Progress

On January 2nd, I was sitting down at the computer to post a New Years Resolution post. I was interrupted by a call from Randy telling me Mom had been in an accident. Of course I had no idea, at the time what exactly that would mean for our lives. I spent the next several months visiting the hospital and not thinking about the organization I had planned for 2008. Well almost 9 months later, I finally started to get things organized in our house. My first project was Macie's room. This mostly meant cleaning out her closet. It had almost all the clothes she has ever owed as well as clothes my sister has handed down that are way too big. There were also some baby items we are no longer using and just a bunch of junk. It took several hours while the kids were at school, but I am finished. Of course I now have lots of stuff to move to the basement from the guest room.

Here is what the closet looked like this morning.

Here is the half way point. There were probably 100 extra hangers in her closet. They are all laying on the floor here.
The finished product. I know, she has way too many clothes. I tried to put all the summer clothes in the back. I think she will still be able to wear some of her dresses again next year. One of the hardest things about organizing the kids clothes is having to pack away everything they have outgrown. They have so many outfits I have loved and I hate that they can not wear them anymore.
This is what Macie thought of her organized clothes.
But, this is who she gave credit for the work. (Not really, I just like the picture of her kissing her dada)
Next up is probably Carson's room. But, I really need him to try some things on for me. He will not be happy about it. This summer he has been wearing some size 2 shirts and shorts. I think 3 years is all I am going to get our of them, so I can at least pack those up.

Stealing posts again

Check out Macie and Bryce.

A week in photos

We had a wonderful week at the beach with 3 other families. It was great to spend time with the Whitlarks, Reams, and Trices. With 8 adults and 6 children 4 and under, it was not small miracle that all went well. Everyone got along and enjoyed each other and our families. The kids loved having people to play with (or torture when it came to poor Caroline or Baby as Macie calls her) The only thing that would have been better is if the Landons had gotten to go with us. I am sure Caroline would have really liked Riley and Coulter to be there and split Macie's baby obsession.

September is certainly the time to go to the beach. It was empty. We had a house that was very close to the beach. We had the use of the pool in the condos across the street. They had a heated pool. We were very thankful for the warmer water. Most of the time when we were at the pool, we had it to our selves. There were a couple other groups we ran into, but crowds certainly were not an issue. It almost makes me want to home school so we will not have to work vacation around school schedules. (Not really, but I am telling you it was terrific)

These photos are not in order at all. I am too lazy to take the time to arrange them. Hopefully you will enjoy them in the crazy order.

Macie enjoying a snack at the pool.

Friday morning, the ocean was beautiful. There were no waves which made it fun for the little ones to play. But, there were several jelly fish we had to look out for. Eli kept looking for the peanut butter fish.

This is the same day, but later in the afternoon. It was very windy and the water was very rough. I was amazed at the difference. The picture is Micheal pulling Macie and Bryce in the wagon.
Carson had fun writing in the sand. A picture of our group in the pool. We are in the little heated pool. Notice we are the only people there.

Watching her brother try to catch fish. This is the day the water was so calm.One evening we went to play Putt-Putt. The place we found had little kids rides. Instead of playing putt-putt, we let the kids ride some of the rides. They loved it.
Carson and Eli rode the Ferris wheel. It went really fast. They both loved it. Carson was a little scared when they stopped him on top to let Eli in the other cage. Carson is in the yellow cage in top.
Macie and Carson wearing their Stinkys shirts.
Carson, Macie and Eli playing in the shade of the tent we borrowed from the Macdonalds. It was great to have.
Caroline Eli

Abby

And finally a family picture on the beach.

Thanks Landon's for giving us the idea. We had a wonderful time and look forward to going back to the beach with you! We are very sorry you could not go with us.

Check out our friends....

We have been having fun with friends this week. I have not blogged about it, but they have. Check out our fun here or here or here or here.

I'll post my own post soon!

FSU

Jeff took Carson to his first FSU game on Saturday. I thought he was a little crazy to take a 4 year old who isn't really into football to a 7PM football game. But, Carson did great and loved it. Jeff was very excited to take his son to his first FSU game and enjoyed the game even though his team lost. Here are a few pictures from the game. I wasn't there so there were not nearly as many pictures as I would have taken.



Jeff bought Carson an FSU jersey. I would certainly not say I love the look, but Carson has been wearing it constantly since. Here he is the next night with his friend Eli. Now, I just have to get him past the first big game and get Carson to a UGA game so I can work on his favorite team!

I want it now...

A few Macie stories..

Macie has started really trying to tell me what she wants. If she wants something to eat, she points at her mouth. Unfortunatly, she has a real sweet tooth. She is constantly asking for candy. She walks to the pantry and points at the door then her mouth. If I open the door, she climbs up on the stool and trys to open the container with candy in it. I have finally figured out what she wants when she points to the pantry door, so now I just tell her No. That always leads to a huge tantrum.

Macie has also started pointing to her mouth if she wants medicine. Carson has had an antibiotic because of the strep throat last week. So, she thinks she should have some too. She knows the cabinet we keep it in and she points to her mouth and the cabinet. Of course I say No, which leads to yet another big fit.

This morning, I was getting ready for MOPS. I opened the fridge to get her some juice. She likes to play in it as soon as I open the door. After getting her out, I close the door and go on with life. When we were about to leave, I asked Macie where her paci was. She looked for a minute and then went to the fridge and pointed at the door. When I opened it, she moved the juice and pulled out her paci.

As I type this she is eating left over pork she has pulled out of the fridge. She did not eat it when we had it for dinner, but if she finds it on her own, I guess she likes it.

Close

Carson's letter of the week at school was F. Yesteday driving home, we were talking about words that start with F. He said 3 and then I said 3. At one point I was trying to get him to say Friend. I asked him what is Carter. And he said "my buddy." Some how we have brainwashed Carson into thinking Carter is his best buddy, but he is not his friend! I just hope he doesn't tell Carter he isn't his friend.

As we were pulling onto our street (back to the F talk) I pointed out that grandma's dog Fuzzy Face started with F. He thought for a second and then said we could talk about S and then we could say grandmas dog SSSSSS Cinnamon. (He loves that dog) We then had to talk about why Cinnamon starts with C and not S. The english language sure makes it hard on moms!

Final T-ball game and football

Carson's last t-ball game was this past Saturday. It was a great introduction to the game, and he really enjoyed it. We will see what if he wants to play again in the Spring. Here are some pictures.

The team...Carson is #8

Macie hanging out by the fence

Jeff showing Carson how to bat. Jeff was the recruited coach for the day.

Carson and Carter waiting to bat. Cole missed the game and Eli would not be in my picture.

Macie and Asher (Eli's brother) entertaining each other. He is just a year older than she is, but he is a lot bigger!

After t-ball, Jeff took the kids to soccer. But, because it was Cherokee County's Fall break, no one else came to the game. We were a little aggravated because Jeff missed something else to be there, but they ended up going to breakfast with the Macdonalds.

A little later, we went to watch the UGA game with my college buddies. It was much different then when we went to Lynn's wedding this summer.

All the kids eating dinner. The oldest will be 6 in January and the youngest just turned one a couple weeks ago.

After dinner Macie found a nice box to play in. These pictures are from Sunday. We just thought Macie looked cute in her little brown dress and brown shoes.


This is not a good picture. She has her "cheese" pose. But, look at her sweet eyes. They look so brown. Sometimes her eyes look green, but here they look totally brown. People always comment on her brown eyes, but I still mostly think of them as hazel or green. I always thought you could not have a brown eyed child if one of the parents did not have brown eyes. I don't know how we got the brown eyed girl, but isn't she cute!

After 6 days...

of school, Carson was already sick! He missed school yesterday because he had a sore throat and head ache. He did not have a fever, but he said he did not think he could go to school. He loves school, so I knew he must not feel well. We went to the doctor and she tested him for strep. The quick test was negative, but she decided to treat anyway. Since they will not know if the culture grows until the weekend, she gave him an antibiotic. I don't know if it was strep, a 24 hour thing, or another bacterial infection, but after a couple doses of the antibiotic he feels much better. He said this morning "It doesn't hurt when I swallow what I throw up anymore." I think he really meant his saliva. Thankfully it was short lived.

Sleep Over

Labor Day weekend, Carson went to his first spend the night party. Our brave friends, the Macdonalds, had 4 little boys sleep over. Carson is the youngest and Cole (9 months older) was the oldest. I meant to post about htis a long time ago, but I have never gotten to it. Here are a few pictures.

Carson ready to walk to Carter's

Macie helping with Carson's things.

The boys and their lovies..Carter (and bunny), Eli (and M00), Carson (and blue bear) and Cole (I don't know his dogs name)

Macie enjoying time with Daddy at the playground while Carson was gone.

They all had fun and seemed to do well. I guess we will have to return the favor at some point!

Say a prayer

Please say a prayer for our friends the Landons. Jeff's brother Scott died unexpectedly on Monday. I would guess that Scott was in his 40s. Please keep the entire Landon family in your prayers.

The green eyed monster

I don't know why I can not get an image to post clearly, but I think you know who I am talking about. In the next couple weeks, we have several neighbors heading off to Disney World. Seriously, three of our close neighbors are going in the next three weeks. All the Disney talk has me itching to go back. We have such great memories of our trips the last couple years. We are planning to go back before Macie turns 3 and has to pay, but it can not come soon enough! Carson loved it and asks about going very often. Look how little Carson is in these pictures!

This is the life

It is 7PM. My kids are playing nicely together, and my husband is cleaning the kitchen. Of course I am using one hand to type after a major burn to my hand while cooking dinner. But, I will look at the positive.

Guess what came in the mail!

And, guess what Carson would like to wear every hour of the day.

As I suspected, it is that flimsy cheap material companies use to make Halloween costumes. I am afraid if he wears it now, it will not make it to Halloween. I let him wear it to watch Super Why today, but it is now in the closet until late October.

We did not get all the parts. We were suppose to get a pig nose and goggles. I called the company and they should be in the mail. Personally, I would much rather find a cute costume for him. But, he LOVES it. And, it is not really about me.

This video shows Carson singing an Alpha Pig song. (and Macie trying to steel the spotlight)

90210

Last night, I watched the new 90210. My friend Shahla had been talking about it for a couple of weeks. She wanted someone to watch it with her so she could have someone to talk to about it. I thought I would try to watch it. Back in the 90's I watched the original show. I did not watch it the first season. But, my friend Jimmy got me addicted my senior year at UGA. We would watch something else on the night 90210 came on at my apartement. But, Jimmy taped it each week and the next night we would watch 90210 at his apartment. After that year, I kept watching until they ended it.

Watching last night, I really felt old. I was thinking, my kids better not behave like this when they are 15. Plus, I was thinking how little I remember from the hours I spent watching the show. The final show was a big deal, but I don't remember what happened at all. I do have fond memories of watching it in college. But, I think I will keep my free time for other things now!

If you watched and remember the key points of the final season help me recall!

Worksheet

Today was the second day of school for Carson. He was very happy that he got to see Carter 4 times after not seeing him at all yesterday. This is Carter's first year at our school, but we asked that they be put in different classes. It is a treat for them to see each other on the playground and in the carpool waiting area.

Carson also brought home his first worksheet. I guess when you hit Pre-K you get to do more school work. Basically he just worked on writing the letter S. I bet Carson would have no idea they were even teaching him something. Carson did finally master holding a pencil/marker in the last couple of weeks. We worked on it a good bit this summer while Macie was sleeping. At first he would get a little frustrated, but he started wanting to do it correctly. He would ask every time he worked if he was holding it right or ask for help getting it into his hand correctly. But, it finally clicked. Now, he just grabs it right on his own without any problem. I guess I should have just given it time!

Macie missed her brother today. Hopefully she will get use to just having me around on Monday and Wednesday mornings. This morning when Mitzi came to get Carson, Macie ran to the car. When the door opened, Macie climbed in and crawled to the back to get in the car seat. It was very cute seeing her sitting there waiting for someone to buckle her up. Fortunatly, she did not get upset when we pulled her out and made her stay home. I think she would have been prefectly happy if I had sent her to school 4 days a week. I would not have liked her being gone that much! Even if she drives me batty at times, she deserves some one on one time with Mommy.

Answer and Winner

Alexis wins the recognition of understanding 4 year old boys. I guess it helps that she has her own 4 year old boy. Carson was the WEATHER helper yesterday at school! He got to tell his class it was sunny outside. And, we need to keep working on how he says his blends.

Weather is not the only word Carson has trouble with these days. Some he can not say, but others he just says the words wrong. He has been talking about the "torcannos" since we had a bad storm in May. This weekend, he asked Jeff to do "jick jack" puzzles with him. A few weeks ago he wanted to watch a movie that starts with the letter M. Jeff thought for a long time before I told him it was the Movie Cars. I never just called it Cars because it would get confused with one of his toys. Now, Carson thinks that is the name.

Gotta run, Macie wants me to read.

School Starts

It is funny how I have been looking forward to school starting for weeks. But, I was a little sad sending the kids off to school today. I guess knowing its Carson's last year before "real" school makes it a little hard. Those thoughts of course did not last long. I am looking forward to a few hours a week to get things done at home! I am just hoping Macie will be happy on the days Carson is in school and she is home. I learned this summer, she does not like to be home without him.

But, they were both excited this morning. I am not sure how much Macie really knew what was going on, but she was happy.

The front porch pictures. They were watching our neighbor back out of her driveway.

Back packs that are just a little too big!
Macie ready to head out. She is so much bigger than she was when she started at school in February.
Waiting for the teachers to get Carson out of carpool.
After I dropped Macie off at her class, I went to Carson's room to get a picture with her teacher Ms. Carla.
Macie and her teacher Ms. Teresa. She is watching the little boy who arrived before her pitching a fit. His momma is Carson's assistant. Macie did not care at all that I left her. She was happy when Addison showed up a few minutes later. Her teachers said she did well. They also said they could tell Addison and Macie know each other. They were happy to squabble over toys.

They both seemed to have a good day. Macie was very tired when I picked her up, but she did not have her paci when I picked her up. After I got her, we went through car pool to get Cole and Carson. Then we went through the 3 year old car pool to get Connor. She kept falling asleep and waking up when the door would open. She was sound asleep when we got home. She has not moved since I put her in her crib.

Carson did not tell me too much. He did tell me that his class had helpers. Which led to this conversation:

*

Me: What helper were you?

C: I was the "wedder" helper

Me: The letter helper?

C: No, the "wwwwadder" helper (this time it sounded more like an a)

Me: The ladder helper?

C: NO, the wadder helper

Me: I don't know what you are talking about. Wadder with a W or an L?

C: W, WWedder

Me: Can you tell me what you did to be the wadder helper?

*

With his answer, I finally got what he was saying. But, I am not going to tell you today. I want to see if anyone is reading. So, I am hosting a contest to see who can figure out what kind of helper he was today. Sign the guestbook with your guess, and I will post the answer tomorrow.

*

I am ending with one last Macie picture. This is from last night at my mom's. Macie was mad about something. I love it because it shows her true personality right now. Thankfully, she did not show this side of her personality at school today.