed in a new birthday shirt before opening a couple of presents. [I had requested that night off, so I could be coherant ;)] We all got ready, and went into Meridian and went bowling at Meridian Lanes. It was a Monday, and 10:30 in the morning, so suprise! we were the only ones there!!! It was great. They had little bowling shoes for the kids and a 6 pound ball that they could carry by them selves. The kids had a blast rolling it down, and Dax would get excited when the pins got knocked over. Sometimes, they would push the ball down the lane, and it would take so long getting down there I'd kinda forget that's what we were waiting on! lol. By the 9th frame they were getting restless. So it was perfect. The kids both tied with a 74. By then we were ready for lunch, and Abby picked........ McDonalds! Didn't see that one coming ;) Then we decided to get some ice cream at Yoyo's. Abby walked in and said it was her birthday, so the lady said she could have a free one. We loaded it WAY up and the birthday girl ate the whole thing! That's my 4 year old. We went home, and while Dax napped she opened another present which was Hi Ho Cherrio, and played that and watched a movie. She wanted to have rice and corn for dinner... ok... then the Pyrahs came over with BARBIE galore, and helped us eat Abby's huge-o birthday cake. Yummy! Pj's, story, prayer and song, and it was off to birthday dream land. It was great spending the day with her. Letting her know how loved she is.

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The next morning at breakfast, she looks over at me and says, "Ya know mom? Thanks for the birthday cake. :) And the streamers." Your welcome my sweet Abber Doo. I feel very lucky to be your mom.

maybe she'll be a vegetarian

I got off early one morning this past week, and got to climb into bed before the kids woke up. No sooner am I drifting off, than Abby is tapping on my shoulder. "It's not light outside yet, climb in." This is our way of getting a little bit more sleepy time with her. Not sure what we will do as it's getting lighter earlier... Anyways, she climbs in and it's like Darth Vader next to me.

Me: "Ab, go get a drink of water to help your throat."

A: "Dad already gave me some medicine."

Me: "Great, but you need some water."

A: "He said I had a frog in my throat"

Me: "Yup, it sounds like you do."

A: "No, Mom! We don't eat frogs! They have BONES!!"

I just laughed, but was too tired to explain what we meant by that, and that we eat things that have bones, we just take them out first :) HAha

Happy Anniversary

Well, I missed my one year blogging anniversary!!! I just don't know how that could have happened?!?!? HA HA! Like there is nothing else going on around here...

Sorry to my family, that you had to look at a bum crack for over a month now ;) Just know, that when this isn't updated frequently, that we are just dancing in the monsoons of life. And when the rain lightens up a bit, this is one of the first places I come. :) Happy New Year. LOL

Wordless Wednesday - a crack in the snow ;) he he he

...

The funny thing about this, other than the obvious, is that Abby is always the first to point this kind of thing out. She'll say it to me about me, or about other people. Very loudly. In public.

"Mom! That person's BUM CRACK is hangin' out!"

*can't you just hear it?* :)

keep it simple

So, of course I have been stressing over the holiday season. It still seems like it should only be August. I spend too many days in zombie mode that time passes me by. So we hadn't been Christmas shopping yet, and it was 2 weeks away!!! So I cry ... :) of course .... and then we went the next day and got what we wanted for the kids, and it was all good. A couple of ends to wrap up, but nothing worth crying over any more ;) Sheesh. So after all the mood swings, I got a cleaning bug the other day to sort out the toys and piles we have around to make some room for the new coming in. I brought some boxes home from work a few weeks ago (I actually don't remember bringing them, one day JB's asked what was with all the boxes in the garage... oh "I brought them from work" HA!) so I bring a couple in for pile sorting. The kids got ahold of them and here it is.

FREE. No stress. No horns. No buttons. No nothing. Just a cereal box from Winco. This went on for a good 30 minutes.

Merry Christmas

grade school flash back

Remember read-ins?? When you got to wear your pajamas to school and bring your pillow and snacks and read ALL DAY LONG??? What was the point of that? Did the teachers just need a break? Anyways, we rotated out the books in the bookshelf and Ab spent all day over there sorting and "reading" stories.

Then Dax came over and was walking over the books she had sorted and she got mad...

Fun day. Perfect for the snowy cold weather that kept us inside. For a little while at least ;)

Thanksgiving '08

Not very stressful. We went to the church in Kuna and met up with the Hulbert side. Our Brown family were the only ones from the "Petersen" fam. Although, my dad did show up! Anyways, all we had to bring were mashed potatoes(boiled frozen cubed hash browns and then mashed! Thanks hunny!), yummy potatoes(which never got taken out of the warming oven at the church) and 2 gallon bags of cookies.(1 1/2 came home). There was so much food!! I didn't have to work that night, so I was well rested. Well, at least rested ;) JB surprised me at 11 with wanting to take the fam photo that I have been bugging him about for weeks. I'm not sure why we take it on the back steps, but here we are...


I got an e-mail about being thankful that has sorta stuck with me. It was about all the blessing that we don't always think about. Like being thankful for a large heating bill because then we were warm. Having a house payment because it means we are not out on the street. The grocery bill because then we have food... all those things that are a burden, but our blessings as well. Having a job, because it means that I can still get up and work...

Today, and everyday, I am so very grateful for my husband and the man that he was when we got married and the wonderful partner, friend, and daddy that he has become for me, and for our beautiful family. We all adore him.

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~ Saturday Nov 29th

We (JB, Tom, Dax, Abby, me) did some errands today.

me: Are we going to Cabela's? (as we pull in down towards Best Buy)

Ab: Yea! Let;s go to Cabela's! We can look at the fish

*pulling into parking spot by Best Buy with the intention of shopping our way towards Cabela's

Ab: No, not this store! Cabela's! Come oonnn! *with that tone of -come on, you know what I want!-

We all started laughing!!! it was hilarious. I am so grateful for that little girl. That, by the way, is fighting to be 4. Don't even tell her that she is 3!

Just now

Sid the Science Kid is on TV. Dax wakes up and just wants out of his crib so he can grab his binki that he chucked on the floor a few minutes before. He wanders out into the living room. "Deee!" His word for anyone in the family that he is excited to see. Abby pats her lap. "Come 'ere Bubba! Good Morning!" He goes to the couch and...

Abby: Whoa Bubba, you're big! Mama! Dax grewed!

Me: Yup, he's growing. Just like you.

Dax: Whoa

Wordless Wednesday

Well, not quite wordless. I took this the other day. Just appreciating the kids, and how big my little 1 1/2 and 3 1/2 year olds are getting. Feeling guilty that I'm mean zombie mom a lot of the time, and hoping that in the weeks to come I can be more thankful for the time and energy that I do have with them. And Jb has been rockin' on doing the dishes! What zombie mom wouldn't be grateful for that!??!

in case you are wondering...

Yes. I did actually fall off the face of the planet. I made my way back and will hopefully post something soon. I mean- at LEAST some Halloween pics, right??! lol

Dax's Words

These wont be in order, and lately he's willing to say everything....at least once ;)

Mom

mommy

mama

and lately Anna

dad

daddy

ya ya is what he called Abby

and about a month ago he started saying Abby

drink

eat

pee

gra-pa

gra-ma

rusty

aunt

dog

cat

woof woff

meow

moon

sun

oo oo ah ah (for monkey)

Wordless Wednesday - Mommy and Me

round and round he goes!

Oct 2, 08 - Well the little man figured it out! He's messed around on it before, mostly just standing on it to reach something else, but I guess he saw Ab do it enough that he decided to try it. It's the new fav!

da plane! da plane!

So we finished dinner and JB said something about going somewhere. Ab says she wants to go to Aunt Julies house. I say all excited "Aunt Julie and Uncle Jim are on an airplane flying to Jamaica to get married!!!! Yeah!!!" "I wanna go!!! I wanna ride on the airplane!" she says. So I start airplaning around the house. "No mom! In the clouds. Please!" So I pick her up and up over my head. "No the clouds are outside. Please mom! Please can we go on an airplane?!" I tell her we can't, that we don't have money to ride the airplane.

Ab: "I found money in the car! Let's go get it!"

me: "Was it a couple hundred dollars?" :)

Ab: "No. Just one."

me: "we'll need more than one."

Ab: "I've got more money in my piggybank!! Wait I'll go get it!!!"

me *sigh*

Ab: "Here it is mom! Now can we go with Aunt Julie??? Please mom?! Please can we go see Aunt Julie?!" Then Dax got into her craft stuff and she got off the subject.

We love you Aunt Julie! Congratulations on the upcoming day. We will be thinking about you, wishing we were there with our kleenex, barefoot on the beach. Enjoy every minute, rain or shine, and remember how much we love you and Jim. Can't wait to hear all about it. Love you SO much Julie soon-to-be-Martin.