Shopping Cart Serenade

We went to wal-mart to get a few things we tend to run out of at the end of the week . Kate is starting to notice each time I go to the store I take a list, well Kate said I want to write the list, but I don't know how, so I helped her write what we needed. She made sure to tell me she wanted a doughnut with sprinkles on it. I don't know why she wanted a doughnut we hardly eat them. I got finish making the list and she said it's not long enough, I want a long list like you have mommy. I said well honey we aren't getting are normally food list like we do each payday, so the list is smaller today. Kate was not wanting to except my reasoning, so I scribed one more item on the list and she said, OK now it's long enough, go figure.
The main reason I wanted to post an entry was Kate lately loves to sing while she is in the grocery cart. Last week she would sing What would I pay to spend a day warm on the sand ,from the Little Mermaid over and over just that part. I have to mention she doesn't just sing it she belts it out so you probably could here her 3 isles over if you tried. We get lots of smiles and giggles and comments on how good a singer she is or how happy she is singing. I just let her sing because it keeps her happy and occupied. Well, today was quiet the serenade. Out of no where she was sitting in the cart and as we were checking out she belted out the words to "How Firm a Foundation" she sang the whole first verse, I didn't even know she remembered that much. People stared to smile at her and the lady at the check out said are you singing a church song, Kate just keep singing. The Lady stocking the shelves said yes she is and started singing it with her. The two ladies thanked her for sing to them and off we went. I knew that this particular hymn was used in several different churches, so I knew other knew what she was singing. I think they were in sock she new the words so well. She belted it out all the way to the car. I was a little shy about her singing this song at first, but decided there is nothing to be shy about and to not discourage her from sing this wonderful Hymn. She was so excited and happy while she was singing the song, I wish I had a video camera with me, it was so precious. Kate has been so excited to sing the new songs she has been learning in primary. I keeping think to myself maybe I can do this whole sing time thing. It truly is a joy to watch her learning and singing the songs we are learning.

Never Go Back Moments

I just really being thinking and pondering this for a couple of days now and thought I would share. My Dad often talks about "Never Go Back Moments", it's those moments in your life that you experience something that changes you forever. Things in life that have such an affect on your life you just know your life will be changed forever and never the same again. The moments are sometimes difficult, some times bittersweet and sometimes just down right amazing. When my Dad points out "oh oh that's a never go back moment", it makes me think about my life, what it was like before and how it is today. Well I decided I wanted to list some of my never go back moments. Some things are just life changes, some are technology changing, and others are unexpected. So here is goes in no particular order.....

1. The first time I used a microwave or even saw one.
2. The first time I drove a car
3. Playing my first record, then tape, and now Cd's and now my MP3 player
4. First time using a cordless phone
5. First time using a Cell Phone
6. The day I got married
7. The day I found out I was Pregnant ,The day I had my first Baby
8. The Day I had my second baby, the day I found out I was having a boy.
9. The first time using a digital camera.
10. The first time using Internet.
11. The first time using high-speed instead of Dial-up.
12. The 1st day of College.
13. 1st time using a remote control for the TV, instead of sit right by it.
14. The 1st time I bought a flat screen TV and saw how clear it was.
15. First time using a cat computer, then and Apple now a lap top.
15. The day I learned to walk
16. The day I learned how to ride a bike
17. The day I watched a movie on a VHS then a DVD player and now a Blu-Ray DVD Player
18.The day I bought my First Car
19. The day I realized I have no Grandparents a live here on earth.
20. The day I tried Peanut Butter M&M's
21. The first day I used a Web Cam to Talk to my Mom half way across the country.
22.The Day I went through the Temple for myself.
23. The 1st time on an airplane
24. The day the Challenger exploded when I was in kindergarten.
25. 9-11 and the Twin Towers.
26. The day my daughter started to use sign Language and talked to me.
27. The day my roommates in college introduced me to Country Music.
28. The day I met my Husband.
29. The day I got baptized into the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
30. The First time I went Repelling off a mountain.
31 The day my Husband proposed to me.

So there are just a few of my never go back moments, I'm sure as soon as I post this I will think of 5 more I should have listed. So what are your Never go back Moments???? E-mail me or leave me a comment, share your thoughts on the matter, I would love to here yours.

Caleb 9 months old

Caleb 9 Months Old

Caleb is now 9 months old. He is 18 pounds, and growing so fast it's unbelievable. Caleb is such a sweet boy. He now says Da Da and Ma Ma to both Jerry and I, he say it to the right person. He loves to play and laugh with his big sister Kate. His favorite part is to take a bath with big sister, he just laughs and laughs at her and splashes his hands in the water. He still loves to smile at everyone he meets. Caleb also likes to flirt with new people soo. He does this really cute thing where he lifts his eye brows and blinks 3 times, it's so cute to see. Caleb loves to eat cereal puffs, he eats them like they are going out of style. I think he really likes to be able to feed himself. We are trying to get him use to a sippy cup so that the transition from breast milk to real milk will go more smoothly. He has never really done well with a bottle and a sippy cup is proving to be going in the same direction. It may take him a minute. He is almost, I say almost crawling. He is getting up on all fours and reaching for things and then falls right on his tummy. You can see Caleb really trying to figure this whole crawling thing out, you can also see the frustration on his face when he can't seem to reach what he is after. I give him a couple of weeks and I think he will have it. Caleb's favorite foods are puffs, any fruit and sweet potatoes. He now will eat oatmeal flavored with bananas, he didn't want anything to do with it when we first started baby foods. Caleb is a really good traveller. He loves to go shopping and just be out and about, he never gets to fussy, which is the polar opposite of his sister Kate. Caleb's new thing is to take his socks of when he is in his car seat and try to eat them, yeah I don't know about that. Caleb still is a jumping machine in his jumper we got for him, he loves it and likes to jump what seem like forever. Caleb's hair is growing in a lot, I'm going to have to start learning how to cut boys hair soon. It looks like he is going to have brown hair, and I don't think it's going to be curly like I thought before. Caleb is sitting up like a pro and prefers that now. Caleb is very sensitive to the emotions of others around him. He often times cries when Kate cries and laughs when she laughs. It's interesting to watch. We sure love having this little blessing in our home. I love having a little boy around the house.

Sadie turns 4 years old!

On the February 15th our Dog Sadie turned 4 years old. Growing up we never celebrated our pets birthdays so I don't know why exactly we do it now. I hardly even remember how old our pets were. I just remember the day we bought Sadie we saw on her cage her date of birth was February 15 and I remember thinking oh that's nice, the day after Valentines day, that would be easy to remember. It's something Kate looks forward to doing each year, I mostly do it for her.
It's a good time to buy new things for Sadie that need to be replaced. Kate loves to take Sadie with her to the store to pick out her birthday gift. Kate takes this very seriously, she took a very long time looking and testing out all the toys this year to find just the right one for Sadie. She was very much into it this year more than others, she just plain loves to celebrate anyone birthdays. So after what seem like forever to me, she picked out a squeaky toy and new bed. I suggest the bed to her this year because she is great need of a new one. We couldn't find the right collar at pets mart so we are going to take her to the pet store in town to pick out a new one tomorrow. Kate loves to take Sadie inside the store she thinks it a real treat. We are so glad to have Sadie in our family, she is a very loyal, loving ,and very obedient dog. She loves children and is really good around them. Sadie I have to say so far in my life time is one of my favorite dogs I have ever had, she is one of a kind in looks and personality. I have never had a dog quite like her. Happy Birthday Sadie!

Feeling the love, A Very Happy Valentines Day!

We had a wonderful Valentines Day! The best part was just spending the day together. Jerry works second shift so I don't get to see him much, so being together was the best part. Kate had a great time, she loved picking out the card for Daddy, and decorating the house with our heart streamer. Kate was so surprised when she came down stairs to see she had a cute little bear and her very own flowers just her size. We also had so much fun opening our valentines packages from both sets of grand parents, that was so neat. THANKS SO MUCH Grandma and Papa and Gramma and Poppie. We love you and miss you. We had fun going to Kate's choice for lunch, she said she wanted to go sit and it at the RES tOO Tuant, as she says it and eat the pizza. That's code for let got to Pizza Hut if you didn't catch that. We drove to Dothan that day, it's the next big city next to ours, if we need anything that's not in Enterprise we usually go to Dothan. We bought a Web Cam that Jerry promised we could get this paycheck and a Blu-Ray DVD player, sooo cool. It was a great day. We came home and watch a movie and I made a romantic dinner with candles, we had Sesame Chicken and rice. It our new favorite dish, thanks Danielle for the awesome recipe. I think this has to be one of my best valentines day yet or at least it's way up there on the list. I had a great Valentines day, and I sure am feeling the love. I hope all of you had a great V-Day and know that we love and miss you all so much

Flower Shop fun

Last week I had to go to our storage unit and finally but are suitcases we used during Christmas away. I know, I know it's already February. They were unpack just not put back in storage. So anyways to get to my point of this entry. I found a little treasure I had forgotten about. I found my box of preschool teaching supplies I had stored away for a rainy day someday to be used with my kids. I found my dramatic play box full of everything for a pretend flower shop. Kate loved it! She played for hours, dumping dirt and planting fake flowers and pretending to have people buy the flowers. Jerry even got into it and bought me a flower from her shop, he said could you get me the orange one for mommy.... she said yes that is 5 dollars. Pretty expensive flower. I even took a little time to teach her the three things we need to have a flower grow.
If you ask Kate she will tell you Sun, Water, and Soil, well I think said dirt one time. It really was a fun time of playing and learning all wrapped into one. I think I will be doing this more often, I should since the supplies are just sitting there. All in all it was a whole lot of fun!

Singing Time Update

Well, I survived another week. It's getting better, the Sr Primary has learned the whole song with on week left in the month to spare and well Jr primary is really struggling. This song, "How firm a foundation" has a lot of words, so I think that's why they are struggling so much. I have to start coming up with my new gimmick for the next song this week. It's going to be difficult because I am not familiar with the song myself. It's called "My Eternal Family", it's a really cute song with a good message. I still struggle to sing and direct and having back to back colds is not helping my cause. At least the kids seem to be getting it right. I guess I can do this, who needs to know how to sing right, it would be nice, but I think I'm going to be OK.

I must have done something right

Well, I have to say singing time at church went pretty well. The kids loved the idea of the paper bricks with the words on it. They learned the first verse of the song pretty well, the third was another story. I was still very nervous, it didn't help that they had the heat blasting full force and it about 70 degrees outside. So I was sweating to death, more from nervousness. I still had trouble singing, but the directing was better I think. The kids seem to respond to me pretty well. The older kids want to test me a little with what they can get a way with me. One boy was rough housing and hitting his friend. So I told him right in front of everyone, do you need to go out in the hall for singing time? Do we hit in church, he quickly sat down and was quiet and was good the rest of the time. The primary Secretary gave me a thumbs up from that back of the room after I had set the boy straight. This is not an easy calling, it is so challenging. The lady that did it before me decided to help hold Caleb while I did singing time, Jerry wasn't there that day. She also wanted to check me out she said. She said I was very creative and that I did better then she ever did. I told her she did a great job and that the Kids learned just as much. She said she like my creativity. That was nice of her to say. So I am finishing up and taking the bricks off the board and the same teacher that made comments to me about how to do things, came up to me again and asked if she could make more suggestions. I know she was just trying to help, but it really doesn't, it really made me feel like I was still doing it wrong. So frustrating... I was feeling pretty good that I made it through without any major catastrophes, and then this teacher had to say something. I know, I know she was trying to help, I just wanted her not to say anything to me. So I was had mixed feelings at this point after I got home. I didn't realize how exhausted I was after all this, I think the anxiety of doing a good job just wore me out. So I took a good nap and woke up and as I was ending my day I hear Kate singing upstairs in her room. I go up to see what she is doing and she is sing only part of the song she remembered.... you hear her singing "How firm a Found-AA-tion (with emphasis on the A part) ya a a saint of Lord." So after that I realized I must have done something right, my 3 year old was sing the song I had try so hard to teach early that day at church. She was singing in her room. I felt much better after that realizing, that I may not know what I am doing but if my daughter can learn this not so easy song, I have done something right. It was so cute to listen to her sing, it put a big smile on my face. She got out her little hymn book and wanted to sing the song to her dad as well. I think I can go back next week and face this challenging calling head on and really go for it.

Chorister, Singing, Directing Music???????????

So I recently got a new calling/assignment in my church two weeks ago. I had a feeling that I was going to be asked to go back to teach the children in what we call primary. Boy was I right I got called the very next Sunday. I got called to be the Primary Chorister. I am totally freaking out. I can't sing or direct. I was supposed to just watch my first week and then start the following Sunday. Well, the Lady that was doing it before me called me and said she was sick and could I please just go ahead and do it. I said sure. I was in a total panic to say the least after I hung up the phone. I had nothing, NOTHING prepared to bring with me to help me teach the children the new song for the month. I had and idea in my head but never really followed through and finished it. So I started to race around like a mad women trying to finish breakfast, get kids dressed, get myself dressed, and try to pull my idea together all in about a 30 min time frame. So not going to happen, but I was sure going to try. I got Jerry up made him help me with the kids, I am in total panic mode at this point and he could tell. So he got the kids dressed for me, which saved me a good five minutes. Five minutes is a huge deal when you have no time to spare. The song this month that I am supposed to teach the kids is How firm a foundation, it like not the easiest song to start trying to teach if you have never done this before. So I decided to make bricks out of construction paper with the words on it and pictures to help them learn the words. So I quickly get the bricks together but am running out of time and am going to be late if I don't leave. so I bring extra sheets of paper to finish the last section of the music. I get to church while the opening song is singing, so I technically am late now. HHHAAAA!! I then go while they are teaching the gospel lesson to the children to take my papers out and see that I didn't bring the ones with the words on it, I only brought the extra paper. So I was late for church for nothing apparently. I just wanted to die. The primary president must have seen the shear panic on my face and said are you all right. I just told her I am so nervous and I forgot my stuff I work so hard to try and finish at the last minute. I assured her that once I have me stuff together I'll be together. It was just so on the spot for me. I had nothing, this was going to go well I could tell already. So I get up there and try to do the best I can, the poor pianists try to follow my lead and when I was stopping and starting, bless his heart. (He so talented at playing) He said I'll be fine. I was so nervous, I had a smile on my face and was very enthusiastic at least, hoping no one would notice my cracking voice as I was singing. I even had a teacher rudely say don't you think we should sing that part first then go to the next part. That totally threw me off, my focus and my confidence all at the same time. I know she was only trying to be helpful, but when you aren't confident in what your are doing, it takes on a whole different meaning to the person going through something like this. Anyways long story short, I got through it OK, I couldn't seem to direct the reverence and birthday songs at all. I simply wanted to go home and cry. It was not a good first experience. It wasn't completely my fault, it was really last minute. Well all week long this following week I have been getting organized and ready for tomorrow, almost to the point of over kill and being over prepared. I figure If ye are prepared ye shall not fear,right?? at least that's what I'm holding on to. I know that the Lord has called me to a special calling/assignment to teach these children to sing songs to learn about the gospel. I know he knows my strength and my weaknesses, I sure I will get the help I need. I just have to do my part and he promises to do the rest. I am excited and nervous all wrapped into one, I think it will be a good thing. It time for me to learn and grow some more. I hope tomorrow goes better than last week.

Kate's tea party

So I go into the kitchen after feeding Caleb and I find Kate entertaining herself. You never know what your going to find her doing, it's always a surprise. She was having a tea (Water) party with Sadie our dog. She would pour her a cup full to the top and she would place it in front of her and she would actually sit there and not move and drink it and wait for some more. Kate repeated this process about 4 times before Sadie decided she wanted some dog food to eat. After she was done eating the dog went back to having Tea with Kate. Kate and Sadie are the best of friends. Sadie has always been good to Kate they play together all day long. If you ask Kate she will say Sadie is her dog, she is actually mine, but I not going to argue that point with her, it is deep down most likely her dog. It so fun to see them grow up together. Sadie is such a sweet, kind and smart dog. We love having her in our home. It always great to see what the two of them are doing together each day. Yesterday she was playing beauty salon and doing Sadie's hair. Combing it and spraying her hair with water from the spray bottle. I don't think Sadie was to into that part. She came and sat by me and looking up at me, almost like she was begging for help to save her from Kate. It was cute. Just wanted to share the lasted adventures of Kate and Sadie

Happy Birthday Jerry

Happy Birthday Jerry!

On Feb 2nd celebrated Jerry's Birthday. The kids and I had a great time picking out cards and decorating the house and the cake. Kate got her daddy a movie, Caleb got a his Da Da as he calls him a Gypse King CD. I got him another CD. We all got him his favorite candy...Peanut Butter M&M's. We order yummy pizza for lunch. It was a good day, We had to celebrate it early that morning due to Jerry's new 2nd shift. That we all so love.... not really. We were planning on doing his birthday activity today, but they called him in to work overtime, so we will have to postpone it for another day. Oh yeah Jerry turn 32! Happy Birthday Jerry!!! WE LOVE YOU !!!!

Random Thought

I have a lot to post about, I just haven't been able to get to the computer this week I will have more to come. I just had a random thought, I wanted to share.... It happens to me almost every time I go to the Post Office. Every time I go to send a package to someone it can sometimes be a big production with a 3 year old and a child in an infant seat, a large diaper bag that I seem to carry in just to use my wallet, and a large package in arms. I go up to pay for my package to be delivered and get my sale ticket and without a second going by have this strange felling like I'm forgetting something because I have less than what I came in with. It's the opposite feeling of going to the store to buy something. I pay to have it delivered but have nothing after I'm done to take with me; verse when I go to the store I pay for something and I take it with me home in a bag. You may think I'm being strange, but it happens every time. I look around and try to figure out this empty, what am I missing, what did I forget to grab feeling. Has anyone else felt this way?? It like backwards shopping, maybe that's why it feels so funny sometimes. Oh well just a random thought I had on my mind

Sleepy Surprise

Just yesterday I woke up for the day and was taking Caleb downstairs and I see Kate on the floor asleep outside my bedroom. The hallway from my room to hers is only about 3 feet, not very far at all. I later asked her what happened and she did really know what to tell me, she did say that she didn't quite make it to my room to say she was getting up, and something about it was cooler in the hallway. It was such a cute surprise to see her asleep on the floor. The picture was hard to take because I didn't want to wake her up and I did want to use the flash. I had to hold my breath and not move while taking the picture so it wouldn't be blurry. It was good practice for low light photography and a cute picture opp all by itself. Kate is such a cute girl and she says the darn est things everyday, she sure keeps me laughing.