My Addiction

Yes, I was the crazy wife that called her husband on his way home from work Tuesday to stop and pick up some milk - it was the last day of the $1.99/gallon sale. I am shamed to admit how many I asked him to pick up - 7!! Yes, 7! I figured I could freeze a gallon, but when I looked at the dates, we can so handle downing all 7 of those gallons. We usually drink 5-6 a week. I know that is an obsessive amount, but when I look at it, at least my addiction to milk helps my body not harms it. I have been trying so hard to "clean up" my life. Meaning: save money, spend less, use lots of coupons, eating better, no more TV (we did exclude Survivor and 24 from this but 24 is now over so hopefully we just stick to Survivor night), and have quiet time daily - I have been doing this for a while but I have yet to find the perfect "quiet time"! Anyways, looking at the milk numbers (this is excluding the hershey syrup that I use for 2 of my milk glasses a day) - I spend around $15 a week on milk. That is $780 a year on just a beverage!!! Now we need some milk so I will chop off half of that for required for our health - that makes it a $390 addiction. Man, that is alot of money! When you think about it all beverages are pretty much a waste!! Think of how much money we would all save just by drinking water - no sodas, coffee, bottled water, juice, or if you drink alcoholic beverages. Hmm - maybe I should substitute a cup of milk for a glass of water. . . . .

No more thumb - AGAIN!

So here is my last picture of my boy and his thumb and elephant!! Sunday night, May 23rd, I told him it was time to say goodbye (if the kid would stay dry all night I wouldn't have had to do it, but he has been potty trained for a year and he still wears a pull up at night - too comfortable in my mind!) So he was rather excited about being a big boy.
When we put elephant in his memory box, he saw this bear in there and quick snatched it out to sleep with instead - it was from his exploratory surgery when he was a baby and did that awful loud man snoring. We then put a glove on his hand (Carly talked him through this because she sleeps with a glove). That night, we checked on his thumb, glove was off and it was wet!! Well, the next day at nap time, I fixed him right up! I put some no sucking polish on his thumb. He ended up trying to suck it, but it was NASTY!! He was drooling like a nasty dog. So needless to say, he has totally quit sucking his thumb!!

This is just a random picture, but it was cute. I walk into the kitchen and I see this. He was just sitting here as cute as he could be. I asked him what he was doing and he said, "Watching the show!" Carly and Chloe were dancing so he was just sitting there and whenever they were done, we would yell WOOOO! It was so cute (I can't say that enough about this boy).

Happy 5th Birthday!

THEY ARE 5!!!!!

I can not believe my babies are growing so fast. So much has changed/happened in 5 years and these 2 sweet angels have been apart of everything! They are such sweet girls and I am so proud of them. I never would have thought I would have 5 year olds as my best buddies, but they are and we have such a great time together. This year we decided to have the PRINCESS PARTY~ I mean how could we not since we just got back from Disney World! We went to Mint Hill park and they had such a good time (once they woke up from their nap - unfortunately we had to have it the day after the recital so they were worn out)!

They dressed up as Ariel (we had to borrow one costume from their friend). All the little girls dressed up and they did a mini parade - it started to rain, but we had just enough time to snap some pictures of all the princesses.

Here is the cake - it was a castle of course!

We decided to give each one of them their own cake seeing as how each year it is a combined thing. They even wanted us to sing to them separate. This was Carly's Ariel cake.

Chloe choose Tinker Bell.

And here are all the little Princesses! So cute!

May 14th

I didn't get to post this May 14th, but I just wanted to note the day as Harper's 1 yr. anniversary with the swing set accident! I must say, this year was great and he is such a wonderful little boy. I can't get enough hugs and kisses from the little monkey! Oh how our lives could have been different if the Lord didn't have other plans for Mr. Harper. I am so thankful for every day I have with each of these precious angels. Thank you Lord for blessing our lives with Carly, Chloe, Harper and Finley. We are ever so grateful!

Recital Time

The time has come for Carly and Chloe's 3rd recital! We were so proud of them! They did 2 dances this year - ballet (to a Tinker Bell song) and tap (to Put on a Happy Face). They actually smiled this year! At the rehearsal they got a little mixed up with their lines, but they did it again and it was smooth sailing. They looked so big this year. I guess the slicked back buns made them look older, but it was bittersweet to see! They loved every part about the big event. The make up, the lights, the loud music, etc. I really enjoy watching them do their dances (I guess I know exactly what they are feeling inside and I know how excited they are). So May 15th, revolved around this special event!
Backstage! I took them out there to see everything. They were in awe.

2 of their friends - Annsley on the right has been dancing with them every year. This year they met Ragan. They are such sweet girls. There were 14 kids total in their class this year. They were all so cute.

One of their favorite moves: arabesque.

Make up is the greatest! They got blush, eyeshadow, and lipstick. They loved looking in the mirrors at themselves. (And if they didn't have a mirror, they just looked at each other and admired their make up!)

Happy Face Pose - one of my favorite parts!

Oh Chloe

Yesterday I took the kids to Concord Mills, came home and ate lunch, and then I made them all take a nap. Carly and Chloe don't really take naps too much anymore, so I just made them lay on the couches. Well, Chloe fell asleep. When she woke up, Carly and I were in the living room too and she was all smiles. I asked her if she wanted to come snuggle and she did. She started making weird noises and wiggling her feet. She said she was hot. So I told her she could play or lay on the brown couch. She goes to the brown couch and then proceeds to just cry. I told her I wasn't going to listen to it and she needed to go into my room, close the door, and come out when she was all done. Well, after about 1 1/2 hour I had taken Carly, Harper and Finley out front and Matt came home. He asked where she was. I told him, "She is in our room and it sounds like there is an exorcism going on in there." Carly pipes up, "Yeah, she is doing her exercises!"

Side note: She finally stopped her howling and was in a great mood the rest of the evening. Needless to say, she didn't get the nickname "hound dog" for no reason!

Couple of Cute Conversations

So the other day Harper wakes up and comes out frantically looking around. "Good morning sweetheart, what are you looking for?" I say. He says, "Where's Dad?" (nothing like some morning affection from my only son, right?!!) I tell him he already went to work, but I was talking to him on the phone as he was driving. I ask, "do you want to talk to him?" Harper: "I don't, I just need to go pray that he stays home!!" Oh the power of prayer in a 2 year olds mind! It was cute.

At lunch time one day, the kids and I were talking about our prayer journal. I told them we needed to look at it and check to see if we had any answered prayers. I wasn't feeling good a few weeks ago, so I told them I was all better and that God answered our prayers. Then we proceeded to have the conversation that sometimes God answers prayers immediately and sometimes we have to be patient and wait - like our house. Chloe says, "And sometimes he just doesn't listen!" Of course it made me chuckle, but it opened up the door to go into how we have to wait for God's timing. That we would leave this house when God said it was time and it would be His perfect timing. It was really neat for me to be able to teach them the difference between immediate and patience when it comes to prayer. I love teaching my kids things, when at the end of the lesson, I get just as much, if not more!

Disney Trip - Day 5

Our last day at Magic Kingdom started at 9:00 am and ended at 11:00 pm!! It was one jammed packed day, but it was amazing. Temperatures were about 95 degrees, so it was quite toasty! But the great thing about Disney was that alot of the places where you wait are air conditioned. This vacation was so magical for our girls. I think they aged big time while we were there. They went from our babies to big girls!! I guess 5 is a big turning point in life - sad for Mommy!
We had to get their picture in front of the castle! They loved how big it was.

We had to go see the princesses again - it was the same ones, but they didn't care. They had to switch costumes anyways so Carly could have a turn in the wonderful Ariel costume.

Carly showed Cinderella her manicure and we had to explain why it was such a big deal. The one great thing about Disney World is they really make you feel like they care! The princesses spent lots of time with the kids and chatted with them. We didn't feel rushed at all! Cinderella was quite impressed with their accomplishment! I also love how they called the girls princess wherever we went. It made them feel so special.

Belle - again

This was Harper's highlight of the trip! He was so excited to see Tiger and Pooh. This is pretty much all he really cared about, so I am so glad we had the opportunity to meet them. Carly and Chloe did so well with all the characters (they used to cry every time they saw these things). They wouldn't get too close, but they got close enough for pictures.

Mickey and Minnie - Harper gave Mickey lots of hugs!

Carly finally got brave enough to attempt the tea cups. Chloe would not join in! Harper didn't care. After their successful run on them, Chloe decided she would try it out!

And she loved them and proceeded to ride several times. These two have a funny dynamic. Carly will go first and if she makes it out alright, then Chloe will follow suit. I guess that is a bonus to having a twin!!

Finley - hot, sweaty, tired, but a smiley little trooper! She is one amazing baby! Not many could handle the day she had and still be happy!

After the Buzz Lightyear ride, they saw him outside. They wanted to meet him. So we went to get in the line, they said it was ok, so we were excited to stand them at the exit spot and snap the picture! We didn't have to wait in the heat!

Here is Fawn from the Tinker Bell movie. They were a little hesitant here, because they didn't know the fairies (only princesses). But they thought it was pretty neat.

Tinker Bell was hilarious!! She was really loud and she was trying to get them to talk. They were very shy with her. Then she asked them who was older. Carly said she was. And she asked Chloe by how much. Then she said, "What were you doing in there? Sleeping in?" They thought it was so funny. Oh and when she asked them their names, they didn't answer at first. She said, "Are you Fluffy and you Fifi?" They started laughing so hard. They told her they had a sister named Fifi and then they told her their names. When it was time to snap pictures she yelled, "Cheese!!" So when you ask the girls about Tinker Bell, they will tell you she yells cheese really loud!

Finley waiting for the parade!

This is princess Tiana and her prince. Harper said he would only talk to little princesses so he told her to get down. Once she did, he left her hanging!! He wouldn't kiss her hand like he said he would if she got down!! Man, little heart breaker!! Notice one of the girls covering her ears - the fireworks at the castle went off, so they didn't like the noise!

The ladies with Princess Tiana and her Prince

Jungle Cruise. This was a little scary, but they were all brave. The lady kept yelling stuff and boy oh boy Carly was listening to every word. She yelled for everyone to get down, I looked over and Carly was down let me tell you! So cute!

The girls said they would ride Dumbo this day, but we were at the carpet ride and we coaxed them onto it. Chloe was very nervous, but it was all or nothing!! And of course, they all loved it!! We rode this several times since it was late there wasn't a line!!

The castle at dusk was beautiful!

It changed colors

And here is the main attraction: ARIEL!!! This was by far a major thing! The girls really wanted to hug her, but this was good enough. Matt and I were relieved that they got to see her. We felt like we let them down since they didn't get to meet her. This was at the spectro magic parade.

Getting ready for fireworks. They were not happy, but they were brave. Hands over ears and we just held them. It wasn't so bad and NO CRYING!! Yippee!!

And here is Harper!! He didn't make it through the parade or the fireworks. He was just way too tired!

Meet to Nice You

We also met Princess Belle on the first day at Magic Kingdom. Harper Banks charmed her up as he took her hand, kissed it and said, "Meet to nice you!" Oh boy! What a little heart throb! He was a little nervous going to see her, so you can see in the picture that Carly took good care of him as she brought him up there. This was the only princess he actually got this close to. He attempted to do Princess Tiana on the other day, but he had second thoughts. I guess we will have to keep this picture for future embarrassing moments!!

On day 4, we just spent at the pool side. We had to attend a sales pitch for the resort, and once we said no, we got suited up and hit the water! It was very relaxing. We ate dinner right there and enjoyed our down day!

Disney Trip - Day 3

We finally made it to the princess castle!! They have been waiting since January and it was so exciting to get on the boat to take us to Magic Kingdom. Quite honestly, this morning we had some emotional ladies (exhausted from all the hype) but they seemed to brush it off once we got going.

This picture captured Chloe's excitement as she first sees the castle! Notice Harper's hands over his ears - she was so loud yelling about the princess castle. And Carly was in a Carly mood, so there was no expressions. She did lighten up and the 2nd day at Magic Kingdom she had a warmer welcome for the first sight of the castle. Oh well, waited for 5 months to see this expression, at least Chloe gave it to me!
We made it!! We are on Main street right in front of the castle. (Notice the seating arrangement of the stoller. This is how we made it through the long trecks. Harper in front, Finley in the back, Carly on top, and me carrying Chloe while Daddy pushed the buggy - you see, 4 kids is a piece of cake!) It was really windy, overcast, and hot this day. We were thankful for the clouds! We tried watching the little play that was going on when we walked up, but as soon as the let off some fireworks, the girls were done and ready to go onto something else. So we proceeded into Magic Kingdom and came across story time with Belle. They watched a few minutes and then when they had a dad from the audience be the Beast and he growled, they were done as well and were ready to go!! I then decided I needed to break the tension and get them on a successful ride - Cinderella's Carousel! Eureka! It worked. We were all smiles after that. Then Matt got them an ice cream to cool them off, but gave it to them in the hot sun on the ground. Needless to say, the rest of the pictures they look horrible because they were covered in ice cream and cheesy poofs. We then took them all on It's a Small World. This was wonderful. Air Conditioned, relaxing, and we could all sit together. We also rode the Pooh Bear ride and Harper and I rode the Dumbo ride. We also rode the train that went around all of Magic Kingdom. Harper had a big smile every time the train tooted its horn. At 3:00 we saw the parade. They LOVED this and waved the entire time to everyone they saw. The main highlight was Ariel. Chloe was wearing her Ariel dress and the float came by with her on it. She was waving to everyone, but when she saw Chloe in her dress, Ariel started smiling and waving excitedly. OH BOY!! That made her vacation!! "Ariel waved to me!" Priceless!

We then went and met Sleeping Beauty. The girls each brought a costume so they could wear them to see the princesses. They were so excited to see them. They had such big smiles and were ready to talk to them. They answered all the questions they had for them. I loved watching their excitement.

With Cinderella!

Finley too!

On the Pooh Bear Ride

Dwindling energy! But we wanted to make sure we at least got one picture of them.

Harper was so excited to ride these race cars. Carly drove one round with Dad and Banks. Then Chloe took the boys for a lap.

Then it was time for Daddy and his girls. Can you believe that in 11 years (well I guess 10 for permits) we will be taking these type of pictures in a real vehicle! Scary!!

On the way back to the car! Chloe was done. We stayed from about 10 to 6:30 this day. It was exhausting, but the girls managed it pretty well. There were very dramatic of course getting to the car!!

Carly and her serious look. She was concentrating so hard to be tough but exhaustion was setting in fast!