Happy Turkey Day

Alex got to come home! He came home Tuesday night and Wednesday we took Abi and KayKay to meet Grammie in Hot Springs. They went to spend a couple of night with their grandparents. They were able to go to Big Granny's and Memaw's for Thanksgiving and are coming home tomorrow. We are going to have Thanksgiving at our house with Nana and Poppa and Uncle Seth.



Livi, Alex, and I went to our good friend Dedee's family Thanksgiving. It was at her mother-in-law's house and we had a great time. They have a way of making us feel right at home. I hope that will be a new tradition of ours for the holidays. Livi had a ball playing with all of the kiddos and eating until she was miserable. Thank you to Dedee, Sharon, Bob, Mike, Patti, and all of the kids for making our Thanksgiving wonderful!
I have also failed to mention that I took Abi to get her ears pierced on Monday. She wanted me to sit in the "piercing chair" and let her sit in my lap. So I did. She teared up and looked at me after the first earing went in. She didn't make a peep though. And she didn't even flinch for the second ear. She did great!



Makayla spotted the back hoe at Poppa's house and hounded him until he toook her out on it. He let the girls dig a small hole in the yard and they had a blast.



Olivia has also learned to give us the "evil eye" when she is angry with us. It is hilarious and, yet again, all my fault.
We hope everyone has a safe and happy holiday.

That's Amore'

Alex is STILL out of town. We are not sure now when he is coming home. He may miss Thanksgiving with us. We are praying that the situation in Virginia changes and he will be with us for the holiday.

In the mean time, we have been staying busy back at home. One of Olivia's favorite things to do is climb into chairs. She loves this little fold up chair that belongs to her sisters. But I guess anything in this house is community property because they all play with everything. So, here is a picture of her enjoying some cartoons one morning in the chair that she climbed in and out of 50 times.


Abi had her Thanksgiving performance on Thursday night. She did really well. It was hard to see her because there were a ton of kids on the stage. The only picture I got of her was when she came up front to bow when it was over. I was trying to film it and keep an eye on Livi and KayKay.


There are lots of things that the girls like to do to help out in the kitchen when I'm cooking. They have always loved to help or just watch the process. One thing that I typically let them do is make their own pizzas. I get the little crusts that come in a package of 3 and usually let Abi and KayKay make one and I make Livi's. They get to paint the crust with olive oil and then spread the sauce around. Then they sprinkle cheese and onions and put on the pepperoni(half of it doesn't make it on to the pizza). Well, tonight when I was getting all of the ingredients out, it dawns on me that Livi is probably tall enough to see over the island when she stands on the step stool. So, I let her and sure enough, she was a big enough girl. So I let her ,for the first time, sob, make her own pizza for pizza night. It....was...precious....




She is cramming all of the ingredients into her mouth in about half of the pictures that I have. So I tried to just get a picture of the finished product. There is some incriminating evidence on her chin though....




All of the girls had a great time making their own supper.




We really miss you Alex. Try to stay warm and safe.
We are all together in spirit no matter where your travels may take you.

Butterflies Coming Soon

The girls both used to attend therapy at the preschool that they went to due to their previous home life and everything that they have gone through. Their therapist, Holly, got a butterfly house and sent off for caterpillars that you can grow at home. You watch the caterpillars grow big and then they climb on top of the lid of their jar and hand upside down until they make their cocoon. Then you put the lid in the butterfly house until they hatch and are butterflies. Holly used this to signify the girls going from their old life to their new life with us. Then, they released the butterflies. It was a beautiful idea. So Holly got each of the girls one of these kits to do at home for their birthdays. We have been on a caterpillar watch for a couple of weeks now. All of the caterpillars have now made their cocoons and we are about to put them in their butterfly house. The girls are SO excited. They check on them constantly to see if there has been any progress. It has been really neat to watch. I don't know if you can tell in the picture, but the cocoons are in the cups hanging from the top. We had to put them on a high shelf to keep Livi out of them. And the other picture is of the butterfly houses.



Abi also has a Thanksgiving performance tonight at her school. The Pre-K and Kindergarteners are going to sing and dance for the PTA meeting. I am very excited about this because she loves to sing and dance. She has been practicing for two week. She comes home singing, "You put your drumstick in, you take your drumstick out." She has been "Turkey-trotting" as well, and shaking her "tail feathers". Which she thought was hilarious when her teacher told her to sing that because I always tell her to sit on her tail feathers. So, it should be very entertaining. I will be filming it if I can get Olivia to cooperate with me and be still.

With this hat on, she looks like she has Jamaican braids.


Everyone is doing well around here. We are all ready for Thanksgiving and a long school break. Oh, and for Daddy to come home.

Just the girls again

Alex had to leave town again yesterday. He is in Virginia this week. I would now like to share a tid bit of history that I have learned from watching "The Other Boleyn Girl", "Elizabeth", and "Elizabeth:The Golden Age". Virginia was named after Elizabeth, The Virgin Queen because she never married. There is also a town in Virginia named Elizabethtown. I know that Alex will be laughing his head off at me when he reads this, but I am impressed with any bit of history that I retain. So, I thought I would share the knowledge.
So, anywho, he will be back this weekend sometime hopefully. The girls had gymnastics tonight. They had a great time as usual and then after supper, we began our nightly bedtime ritual. I let Livi play in the tub longer than usual tonight. Usually we are in a hurry so I get her in and get her out.But tonight I let her play and she had so much fun! This is the first time I remember seeing her fingers and toes so shriveled up from the water. So I had to take pictures. And then it just got crazier from there. So the photos tonight are random.:o)




Me and KayKay were being goofy while Abi was in the tub and when she heard about it, she wanted to be goofy too. So she decided that a fishy face would be the most appropriate thing to do. So here we are, in all our glory.

We love all of you who are keeping up with us and have a great night!

Long Time, No See

It has been a while. Livi and I have been kind of draggy this last week. She has been running a high fever and had a sore throat and I ended up with a sore throat too. I took KayKay and Livi walking on the trail in Bauxite on Monday morning of last week. So I think the sickness was probably my fault.
Everyone is doing better this week. I still have some coughing. But overall, we are doing well. Alex came home on Friday and we were all very glad to see him. We had a movie night with the girls and they had chips-n-dip instead of popcorn for once.

On Saturday, Brent and I went to the Reba and Kelly Clarkson concert. It was so nice to get to have a "grown up" evening. Lol. Alex watched the girls. I guess they had another movie night because he sent me pictures on my phone of the girls lined up on the couch eating popcorn while I was at the concert.





We had a great time!! The music was incredible and Barbara Jean from the Reba show opened up the act with some stand up. I was so glad that I got to go.

Last night was another "my babies are growing up" moment. I typically sit with Livi in her room at night before she goes to bed and we have one on one time. We usually sing and talk. We always sing Twinkle Twinkle. She usually just smiles and dances along while I sing and occassionally I hear her say the "up above" part. So, last night, she begins to sway her head back and forth and hum along. And before I knew it, she was singing half of the words in her baby jibberish kind of way. I heard her say "up, above, and star" for sure. I was bawling like a baby. And when she was done she clapped for herself and said "Yay". Heartbreaking and exciting moment for me. I have been worried about her not talking much for her age. Ohhhh, it's time to get back to fertility treatments. lol

Today, I have Livi and KayKay at home. KayKay only goes to school two days a week now. So we have a lot of projects at home that we do to try to keep her on schedule for when she starts Kindergarten next fall. We are learning the letter "Y" this week. We went out onto the back deck and painted the yellow sun and some green grass(our letter last week was "G"). She is doing really well with the balance of school work at home and school two days a week. I am so proud of how far she has come.



Livi has been constantly brushing her hair this week also. I sure hope none of it falls out. :o)

Madagascar and Mayhem

Alex is still out of town. I went to my cake class on Friday night and left the girls with the sitter. Olivia got the vibe that I was leaving her and was kind of clingy, but when some of the kids mentioned going outside to see the puppies, she quickly got over it and took off. On Saturday, I took Abi and KayKay to see Madagascar on the Imax screen. So Olivia had to go back to the babysitter. She knew immediatley what was taking place. She became fussy and I tried to give her the babydoll that she had brought to play with and she slapped it out of my hand. Lol. It was difficult to leave her(she made it a little easier by acting bratty) but we left for the movie. The girls were excited and enjoyed the music and dancing animals. Abi keeps singing, " I like 'em chunkay, I like 'em Plumpay". That's what the boy hippo, Moto Moto, sings to the girl hippo, Gloria. And yes, the girls thought it was funny that the girl hippo had their Grandma Gloria's name.



After the movie, we went to get Olivia and then headed to Newhope to see the family. We didn't tell anyone that we were coming in. I had decided that it would be nice to have help for church and just to get to see everyone back home. The girls are growing so fast and every visit that we can fit in is precious.













Grammie and Papa came over to my parents Saturday night and Abi and KayKay were showing them how they do their handstands. I had asked the girls to not do anymore after about 10 minutes because they kept getting closer and closer to kicking Olivia in the head. I left the room to heat up Olivia's supper and heard the thud. Then crying. I returned to find Abi crying and holding Grammie. I automatically assumed she was just milking the attention because it wasn't one of those "in pain" kind of cries. It sounded forced. So I told her to let me look at where she hit. And sure enough, she had split her eyelid and it was bleeding and swelling. I felt like the biggest butt ever. Lol. I put ice on it and tried to console her. So, after all of that, this is what remains of her boo boo.






I took some pictures of Livi in the tub tonight. I haven't done that in a long time. Here is a flashback from about a year ago:










And these were taken tonight:




My babies are disappearing right before my eyes.



The girls in their pj's. They wanted to tell Daddy goodnight. We love you and can't wait to hug you again!

Cake & Co

So, this blog entry is going to be all about me. Lol. And fortunately for you, it is not going to be long. I have recently taken up the hobby of cake decorating. I have taken Course I and II at Hobby Lobby in Little Rock. Wilton offers the classes and they are very beneficial.
Brent started the first course with me but he was not able to take the second one due to apparently having better things to do. :o) I , on the other hand, will look for any excuse to get a babysitter and take off by myself. Just kidding, partly.



So far I have made a cake for a joint baby shower. Holly was having a boy, Evan, and Sandra was having a girl, Liv. So that explains the combo of pink and blue. The second baby shower was for Tonya who had a boy, Keegan. His room is decorated in helicopters, fire trucks, police cars, etc. I am going to do a birthday cake in December for a friend as well. I enjoy it, but I am still very much a work in progress.


We have made several cakes in class as well. The basket weave cake with flowers was the final for Course II. So, the girls are currently eating that every night after supper. lol. They LOVE my cake classes, needless to say.


So, I became very adventerous when I first started classes and I designed a name and logo for my future cake business. It will be called Cake & Company (Cake & Co). And the "Company" part will be the brownies, cookies, and candy that will accompany the cake. Lol. I know.I'm a goofball.

Abi's First Awards Assembly

Olivia and I went to Abi's Award Assembly for Kindergarten. (She is the third kid from the left, in a black shirt) Abi received an award for "All S's". She was giddy. She sat next to a friend during the assembly and they chatted with eachother and giggled at times. She got to come home early after it was over. We had a busy Tuesday.


After the assembly, we picked up KayKay and headed to gymnastics. The girls did really well. It's amazing how much they improve from week to week.

Makayla is always energetic and giggly during gymnastics.Her coach always gets tickled at her for one reason or another.
Abi is usually very focused and excited. She LOVES gymnastics and is a perfectionist.


Olivia's activities at the gym usually consist of eating, drinking, and getting into trouble with her other toddler friends. And she has the occassional melt down as well.




Alex left for Ohio today. He came home from the office early in order to spend a little bit of time with Livi, KayKay, and I before he headed to the airport this afternoon. We played in the yard. Livi loves the wagon that Papa Truman and Grammie Retta got for them. She drags it all over the yard even though it is three times her size. She got it stuck in the grass and KayKay tried to help her drag it out. It was humorous. We had a great time playing and then had lunch.





We will miss daddy. We will be counting down the days (supposed to be ten) until he comes home.