Spotlight on...

LILLY

Lilly loves:

the spotlight

to be silly

to do her hair

to watch TV

to read

to draw and color pictures for her family and friends

ankle socks

accessories

snacking

her brothers

to torment Abe (it's payback)

to have daddy/daughter dates or grandy/Lilly dates or just anytime she can get time alone with a grown up and hopefully they'll buy her a present even though her mother tells her not to ask for anything and tells the grown up not to buy her anything

school and her teacher

primary

to learn about the gospel

her cousins

to try new foods. She used to be so picky but now she eats lots of different things

Golden Spoon

horses and unicorns!!!!

friends

playing at the park

riding scooters

riding her bike (finally!)

to be helpful

me!

Lilly doesn't like:

when her dad leaves for work. We've seen lots of tears and shouts of "I love you! I'll miss you! Good luck!"

when Abe pulls her hair

when I ask her to clean her room. She gives me the stink eye

when people, especially her family members, are sad

when Abe goes into her room

bad guys

The Backyardigans (interestingly this is Abe's favorite show)

when you pull out an eyelash and it leaves a bump. She told me this one

when Oliver cries.

My first craftastic tutorial!!!!!!!!!!

In my quest to become a crafty mommy blogger extraordinaire, I came up with this little pacifier clip in no time at all and it was FREE!!!! I thought I'd share.

First you need your supplies:

scissors

glue gun

lovely ribbon (I chose a kelly green grosgrain ribbon but whatever you have on hand)

a paper clip thing

The directions are simple: cut ribbon to desired length, fold ribbon over pacifier holder thing and glue and then fold ribbon through paper clip prong thingy and glue. DONE!

Here's the happy camper and a happy mommy took the photo cause now she doesn't have to wash the pacifier a gazillion times. Feel free to pass on the knowledge but I would like all the credit.
Do you think I could sell this on etsy as like the white trash version of a pacifier clip?


p.s. this is a joke

hey there book clubbers (is that a word?)

i wanted to change our meeting to february 23 same time same place. does that work for you? please let me know.

The joke's on me

Let me start by saying that I think God has a sense of humor. Let me preface that by saying that it's been a dark and dismal two weeks for me. Kelly worked practically every night and slept til noon. His one night off he went to visit a non-active family, so ya know, it wouldn't be wise for me to complain about that. Abe was sick and waking up too early from coughing. My life just sucked and I told Kelly more than once that he can have the children cause I'm outta here. {Looking back it was such a sincere, if not dramatic, statement but I really don't know how Kelly puts up with all of my theatrics.}
Then, a few nights ago I prayed my guts out that please could Abe just sleep until 7. I just wanted a little extra sleep and the coughing was waking him up before the sun. So what do you know that that morning Abe walked into my room at 7:01. I chuckled. That was a good one and I was oh so grateful. So the next night was that horrible night that I just wrote about and when Abe went back to sleep at 5:30 after I put the blanket back on him, I prayed my guts out again, "Please can I just have a little extra sleep. Like maybe til 7:30?" And that's when I woke up for the day with Oliver at 7:30 sharp.
I still had a bad day though and I cried all throughout the day. I listened to Les Miserables and I cried cause when Jean Valjean dies and Fontine comes to get him it just kind of tears your heart out. And I realized I should probably be on medication. BUT, that night Kelly
didn't have to work {hallelujah!} so he was able to put the big kids to bed and I could focus on el bebe. And guess what? He slept until 7 this morning!!!!!!!!! This is the first time he's slept through the night. So today is fantastic! No more complaining from me today. I just wish I could remember that it always gets better instead of thinking it's the end of the world.

Waking the sleeping beast

I've often referred to Abe as a beast, and now I know where he gets it from. Me. Last night my beauty sleep, which I am in desperate need of, was interrupted 10,000 times by all three children. Abe came in at 1 a.m. to have me put his blanket back on him. I did and growled, "Stay in bed." Oliver woke up at 1:30 (unusual for him except for the last two nights) and stayed. awake. until. 4 a.m. "Go to sleep," I hissed. Kelly came home from work right as I was falling back to sleep. Grumble, grumble. 5:30 a.m. Abe comes in again. "Can you fix my blanket?" Argh. "Don't wake me up again!" I snarled. Finally sleep! until Lilly comes in at 7. "When are you getting up?" "Ten more minutes," I pleaded. She comes back at 7:30 and asks the same question. NEVER! I want to scream, but by then the baby is awake and I crawl out of bed.
I feel like a beast today. A very sleepy one so BEWARE!

{Abe lovingly placed spiderman bandaid on a scratch on Finn's forehead}

Abe wears...

Abe has worn this outfit morning, noon, and night for the last 72 + hours. The only way I got the shirt off of him was to threaten that if he didn't stay in his bed last night, I'd take away his shirt. Needless to say, the shirt is now hidden and I promised to wash it today so that he can wear it for another 72 + hours. All Abe ever wears are jeans and his favorite shirt of the week. Several weeks ago he wore only his Star Wars shirts that he inherited from my nephew. He'd just change his shirt between the black one, the green one, and the blue one ALL DAY LONG. And his jeans, oh his jeans! He sleeps in them he loves them so much. And he changes his underwear 20 times a day. Every time I turn around he's pulling down his pants claiming he's "peed a little" and needs new underwear. They're all over the floor all over the house and I have no idea which ones are actually clean. He's a unique one this kid.

This is Abe taking a picture of me.

Lilly Who?

Lilly informed me today that she wishes she could have a different name every year because, as she put it, she's kind of sick of being Lilly. I suggested the name Cordelia {a la Anne Shirley} and she was quite pleased. So may I introduce you to my new daughter, Cordelia.