Happy Birthday to my SIL!

Happy Birthday to you,


Happy Birthday to you,


Happy Birthday to Kari....


Happy Birthday to you!

Have you met my sister in law Kari? She is married to my younger brother. She is the one you see at the mall with her baby boy in the stroller and her 3 girls with their babies in their strollers. She has 4 kids that are 4 and under and still sews dresses and makes matching bows (not for the boy). She also has really cute hair with chunky highlights, the kind you wish you could pull off. She still knows what is in style, and looks good in it (she gets the info. from her younger sisters, but still!). Her house is always in order (she will vehemently disagree here, but it is!). In the middle of her chaos, she still cares about other people. She is an excellent writer and her blog will make you laugh out loud. Sometimes it might make you cry too. She is a pretty extraordinary person, but if you tell her that, she will disagree. Either that or she won't hear you (all that pregnancy has shot her hearing!). But I am very proud to have her as my sister!

Have a great one Kari! You deserve it!

Potty training

What doesn't kill you will make you stronger.

This is my philosophy on potty training right now.

We have had a great 3 weeks with wet accidents (still haven't mastered the "other") for about 2 weeks. Until yesterday.......

Why is it that just when you think you've got something figured out with your kids, they pull a fast one on you? I thought we had the "tell me when you need to go potty" thing mastered, and I changed 4 wet pairs of pants and Elmo panties yesterday! Today I've changed 3 and I'm washing the "piddle pad" (the pad that goes in the car seat so that when they "piddle", it doesn't soak the seat!).

The most frustrating part of the whole deal is that Molly has all of a sudden decided that she isn't going to use a public potty. Now, I can't say I entirely blame her. They are pretty gross. But still! We went to Target today, after I had adamant assurance that she did NOT need to go potty. When I pulled her out of the car, she was wet. So we went trucking into the family bathroom only to have her FREAK out when I tried to put her on the potty. She was shaking she was crying so hard. What in the world?!?!?!?! I just knew I was going to open the door and be greeted by police officers, who would have assumed I was abusing my child for her to be crying like that! Craziness I tell you! I'm pretty sure that this all stems from the automatically flushing toilets at the mall, but who knows!

Well, I'm off to fold the 4 loads of laundry I just did (including all of her Elmo panties and the piddle pad!). Have a happy Monday, and please check out "My Charming Kids" blog that I have linked on here. They really need your prayers today.

My Boys

We had a great Sunday today. It all started when I rolled over in bed to see what time it was and it was 8:00.......8 O CLOCK PEOPLE!!! I haven't slept until 8 in so long, I can't even remember when! My little man is usually up at 6:30 and ready for a bottle around 7, but I guess even he couldn't help but catch a few extra zzz's with the extra dark morning (thanks again, time change) and the rain. So whereas we normally are running around like lunatics to get out the door in time for the early service at church, this morning was all leisure since the second service isn't until 10:45. We had eggs and banana bread and pumpkin-cranberry muffins (I got on a baking spree yesterday because I had 2 rotten bananas and some pumpkin in my fridge that I needed to use up!) for breakfast and long showers. True luxury! The service was great, both of the kids napped well, and I got to go to the grocery store by myself. I mean, really, what more could I ask for?

Molly was still snoozing this afternoon when Jack woke up, so Scotty and I had some time to devote just to him. This doesn't really ever happen, and I think little Jack just loved it! He has been really enjoying daddy lately, which I love. It's so much fun to see him want to be with daddy. If he didn't love his mommy so much, it might not be so fun. But his love for mommy is fully intact! Anyhow, how sweet are these pics of my 2 boys playing together?

Jack is SO sweet! And his daddy isn't too bad either!

I can't imagine a day without either of my boys!

Wow....long time!

I just realized my last post was almost 2 weeks ago! Wow! Time has flown! I got roped into/volunteered to be on my neighborhood HOA Board of Directors (the people you love to hate!) and my first big project has taken every bit of spare time I have (which isn't much!). I am finally finished!
Molly is officially potty trained! Well, mostly potty trained. She has not had a "wet" accident in over a week! I think it will be awhile until she does all of her "business" in the potty (know what I mean?), but that's ok. At least she saves that for her pull-up at nap time. Her teachers at school told me that she not only cheers herself on when she goes on the potty ("great job!", clapping), but she also cheers on anyone else who is potty trained and goes. I told them that didn't surprise me, because she cheers me on too..."Good job mommy! I so proud of you!" What a hoot!

On a less celebratory front, whining has become an art form in our house. Molly has developed an all new level of endurance when it comes to whining. Unfortunately, I have not developed the same level of endurance for listening to it. I guess this is part and partial to being 2, but it's kind of like living with a 13 year old with PMS. I understand now how men must feel, living with those kind of mood swings. It will make your head spin!

We are off to the YMCA on this rainy Saturday morning. We'll just call it a "recession date"! Speaking of the recession, I made a cheap and easy meal the other night, "Chicken Barley Chili". It's on the back of the Quaker Quick Barley box. It's easy, cheap, healthy, and tasty! enjoy!

Chicken Barley Chili

1 can diced tomatoes, undrained
1 16oz jar salsa
1 can fat-free, less sodium chicken broth
1 cup Quaker Quick Barley
3 cups water
1 Tbsp. chili powder
1 tsp. cumin
1 can black beans, rinsed and drained
1 (15 oz) can corn with peppers, undrained
3 cups chopped, cooked chicken (about 1 1/2 lbs.)
shredded cheese
sour cream

Combine first 7 ingredients in a Dutch oven. Bring to a boil over high heat; cover and reduce heat to simmer for 20 minutes. Add beans, corn and chicken; increase heat to high until it comes back to a boil. Cover and reduce to simmer another 5 minutes. Top with shredded cheese and sour cream.
*if it gets too thick after standing, add a little more chicken broth or water to thin a little.

Makes 11 cups- 270 calories, 4g fat, 5g fiber

The Weekend in Review

I'm waking up this Monday morning with that feelings of, "where on earth did the weekend go?" It was a pretty fun weekend, despite both kids being very irritable and whiny (Motrin is a beautiful thing!).

On Saturday we went to my mom and dad's house. They are taking care of my brother's kids this week while my brother and sister-in-law are on a cruise (you can read in a little jealousy there!). They have split them up with my sister-in-law's parents, so this weekend they had the twins. The twins are 10 months older than Molly, so it's always fun/crazy to get them together. They had a particular amount of fun with some of Nina's play hats:

Farmer Molly Easter Bonnet Farmer Papa
How fun is that?

We had a great time, and miraculously, everyone even took naps. We saw the whole crew again on Sunday at church, which would have been a lot of fun except that Molly acted like a cornered animal when the twins came in for a hug and she didn't recover from the crying until we got home from church and turned on "Baby Shakespeare". I've said it before and I'll say it again....thank you Lord for Julie Warren-Clark and her Baby Einstein brainchild!

My friend Misti came over after church with her family so we could celebrate her birthday (which is today...Happy Birthday!). We were treated to a beautiful snow for the first time all winter!

Scotty looking like a jedi knight with Molly

It snowed the most beautiful, big, white, fluffy snowflakes for about 5 hours..........and there isn't a darn thing to show for it, thanks to last week's 60+ temperatures! Oh well. It still made for some fun!

Y'all think of me tonight around 7:00. I have been recruited for our neighborhood's HOA board and tonight at the annual meeting I have to "make comments". The only audience I ever speak to is my kids, and 90% of the time I don't think they are listening, so this will be a change!

And on a TOTALLY random but celebratory note....Molly just went teetee in the potty!!!!!!!!!

See the Animals and Clowns

The title of my blog is from a song I learned in the first grade when we put on our circus play:

"See the Animals and clowns, see the animals and clowns!

Watch the lions and the tigers as they chase away your frowns.

It's the biggest show on earth, a menagerie of mirth!

Step inside awhile and laugh and smile for all your worth!"

I won't bore you with the rest of it, but aren't you impressed I remember it even after having babies (because we all know that the minute that baby comes out, so do all of your remaining brain cells!)? I was a clown in that play and I got to ride a big wheel in school, which was a huge deal.

Anyhow, I'm singing that song because on Friday, we went to the circus! Not just any circus either, but the grandaddy of all circus kind....the Ringling Brothers and Barnham and Bailey Circus! One of the perks we are able to enjoy with my hubby's job is the occassional use of the company suite at Phillips Arena. He was sweet enough to get 4 (free) tickets to the circus, so my mom and dad (Nina and Papa) went with Molly, Jack and myself (hubby couldn't go...bummer!). I haven't been to the circus in a jillion years, but y'all, it was incredible!!!! Absolutely amazing! I wasn't sure what Molly would think. I figured she would either love it, cry, or just get distracted from it after 10 minutes and want to run around. She was MESMERIZED!!! I really don't think she took her eyes off of it for 2 whole hours. Her favorite was the animals....elephants, tigers, horses, dogs, ponies, goats, and even a porcupine!

Molly was glued to the glass!

This is what happened when I tried to pull her away for a quick picture...

So I had to settle for this....

...and this!

Papa and Jack got to bond a lot.

Jack and Nina enjoyed some time together too!

And then, being the precious little guy he is, Jack drifted off to sleep in the middle of the circus!!

We really had a great time. I highly recommend you go if you get the chance! Molly has been talking about it ever since! Of course, watching us trying to get her to leave and go home afterwards was like a circus act all in itself, but it was worth it!

On a totally random note, I'm off to make some "Deliciously Deceptive" (by Jessica Seinfeld, if you aren't familiar)carrot-cake muffins. The recipe sneaks in carrot puree, cauliflower puree (I just finished making both), apricots and prunes. I figure it might be good to get a vegetable in my daughter's body since she hasn't voluntarily eaten one in, oh, let's see, maybe a year? I'll let you know if the deception works!

My buddy

Have you seen my little buddy lately?

He is the most adorable little 6 month old ever!

At 6 months, he is 29 1/4 inches long and weighs 22 pounds, and is wearing 12-18 month clothing. He is a BIG boy!

He has the sweetest disposition ever. He is what some know as an "angel baby". When he wakes up in the morning or from a nap, he just rolls around happily in his crib until I go get him. In fact, half the time I don't have any idea when he woke up! He never cries, but just plays with his feet until I show up! He is ever so patient with me. He often has to wait a little bit more than he might want to to be fed or changed, but he never complains. He is so content watching big sister run circles around him or to just sit on the floor with his toys. He has a big smile, ready for anyone who looks at him. He loves his sister (who may or may not give him the time of day) and his daddy (he starts kicking up a storm when daddy comes home from work!). He is easy to make laugh and has the best giggle ever.

And he loves mommy the most!!! (smile!)

I just adore this little guy, and I'm so grateful that we have him! He is the most precious addition to our family.