Sniffles and Smiles

I don't feel well. It's not sickness, but allergies and they are bumming me out.

It's the usual stuff. Stuffy nose, itchy-sore throat, watery eyes, sneezes, stuffy ears, sinus pressure. No big deal really, but it's made me think of all the people that suffer from chronic pain. Not feeling well on a day to day basis really does make life hard.

And that makes being in a good mood hard.

I've been stuffy since last Thursday. I had finally found something that actually helped, but when I went to Walgreen's on Friday to get some more I found out that the laws in OK have changed and I can't buy any right now. And I'm not sure if or when I'll be able to get some again.

Oh well.

However, this morning made me smile. The designated morning chores have been changing lately. The kids are growing and can do more so now Popeye empties all the trashcans every morning and then helps Bear sort the laundry. Bear sorts the laundry and feeds/waters the dog. While Bobo empties the dishwasher and loads any dirty dishes in, then after everyone has brushed their teeth and fixed their hair he wipes down the bathroom: mirror, sink, and toilet.

Also, they have to wipe down the dining table and chairs and move the chairs into the living room every morning after breakfast so I can sweep. But all of them do this together.

Anywho...this morning Bear asked if he could wipe down my bathroom like Bobo wipes down theirs. Of course, I said yes. Remember: I'm trying to say 'yes' to my children as much as possible. =) So Bobo showed Bear how to do it in their bathroom and then helped Bear wipe down mine.

Not only do I now not have to wipe down my bathroom every morning, but I just love it when I see my children helping each other. Particularly when they teach each other. I didn't ask Bobo to show Bear what to do. I was planning on showing him myself. But they took it upon themselves to work together. And it blessed my heart.

And my aching head.

Bridget

Aunt Soda and Uncle Pop

That's right, folks! Hubs and I have a nephew!!!

JD (blog name) was born on November 4 and weighed 8 lbs 13 oz and was 19 inches long!

He and mom are doing great. This is our first nephew (we don't yet have a niece) and our children's first first cousin.

We are all so excited about our new family member!

Bridget

Bad Blogger

Hello all! I'm so sorry that I didn't get anything posted today. I have a really good excuse I promise!

But I'm not gonna tell you what it is till Sunday.

So come back in a few days and I'll spill the beans!

AND NO I'M NOT PREGNANT!!!!

Love you all,
Bridget

Our Halloween Weekend

On Saturday we had tickets to see Sesame Street Live. Even though it was more for the little ones we made the big ones go too. They actually enjoyed it.

We had really good seats and there weren't many there.

Took this during intermission. Sesame Street Live has an intermission. For selling balloons and cotton candy. These people are brilliant. Take a 15 minutes break to parade balloons and cotton candy around right in front of all the little children. Getting past all the over-priced, completely unnecessary stuff out in the lobby is one thing. Telling your children no when all the other children around them are getting things is something else entirely. But no worries. Hubs and I stood strong. Plus, we were going to Chuck E. Cheese after.

Hubs didn't want to be left out.

At Chuck E. Cheese. It really is crazy that I have an eleven year old. It used to be just me and him every day. Well, at least till Hubs got home. He was my little guy. Still is.

Of course, Hubs got in on the action too. We let the big guys run around together and we took the little ones around with us. It is really nice to be moving into that stage of life where our children are becoming more and more self sufficient. It makes things fun in a completely different way.

Big guys on their own.

Can you guess how many tokens she spent on this horse? Four the first time, but only because I made her get off because another little girl was waiting for a turn. Then she spent her last two on it. This girl loves horses. Particularly ones that really move.

They didn't wear their costumes till Sunday. Grandma made sure they had Halloween goodie bags full of candy. Once we got home and they saw the bags they were perfectly fine with not trick or treating.

It really is all about the candy.

Bridget

Please, Do Come In.

I thought it would be fun to show you some pictures of my house. Two reasons: 1) Many of you live too far away to visit so now you can see where all the magic happens (?) and 2) I change my house so often that I thought I might start documenting it just for kicks.

Now, I'm not gonna show you my whole house right up front. (Must leave some things to the imagination.) But today, please meet my entryway:
Yes, those are shoes on the floor and random things on the lower shelf. That's where I keep all those things that actually belong to other people and need to be returned to them. Like the pink scrapbook you see there. I made that for my cousin 4 YEARS AGO. Yup, it's pics from the night before her wedding. Sorry, Ev.

The entryway is small but I love having a place to keep certain things that's not actually IN my living room cause once you step through the front door that's where you are. Meet the living room:

I was planning on making the house look all perfect before taking the pics, but then I got to thinking. Even perfectly clean my house doesn't look like a magazine and if I showed you my house perfectly clean and then you actually got to come visit in person you would think you were in the wrong house. So, I just left it how it was. School supplies and play doh and everything.

I do like how open our house is. And you'll notice that the magazine holders I told you about here are already different. When I decided to paint the picture frames you see in the previous picture the same color as my accent wall I also went ahead and painted the magazine holders too. I love them!

I had been having a little trouble with really being at ease in my house. And so I kept adding more orange thinking that was the problem. That I hadn't spread the color around enough. Finally, I decided to do the exact opposite and remove most of the orange and I am feeling so much better!!

Meet the dining room:

The china cabinet came from RC's grandmother who got it from her grandmother. Cool, huh? And the china inside came from my grandmother. It is white with just two black long stemmed roses on it.

When my grandmother saw my wedding colors: black, white and silver, she new that her china would be perfect for me. And she was right. It is simple and elegant and I love it!

My living room from the other side. I just moved this bookcase in here. It used to reside in my bedroom. When fall rolls around I just want everything to be cozier. Something about books, and fires, and throw blankets and instead of open, airy spaces I want cozy, snuggly spaces. And I'm also loving the convenience of it. We are learning French this year with a program on cd and now the cd player has a shelf to sit on instead of the floor. Gotta love that.

The focal point of our living room. The dresser the tv sits on was given to us by a friend in Montgomery. It is beautiful with marble inlaid in the top. I love having it in the living room instead of hidden in a bedroom. I get to look at it so much more this way. Also, the drawers make for great storage. All our DVDs and wii stuff is kept nicely together.

Also, this year we decided to hook our computer up to our tv. This way when the kids and I are researching something online we don't have to crowd around a tiny little screen. We can all spread out around the living room and have a great view. Also, I can watch Dancing With the Stars on the big screen now. =)

Well, thanks for stopping by! I have enjoyed your visit and am absolutely, positively certain that the next time you stop by my house will look somewhat different. I'm crazy like that!

Bridget

Pumpkin Patch '09

We went to the Pumpkin Patch in Chillicothe, TX a couple of weeks ago. If I was on top of things I would scan old pics at the pumpkin patch into the computer for fun. I'm just not that on top of things right now. But I do hope you enjoy these. They are getting so big and so funny!

This is his 'laughing candid' shot. The big silly.

His shirt looks too small bc it IS too small. I made him wear one of Bear's shirt for coordination's sake. I know, mean mama.

It was crazy windy and unfortunately there's not one picture where my hair isn't blowing in my face. =(

The End.

Bridget

Birthdays Galore!

Princess's birthday was on Tuesday. She wanted an Ariel (The Little Mermaid) cake and party and 'cowboy girl' stuff.

I made cupcakes Monday night and I'm gonna be completely honest...I made cupcakes so I could have one Monday night without anyone noticing the next day. =)

My kids are really good at being excited for each other. Its really wonderful to see.

They love their baby sister. Just this morning Popeye offered the last of his poptart to her bc she didn't like the one she had picked. So sweet.

Her 'cowboy girl' hat. She is gonna be a cowboy girl for Halloween and so we got her some boots. Grandma and Granddad got her the hat.

Popeye's birthday was on Wednesday. He told me last week that he wanted a Transformers party. Then on Tuesday he changed to Star Wars. Too bad so sad buddy. When I got out the Transformers stuff for the 'party' he wasn't at all upset. Just commented that he'll have Transformers this year and Star Wars next. That's my boy.

You might notice that Princess is still in her pajamas in these pics. Just a time reference: it was lunchtime not dinnertime and frankly, with that girl, I tread the 'lets get dressed' and the 'how about this to wear' line VERY carefully.

Both birthdays were very small but fun. On the Saturday before the two big boys had a birthday party to go to so Hubs, me, Popeye and Princess went to Wichita Falls for the day. We let them take their birthday money from Mema and Granddad to Toys R Us and pick something out. It was sensory overload. Princess just kept running from one thing to another squealing. Seriously, squealing. Finally I convinced her to buy a game she had seen first and she was happy with that a ring pop. Popeye got some Star Wars action figures. Figures. =)

Oh, and Popeye is gonna be Darth Vader for Halloween. Our first Halloween bad guy EVER. Not at all surprised its Popeye. From the time he was a few months old his dad has been battling his brothers with him. When he was a baby Hubs would hold his legs and use them as his weapons against Bobo and Bear. So from the get go he's been fighting 'the good guys'. Why be any different for Halloween?

Bridget

*I just have to note for my own sake that the 'using a baby as a weapon' reference was quite fast and loose. RC would be sitting on the couch holding Popeye and would just make Popeye kick his tiny little legs pretending to fight Bobo and Bear. He wasn't swinging him around the room or anything. Promise. That wasn't till he was at least 1. ;-)