Watch where you are going

Growing up in my family, if you did something clumsy, we always joked around & called you "grace"... i guess meaning you have none when you do something clumsy. Poor Chandler fit the description today. I'm at my parents for the weekend. Me, Mom & Kensley went to a baby shower this afternoon. As soon as we pulled up in the driveway, Chandler comes running up to the van with a pitiful look on his face & says he knocked himself out. It took us forever to figure out what he knocked himself out on, but finally got they were talking about the propane tank from the gas grill. Okay...Huh? How the heck did he do that? Chandler is trying to describe & Carter is too, except they are 2 totally different things. But come to find out, he was riding one of his toys in the basement & apparently wasn't watching what he was doing & ran into the propane tank which was hanging up from something because Daddy has just painted it. Anyways, he had to milk it a little with MiMi & me I just said "awww, you're alright." He has a pump knot on his head. It's under his hair, so we don't have to worry about him looking funny. So we are still on a mission for a van. I found one I REALLY like here in Hickory. I want it bad, but we have to wait until Monday to talk to the bank to see if we can afford the payments. That part sucks. I gave Kensley squash last night. So far, she's had rice & oatmeal cereal & now I'm starting veggies. I wasn't sure if she liked it or not at first, but she seemed to when she opened her mouth. About half way through, she decided she didn't want anymore & started making some faces. However, tonight I have her the other half of the jar & she ate it right up. We had supper at Cracker Barrel & Kensley thought she needed what I had on my plate. She had several licks of my gravy & LOVED the apples... well the sauce in the apples. She started screaming & smacking her lips when I would eat it & not give her any. Your really had to see it, but it was hilarious.

A little about everything

So my van is broken again. It's driveable, but the air conditioning is not working. I feared this would happen... we could see it coming. I think Corby has finally given in to my bugging about a new van.. well, not new, just a newer, better on than we have now...one with a/c that works. We've started the process of looking. We went tonight & test drove one. The boys thought we were bringing it home. Needless to say, they were quite disappointed when we drove home in our same van.

If anyone needs any clothes for your kids, the yellow malls in Gaffney are having some great sales. The Children's Place had 1.99 & 4.99 racks. I found some great deals there. I also visited the other kids stores & found some good deals there as well. Yes, I did what I vowed I wouldn't do again. I went shopping with all 3 by myself. Acutally, it wasn't bad. Mabye because we were outside some & I let the play on the playground half-way through to give them a break. I was pleasantly surprised.

This afternoon we went to the fire department. This was Chandler's reward for filling up his happy jar. Chandler talked the entire time... about anything & everything... and Carter just had a blank stare on his face. He seemed mesmerized. While we were there, they got a call & had to leave quickly. It was exciting to see them speed out of the station with the lights & sirens.

A 6 year old cleaning spree

Chandler & Carter came home from soccer practice tonight. As soon as Chandler walked in the door, he went to the living room & started picking up all his toys he played with today. I almost always have to tell them both to clean up when they are done. But I was thinking, "wow, he's picking up without me asking." So then I'm fixing supper & hear him in his room. Our neighbor came over today & they were playing camping in the boys bedroom, so it was kind of messy. I went in there & he was cleaning his room. He ate supper pretty quick... highly unusual... and started cleaning again. He picked up Carter's stuff... toys, soccer cleats & socks, then went back to his room & finished cleaning in there. He made up his bed then proceeded back to the living room & started picking up Kensley's toys & moving them to the corner. THEN.. he got out the vacuum cleaner & started vacuuming the house. At this point, I'm wondering what the hidden agenda is with him. He's cleaned some, but never the whole house for this long. Next, he went in our bedroom & picked up the clothes on the bed & put them in the basket, cleaned up the shoes outside our closet & vacuumed in there. THEN... he proceeds to cleaning the bathroom. Clearing off the counter & wiping it down & straightening the shelf above the toilet & I think I even heard him spraying something & cleaning the tub. About 45 min later, I finally stopped him & asked why he was cleaning so much. He said he thought about it all the way home & wanted to do this for me because he knew it would make me happy. Awwww how sweet! I rewarded him by letting him move all his rocks to the happy jar, therefore he gets a reward of doing whatever he wants. He asked to go to the fire department. I guess we'll be making a trip there tomorrow.

My nose is itching...

... and I can't stop scratching it & sneezing. Spring is so pretty, but so painful. My head feels like it's in a balloon & my eyes are swollen. As the day has progressed, so have the intensity of my allergies. We've all got something. I took Kensley to the doctor today. She has an ear infection. Lord help.... if she gets one more thing.... agh!! Carter has the snots & Chandler's eyes were getting red this afternoon. Corby has a headache, but he said it's because he wore a hat all day.. ha, ha! We are supposed to have pictures made on Thursday, should be interesting to see if we all have puffy eyes & red noses.

On another note, the kids are on spring break this week. I was really looking forward to sleeping in this week, but I don't think Miss Priss is going to allow it. She was up at 6:45 this morning. I put her in bed with me & that bought another 30 minutes, but that was it. I stayed up late last night working on cards thinking I would get a chance to rest today, but it didn't happen. It's interesting to me to how my mind automatically goes to "what in the world am I going to do with my kids this week?" I hate to say this, but having kids in school & preschool really helps me have a much calmer day. I know I have several hours that I only have to worry about entertaining one kid, and she's the easy one. I used to think, when Chandler was a baby, that it was so hard taking care of a baby & how it much be so much easier when he would be older... NOT! Now, I think Kensley is the easy one. She doesn't talk back, she only cries if she's sleepy or hungry (that's usually not that much because I have her on a schedule & can predict those things) and I can put her somewhere & know she's not going to ransack the room. Carter is having a bit of an attitude this past couple days. Corby & I both feel he has a spanking coming. He's just asking for it sometimes. Last night he was twisting & convulsing his body all over this place & I asked what he was doing & he said "shaking all the meanness out of me". That should tell you something when he knows he's doing it. He come in from outside today & said, "Mom, I shaked all the mean out of me again & left it outside." This is all despite the fact that he's arguing & complaining about what's for supper & he spit food in his brothers face tonight while eating. Like I said, we feel a "whoopin" coming.

A trip to Statesville

I'm wired. We came home from Statesville tonight & I stopped and got a coffee to stay awake for the drive home. Now, I'm wide eyed & it's midnight! We had an fun weekend. Corby's sister Amanda had her baby on April 5. His name is Preston Aaron. He is a doll!!! The boys kept calling him "her" and "she"... I guess they are used to that with Kensley. All Corby's brothers & sisters were in town this weekend for Easter. The boys were so excited because they got to play with their cousins all day today. Here's a picture of all the boy cousins. I hate that it was 20 below zero this weekend... man was is cold outside... but they could have cared less. All of them had cold red noses, cheeks & ears, but that didn't stop them in the least. They also got to dye easter eggs. They had fun drawing on them with crayons & seeing what appeared after they dropped it in the dye. They were exhausted when we got on the road. It wasn't 10 min in the car & they were zonked out. Kensley is sick... AGAIN!!! It's getting ridiculous. I don't even think we'll make it to church tomorrow. Her first Easter.. not that she knows the difference... and she probably will not be at church & none of us can wear our new Easter outfits.

Kensley is 6 months old today

Wow! Time has flown by. My baby girl is 6 months today. She's not had the greatest of days either. Her RSV is flaring back up again & she sounds like she's coughing up a lung. She just hasn't felt well today & has either been crying, sleeping or attached to me most of the day. I'm exhausted. We did manage to get in a few good pictures this afternoon. She just so stinkin' cute! She is sitting up for a few seconds at least...depending on how excited she gets. Everything goes in her mouth... I mean everything. She's definitely cutting teeth, but her gums don't seem swollen at all. I'll be anxious to see when one pops through. I finally found a hair bow that stays in her hair. They are called No Slippie Clippie... I love them! I would love to get one in every color, but they are 4 bucks each. I'm going to try & figure out how to make them myself. I'm crafty, surely I can do it.

So the van... aka...Mom-mobile has been in the shop this week & I'm probably going to have to take it back.. again! It's dying I must say. It's interesting that kids & cars have been at the dr. every month (or more) since Christmas. It all started with the rolling Honda ... then the van has been in the shop 3 times since we got the car back. We've definitely got used to only having 1 car & I've become a pro at putting... excuse me... cramming 3 car seats into the back of the Honda. The air went out last, so I took it yesterday to have that fixed. Apparently it has a leak because it's hissing at me again. When it rains, it pours. I'm on the scope for a new vehicle but Corby is not convinced yet.

Kensley eats food!

My baby will be 6 months old tomorrow!!! She's growing up way too fast. Corby made the comment tonight that she will be a 1/2 year old. I didn't like hearing that. I gave her cereal last night for the first time. She LOVED it! I couldn't get it in her mouth fast enough. She kept grabbing my arm & pulling it toward her and cried when I took the spoon out of her mouth. She had some again today & liked it again. For the next month or so, I'll be anxious to see what she eats & doesn't.

On another note... did you see American Idol tonight? OMG... if Sanjaya makes it through after that horrible performance, I think I might boycott the show. It's ridiculous. Randy said it all, "I can't even comment on the singing anymore." Does he think he is really good? Ugh!