We have...

May 2010:

Firebelly Toads... 2 of them to be exact!  The girls have been asking for a pet for a long time.  So for one of their belated birthday gifts, they chose to go to Petsmart and pick a pet.  We looked at fishes and birdies, and those weren't going to do it for them. 

Instead, they picked these:

Meet Cricket!  She is Julles' toad.  She is bright green on top and bright orange on her belly.  She is definatly the more hyper of the two.  She is very hard to catch and hold.  She actually tried to escape from the cage the first day.  She somehow got out through a small opening in the lid, and Beene found her sitting on top.

This is Samanda!  She is Beene's toad.  She is much more mellow than Cricket and is much easier to hold.  She is brown on top and blends in with the drift wood we have in the tank, she too is bright orange on her belly.  She is the "piggiest" out of the two when they eat, I guess size doesn't matter in toadville.

Jonathan and I are both trying to get over the eww factor.  I don't mind the toads, but the crickets that they eat, they give me the eeby geebies and I can't hold the bag that they come in.  It makes me feel like they are crawling all over me.  I would rather get the toads out of the tank.  

The girls love them some toads!  We were lucky that they wanted the same kind, since we only had one tank, and other types of frogs and such can't be in with eachother.  These are great started pets, and I am glad that we have them.  They make really cool sounds, but only at night and it is very quiet.  

Welcome to the family!   

 

Miss Melanie came for a visit!

May 2010:

Together again!

Miss Melanie was diagnosed with Lukemia and left school in October.  The kids and parent's were very sad to see her go, and it was hard to see her go through such a yucky fight.  Her family started a blog so that people could follow her progress.  She is a very lucky gal, because she is beating this deadly disease and that makes us all very happy.  Beene had us follow the blog, and she made sure that we prayed for her and her son every night.  Miss Melanie definatly made a mark on our little girl.   

Miss Melanie made a surprise visit to the school (without her dr's knowing...), but these kids are her life and she missed them so badly.  When I picked Beene up from school, she was bursting at the seams to tell me about her special visit.  She said that she looked different (she had lost her hair, and had to wear gloves and a special mask to keep her safe from any germs, but that she wasn't scared because of Miss Melanies eyes and voice, they were the same as she remembers and that made her feel safe.  The whole school was beaming that day because of the fun surprise.

What a fabulous woman Miss Melanie is and what a fighter!  She is a miracle! 

Beene's 6!!

May 12 2010:

Today my Jillian is 6 years old.  She is such a smart little girl, who has an amazing amount of charm. 6 years ago, I was a mommy for the "first time" and she was perfect and amazing.  She still is both those things, and then with age comes other fun things. 

She is a nature lover and can be found looking for bugs, flowers, rocks, and other "treasures".  If she could play outside all day she would.  She loves to create... drawing, coloring, making books, and puppet shows.  She loves to play with Julles, who she consider's her best friend.  She adores her big brother's and Laurie and April.  When people ask her how many people we have in our family, she proudly says 10!!  She loves spending time with family and she can't wait for Sunday's to come every week to see her brothers.  She is a fantabulous helper with Buddy and takes great care of her Daddy.  She is in Kindergarten and is reading.  She is blossoming into such a beautiful young lady!  

She asks me every year if I am sad that my baby is growing up... because my mom always pretends to cry when she talks to them on their birthday's about how she doesn't want them to grow up...  I always tell her, that I am glad that I get to watch her grown and learn. 

Happy Birthday Beenie Baby!

Two 5 year olds in the house!

May 11 2010:

5 years old for the last time together!!

Because my girls are 362 days apart and Julles birthday being before Beene's, that puts them the same age for 3 days!  They think it is fantastic, and its like a week long celebration for them.  It is tradition that on May 11, we always take a picture of the two of them together, being the same age for the last night!  So, here is this year's.  Their older brother's gave them these fancy boa's and cute hair things.  They were in heaven.

May 9th: A day full of celebrations!

May 2010

What to celebrate, what to celebrate...

Julles Birthday:

I woke up to someone whispering in my ear, "Mommy, today I am 5.  Can I go to Kindergarten with Beene tomorrow?"  She was always asking when she got to "finally" go to Kindergarten and I would tell her, "when you are 5" and she took me serious!  She was a little bummed when I told her that she had to wait until August for her to be able to go, but she was ok once we started singing to her. 

For her birthday this year she wanted  an iPod.  So, she got one.  She was soooo excited.  She couldn't wait for that thing to charge and get music loaded on it ASAP.  ...Note to self:  take it out and charge it before wrapping it next time...  Now everytime she hears a song that she likes, she asks if she can have it on her ipod.  She puts in her earphones and sings at the top of her lungs!  What a great sound, and it always makes us smile. 

She is our little Noodle, but she likes to be "Just Julles".  She is often found smelling her blanket, playing with Beene (her best friend), and she is a fantastic big sister who takes VERY good care of Buddy.  We couldn't ask for a sweeter girl.  She is a techno savy child that amazes us with her ability to figure electronics out on her own.  She loves movies and singing. 

Happy Birthday Jullesie!!!

Engaged!!: 

So, I was on Facebook and what do my eyes behold, but two statuses saying that Joseph and Laurie were engaged!!  We knew that he had a ring, but didn't know when he was going to pop the question!!  What a great Mother's Day for Laurie... getting a gorgeous ring from a guy who is madly inlove with her.  They went for a long walk, just the two of them.  They walked for a long time, did a lot of talking and then he did it... he asked her!  What a sweet boy we have!  We are so proud of him, and the man he has become.  

We had to give them a hard time when they came over for dinner that night about having to find out on FBook.  We teased them that he asked her to marry him over FB because they were always messaging eachother on there even when they were sitting by eachother.  We are so excited for them.  

Wedding Date: September 17 2010

I am acting as the wedding planner... we'll see how it goes!  It is all very exciting and nerve wracking at the same time!   

Mother's Day:

I am so blessed to be a mom of such great kids.  Even though we had so many other things on this fabulous day, they pampered me and gave me flowers, and lots of love.  I got to share it with the boys as well.  So, there were all 10 of us there, eating Chicken and Dumplings (julles birthday dinner of choice), that Jonathan and the girls made.  I got to chill with Buddy and just have a great day.  I love my family so much and am so lucky to have them. 

I am also lucky to have such a great mom, myself.  She is an amazing mom, wife, sister, grandma and a great grandma.  We love her so much! 

Happy Mother's Day to me... early!

May 2010:

Beene came home from school one day and was being very secretive with her daddy!  I was told that I could not ask any questions, nor could I come upstairs for atleast 5 minutes... to which I complied.  She had made me something at school, and her teacher told her she was to wait until Mother's Day to give it to me! 

Well, she is her daddy's daughter, and they both don't do waiting very well!!  So, the same night she hid her gift, she begged me to let her give it to me!  So, I gave in and when she handed it to me, tears started coming and it was the most beautiful thing I had seen!!!

Stunning...don't you think?!

I love her handwriting and how she spells things at this age!  It says, if you can't tell... My mom likes Choklit (chocolate), My mom wants Noo Clos (new clothes) My mom is good at Mkeendinr (Making Dinner) and I love my mom because: SHE LOVES ME!!  Boy she is smart to know that!!!  I do, I love her more than words!

Muffins with Mom

May 2010:

For Joy School this year, I was in charge of May.  It just so happend that one of my days was before Mother's Day.  Well, I decided that we would do something special!  We had Muffins with Mom day.  The kids made super cute gifts with handprint hearts in a pie tin.  It said, "my hands may be small, but my heart is big!  Happy Mother's Day  2010!" 

On our fun day, the mom's came and we dined on muffins... we had blueberry, raspberry, apple, and bran.  We also had some fruit and juice and milk!  It was all very tasty and everyone loved it!!  I had made little booklets for them to do together about things that they liked.  But, you know how it can get when you get 6 mom's chatting and little kids playing around... yeah, they got sent home to do later... we had too much fun talking and eating!  Then we read The Kissing Hand, which is a wonderful story about a mommy raccoon and a baby raccoon and... oh I could go on for days about this fabulous book...its a must read for any family!  The kids gave thier mommies kisses on their hands and the mommies did the same to their kids.  That way, when they are away from eachother, they can put their hands up to their cheeks and feel that they are loved! 

It was very cute, and very fun to just be able to chat and catch up with everyone!  I am a little more than bummed that I didn't get any pictures!  Darn!