Gingerbread Houses

Building a Gingerbread house is completely and totaly a must for Christmas. The girls had a ball making a fabulous mess. There was icing in hair, on clothes, on tables, on the carpet, and in tummies. They tried the gingerbread itself, but they didn't too much like the taste of it, so that saved the houses. The candies, on the other hand, had to be kept under lock and key. The houses are extremely blessed to have gum ball roofs and smarty holly leaves. Brianna built her's entirely on her own, but Jadyn a little help from mama. If you notice the elf in the picture that elf reports to Santa in the North Pole every night on the girl's actions during the day and returns in the morning. There is absolutely no telling where that silly little elf will be when we wake in the morning. The girls have a ball looking for him!

Christmas Comes Early!

As you can see this is my beautiful baby girl Isabella. She is always smiling, giggling, and getting into everything. You may also have noticed that Brianna's Christmas present is being put to good use already. Yes, I know this picture is blurry. That is because the child will not stay still, and I have to work on my picture taking skills. There will be better pictures up soon. Bella is a baby that rarely cries---Only when she is tired or hungry. She is a picky eater and doesn't eat that much, but has these wonderfully chubby legs. She took 6 steps all by herself today. It wont be long before she is running all over the house! I have made plans to make a scrap book for all the girls. I have picture saved so I can make all three of them books that reflect their personalities. I love doing artsy, crafty things.

Christmas plans are coming together nicely. I am completely done! Well, not completely done. I plan to get Jadyn a Barbie doll that can ride with her on her new bike. There is this cute Barbie bike that is on the handle bars of her bicycle. I also have to pick up Brianna's Christmas Eve present. I have this tradition that was past down from my grandmother to my mother and then onto me of giving the girls a Christmas sleeping outfit on Christmas Eve. Of course we always knew that we were getting these outfits, but loved the idea of opening and seeing what kind of cute outfit Mom had found for us to wear. Mom always made Christmas magical for us, and I hope that I am able to do the same for my girls.

Missing the Craziness!

Things have been so blaaaaah lately. I have sort of got into a rut. There are so many things that I need to get done, and it seems that my hands are bound. I have recently gone through my small library of books that I have read or have wanted to read and found several that I would love to sit done and tackle. Back in the day I could read a book in two days flat, but now three kids later I long for the time to do it. Now, I spend my time chasing after two wild pre-toddlers and helping Brianna with her reading. She is struggling a bit with her reading. Don't get me wrong she knows all the words, but she is perfectionists and hates to say any words wrong so she hesitates. Her teacher says that she must increase her reading speed.

I have done most of my Christmas shopping via the internet or my sister picking stuff up for me. I have missed actually looking in the stores and buying the things myself. Am I crazy? I actually miss the craziness of the Christmas crowd shopping! Hopefully, I will get out to pick up the last little things and Brianna's digital camera. I intend on using this camera more than she does! I can't get any new pics up because I don't have the necessary items. Everything has gone missing.

Case and point.......We made gingerbread houses today-you know the pre-packaged ones that you get from Wal-Mart. The girls had a ball. Brianna did her house all by herself. Didn't want my help whatsoever. Jadyn kinda supervised the assembly of her and added a few of her own pre-licked candies to the roof. The turned out beautifully, and I would love for all of you to see the excellent craftmanship of my two oldest, but I can't .......not yet. But when Brianna gets HER digital camera watch out!!!! You will be slammed with all sorts of pictures! I have one picture in my sister's camera that is of Jadyn asleep on the potty. Now, I probally wont share that one, but believe me it's cute.

Catching Up!

Well, I haven’t blogged in quite a while. There just hasn’t been enough time in the day. An update on Jadyn…… She is doing well. Come to find out she has urinary reflux which is when the muscle that prevents urine from going back up into the kidneys is weak. She will have to be on medication until she is about five. ----Hopefully she will grow out of it. If she doesn’t then she will have to have surgery. So, for right now she is doing good with no infections lately. However, the nights with her are awful. She wakes up with night terrors at least five times a week. If you have never experienced night terrors –true night terrors--- then let explain. She wakes up screaming!----at the top of her lungs. There is nothing that I can do or say that will calm her down. I have recently started taking her outside in the cool weather, and that does seem to calm her down a little bit. Her eyes are blank. It is as if she sees straight through you. I get so frustrated sometimes. Isabella wakes up sometimes, then I have two crying babies. Brianna wakes up, and I feel so sorry for her because she has to get up at 5:30 to make it to the bus on time. We pray together at night that God will help her have a good night sleep.

On a better note, Brianna had all A’s the first nine weeks and is in the gifted program at school.. She scored so high on her IQ test at school that she didn’t have to test again to be admitted into the program. All she needed was her teacher’s recommendations—which she got. She is a girl scout and walked in the Montgomery Thanksgiving Parade. She had a great time. Jadyn and I got to walk with her because I am a girl scout leader.

Isabella is growing like a weed and will be walking soon. She is a cubby little monkey. I will have to get pictures up soon. She has about 8 teeth now and is learning how to bite, and boy! do those sharp little teeth hurt!

Christmas is soo close. The girls haven't asked for too much, but what they have asked for is sooo expensive. I-pod, Nintendo DS, Digital camera, Bike, Dora tent, cell phone (yes! Bri thinks she is getting this one, but oh well). I hate this feeling of wanting to give the girls things and not being able to do it. Times are tough now for me, and I am completely ready to feel a little of this burden lifted from my shoulders.

I am hoping to take three classes this summer to update my teaching certificate. Maybe then I will be able to breathe a little easier.