Hard Work really Does Pay Off!

For about 6 long weeks now the girls have been very diligent in doing their chores to make sure they could stamp off every spot on their chore charts. The end goal was two fold. First, and in my opinion, most importantly the girls have developed some great new helpful habits. Secondly, they both got to work for their very own brand new bikes with training wheels! We have made a couple of trips to look at bikes to keep the enthusiasm going and FaithLyn has wanted a princess bike almost the whole 6 weeks. Elise fell in love with this Dora bike recently and it is just her size. We had such fun picking out helmets. Dan and I have a hard time remembering why helmets are necessary but we bought them anyway.


Olivia has done a great job mimicking her big sisters and she has been very helpful too. She has really learned how to help pick up her room and put shoes away and help set and clear the table. I am so glad that this helped the girls enjoy helping in those ways. I am just praying it lasts!!

But we felt like Olivia's efforts should be recognized too. She got this really cool swing and she is pretty pumped about it!!

Rain, Rain, Go away and take the Roaches with you!!!

WOW! It just won't stop raining!! If we wanted to keep our yard in good shape we would have to mow every 3 days! Good thing we aren't too concerned about that.

It's flooding all over the place. No one knows what to think or do. This just isn't supposed to happen. The plants and grass are all in shock and we actually have some green algae like substance growing on our back porch!

Not to mention that we just aren't equipped for this kind of weather. None of the houses in our neighborhood have gutters. Our chimney is leaking. Oh, and did I mention that the bugs are all a bit confused as well? They love the muggy mild weather but the rain has them kind of freaked out. I think they held a meeting and decided that the best plan for them was to come and camp out at my house! And by bugs, I mean roaches. I have commented on how I feel about roaches before so I will spare you the details of my long, LONG, journey to overcome this deep seeded hatred for roaches.
But every time it rains we find about 4-5 roaches dead or dying in our house. Don't even get me started on the garage. But because of my dislike of roaches I know how to deal with them (kill them). One of the girls favorite things to do in the morning is to go searching for dead bugs. FaithLyn has realized that if she could overcome her fear of the bugs she could make herself invaluable in the family. She has become the new hero around here. The first bug was discovered while I was unable to help so she went and got her shoe and stomped it while Elise hung out on the fireplace. Ever since then she has been my number one roach hunter. The other girls are a lot less afraid now too. They enjoy pointing them out for the shoe squashers. But Dan and I are the squashed bug collectors. We get to do the dirty work and if Dan is around I let him hold that title alone.

But every time it rains, which is about 2-3 times a day, more bugs find there way in. And this week it has rained every night! It's raining right now. I would go and look for more bugs but I don't want to spoil the girls fun when they get up from their naps. I mean we have to get our excercise somehow!

Our last few weeks....

Our sweet Memaw Cumbie in Plainview.
Elise loving on PawPaw . Olivia with PawPaw.

This is the pool at Nana and Papa's house. Dad just finished the porch around the front of the house and we thought this was a good place for the pool. We (I) just didn't think about trying to get the water OUT of the pool. The girls were helping Nana water the flowers and Papa suggested getting water from the pool. You see we couldn't swim in it because it was infested with june bugs! GROSS! Well, that's what the girls thought anyway.
Olivia was really getting into it and she got a little carried away. She was just dumping the water right out onto the dirt. She created quite a mudpile.
FaithLyn was the first to experience the mud up close and personal.
After VBS Aunt Angie came to visit. She is a super star at our house now. The girls LOVED her visit and we got to introduce her to all our new church friends.
The large slug we caught trying to get in our house! Did I tell you Dan accidentally stepped on one in front of the closet? It left a yellow slime in our carpet! GROSS!FaithLyn and Olivia enjoying the hammock. We sure have been enjoying this nice summer weather!!

I will NOT feel Guilty for......

As a mom it is so easy to pile on the guilt about what we have done wrong or have failed to do all together. My Mom gave me a book called "Motherhood: The Guilt that Keeps on Giving" by Julie Ann Barnhill. In the preface she gives an assignment to all mothers prior to reading the rest of the book. The assignment is to make a list of as many things as you can think of that you refuse to feel guilty about as a mom. I haven't filled out my list in the book yet, but my mind has been going back to this list for days now. It was such a refreshing thing for me to be able to think of some of the things that I feel good about as a Mom. I thought maybe it was time to write that list down. Maybe some of you tired Moms out there would benefit from doing this too?

SO... here goes....

As a Mother I refuse to feel guilty for.......

1. Letting my little girls scream as much as they want when we are playing ... OUTSIDE.

2. Teaching my children to respect others by answering when someone speaks to them.

3. Disciplining my children in whatever way Dan and I see fit, ie. spankings, time-outs, loss of
priviledge.

4. NEVER withholding love from my children, even through discipline.

5. Expecting first time obedience from my children.

6. Reading to my children LOTS.

7. Making my relationship with the Lord and then my husband a priority over them.

8. Teaching my children to respect authority.

9. Allowing my children to watch an hour or TWO of TV every day.

10. Putting my children to bed at 7:30 so I can enjoy some time with their father.

11. Allowing my babies to cry themselves to sleep.

12. Putting my children on a schedule that promotes a schedule that works best for Dan and I
and our lifestyle.

13. Telling my children about Jesus' love and reading from the Bible.

14. Trying my best to imitate Christ for the little eyes that are watching me CONSTANTLY.

15. Saying sorry when I fail to imitate Christ before those little eyes.

16. Hugging and kissing my little ones as much as they will let me!

17. Allowing myself to be silly and play with my girls.

18. Putting off the dishes if my girls want to spend some time with me.

Well, that's just for starters. I have plenty to feel guilty for, believe me, but today I want to focus on the things that I feel confident about.

Another quick update!

Summer hasn't slowed down for us so unfortunately my blog probably will!

We started VBS this week and I am leading a 2nd grade class. It's a lot of fun and this is the girl's first year to really experience a week of VBS. We all took long naps today!

I had another sonogram today and we are still having a boy! I guess we better get busy with those boy names! Maybe we should start looking for a car seat, too, You think? Anyway, praise the Lord, my marginal placenta previa looks like it has moved and that shouldn't be any problem. Thank You, LORD!! Now if He can just hold my womb together for a few more weeks!!

Last weekend we went to visit Nana and Papa while Dan took the youth group on the 1st annual Brazos River Canoe/Camping trip. It went well and I think there might be a 2nd annual trip! We had a fun but short visit to good ole West Texas. Dan will be taking the youth group to Centrifuge next week after VBS so we will be traveling back to Nana and Papa's. We are trying to take advantage of the close proximity. It's only a 3 hr. drive and it's very pretty and relaxing. Something about those wide open spaces makes me feel so free and calm. Plus, the rain has made everything so green. I can't remember the last time I saw it this green around here.

I will try to update with pictures as I have time but time is short and I am not getting any less pregnant so you will have to settle for my best effort right now.

Pregnancy Update

I just got the results back from my 28 wk labs. For those of you that don't have that lab work done every year, it's the blood work that determines your glucose levels and if you have problems with anemia.

My glucose levels were fine but I am a little anemic. That just means I have to start taking iron pills every day. Not a big deal. But it does explain why I have been SOOO tired all the time. At least I know it's not from just being pregnant and chasing three little girls, or should I say, ONE little girl around. Elise and FaithLyn have this thing down. They know the routine and often remind me of the routine if I stray from it a bit. BUT Olivia, she just tears through the house like she's on fire! IF FL and E are doing something she is interested in I am ok. But once she is not being entertained I better start checking up on her! SHE GETS INTO EVERYTHING!!

The other day I heard the front door open! I looked at the clock, no, it's too early for Dan to come home. I went to look and there was Olivia taking the placemat out to dump the crumbs. It really was sweet once I got over the horror of the fact that my 1 yr. old could open the door!! The big girls do this chore for me and she was just wanting to be a helper too. As my Dad would say, She's just way to big for her britches.

Boy, am I tired. I think I'll go take a nap while I can!