The Ratcliff's

Line Leader

2011-04-01T11:11:00.001-04:00

All lined up and ready to take Ethan to school. It's a really huge deal who gets to be line leader and who gets to be the door holder. Chloe is pretty much always last cuz she is a major slow poke in the mornings.

Fellow Gamer

2011-03-31T14:28:00.002-04:00

This guy will play GO Fish as long as he has a partner...or any other game for that matter.

Thanksgiving in VA

2011-01-06T11:43:00.003-05:00

We went to Virginia to be with some fam for Thanksgiving and they only lived 20 minutes from Virginia Beach. Our kids had never seen the ocean so we decided to make a day of it. The kids are still talking about it.
Joel loving his first glimpse of the ocean. It was COLD!

It didn't seem to phase the kids at all...at least the boys. As soon as I put my feet in the water they cramped. Don't know how they did it.

Joey's "work of art". He worked on this the whole time we were there just about.

Ethan loved going and getting buckets of water for the castle.

At the end of a very fun day. This momma was exhausted and we were all a little sunburned. Who thinks of using sunscreen in November?

Exhuasted

2011-01-05T12:06:00.000-05:00

Halloween

2010-12-16T11:20:00.003-05:00

Ya, I know I'm a couple of months behind posting these, but I've been sicker than a dog with this pregnancy. My dear Chloe was supposed to be a princess, but after seeing her daddy's mask decided she wanted to be a monster. She was quite a hit in the neighborhood.

This is my VERY sad clown. He was not impressed that I put a girl shirt on him. That's putting it very mildly.

The clown...still not happy. The monster...really needing to do some plucking. The cowboy...rearing to go.

Coming Thru!

2010-12-15T10:25:00.001-05:00

I'm afraid she takes after me when it comes to driving.

Best Friend's Forever

2010-12-13T14:37:00.002-05:00

Got to spend time with one of my "bestest friend ever the world" recently (as Chloe would say). Wish she didn't live all the way in Canada. Some weird guy was taking our picture thus the cheesy expressions.

Happy smiles after a fun weekend.

Baby #4

2010-12-11T14:12:00.002-05:00

Not one of the highest quality ultrasound pics ever taken, but the "dear" lady was on a schedule and was rushing right along. (Bless her heart.)
The little person was waving his (we decided to assign a random sex instead of saying "it") fists and bouncing around. Right before the tech finished he flipped from his back to his belly.

At this point I would almost place money on this child being of the female gender with how sick I've been. It's gonna be a long 7 weeks til I find out.

Mornings

2010-11-25T20:34:00.002-05:00

Need I say more?

Many Faces of a Princess

2010-11-06T10:42:00.001-04:00

All dressed up in her birthday presents.

Can't believe how long her hair is getting!

Chloe's 3rd Bday

2010-10-29T14:16:00.002-04:00

This cake was a real pain to decorate. Wasn't really happy with how it turned out, but Chloe loved it.

We had her birthday at a park and it was mega windy and a gathering place for bees. Don't think all the candles ever lit at the same time.

Strawberry Shortcake!

The cousins. They have so much fun together.

Weddings and Tuxes

2010-10-23T09:20:00.002-04:00

Chloe collected some flowers to take with her.

My handsome hubby. Something about a tux...

And the Joel who our Joel was named after.

My Cheesers

2010-10-19T09:48:00.001-04:00

Walk-A-Thon

2010-10-07T09:50:00.002-04:00

Ethan had a walk-a-thon at his school to raise money for expenses throughout the year. I think Joel and Chloe had as much fun as he did. They are all in love with his teacher. His best friend Grant is right behind him in the blue jacket. They are quite a pair.

Joel joined right in and walked over half of the laps.

Children's Museum

2010-10-06T14:10:00.002-04:00

Our zoo pass expired so I decided to get the kids a Children's Museum pass for this year. We went for the first time a couple of weeks ago and they loved it! Chloe loved this little kitchen and all the fake food. I cringed several times watching the snotty nose kids taking 'bites' of the food especially after catching Chloe doing the same.

This was one of Joel's favorite areas. The building zone. Love his little tongue sticking out. Guess it helps his aim. Maybe he should try that in other areas...

Driving the bulldozer.

Chloe and Aubrey Profitt playing in the water section. Chloe didn't last long cuz she said the water was too cold.

We had to tear Joel away from here. Can't wait to go again!

Church Hayride

2010-10-05T10:25:00.002-04:00

The kids could've done this for hours.
They were really more enthused than they looked here.

My pouty princess

Pee Break

2010-09-30T12:44:00.002-04:00

My boys think it is the greatest thing to pee outside. Took a bit to teach this one that you didn't just do it anywhere at anytime. Let's just say we've had a few embarrasing moments.

Dragons and Princesses

2010-09-29T12:23:00.002-04:00

Storytime. Chloe requested a princess story ... as usual. The boys were okay with that as long as there was a dragon (pictured above). :o)
Joel was quite into the story.

Of course the prince saved the princess and they danced off into the sunset....

after a kiss.

Chloe taking a bow while her brothers hollered their "bravos."

Camping and 'Mellows

2010-09-23T15:57:00.002-04:00

Joey had promised the boys that they could have a campout night for their birthdays, and Labor Day weekend was our first chance. (This is looking down on our backyard from our deck.)

The kids went "exploring" with their flashlights.

Perfectly roasted marshmellow number....

The evening was enjoyed by all. :o)

Joel's 4th Birthday

2010-09-16T14:43:00.002-04:00

Pizza and pretzels with the cousins.
Enjoying the new toys. Sophie's expression totally cracks me up!

Aunt Kristy opening the gifts that are practically "open proof"

My second cake. It was harder than Ethan's, but I enjoyed doing it.

This little guy's smile was my reward.

First Day of School

2010-09-10T12:43:00.002-04:00

Ethan counted down the days for weeks til the first day of school. I think it helped me a lot that he was so excited, but I still shed a few tears after I dropped him off the first day. He seems to be doing really well, and actually got student of the week his second week of school for friendliness. :o)

I think this was half smile, half yawn. If you look close you can see that his cheek is still rosy from sleeping. He's the only morning person in the family so this hasn't gone too bad for him as long as he is in bed by 8:30. One night we had company and it was about 10 when he got to bed. The next morning I patted him and said, "Ethan, it's time to get up and get ready for school..." He rolled over and groaned and said, "Why do you keep saying that?!?" :o)

Pedi's!!

2010-09-09T14:15:00.003-04:00

We try to have a girl's night out for each of our birthdays in the Ratcliff fam. My sister-in-law, Kristy, had a birthday last month and wanted to do pedicures for her night out. I had NO problem with that. We had a great time together, and by the end of the night had released endless amounts of endorphins.

Ethan's Five!!

2010-09-07T09:51:00.002-04:00

We had his birthday party at Grammy and Poopa's house this year. He got some really fun stuff!

This was my first attempt at ever decorating a cake. Nowhere near perfection, but he loved it. Guess that's what counts.

Gotta love the camera that waits til after the candles are blown out to actually take the pic.

Things That Happened During our Many Months Without Internet

2010-09-07T08:56:00.002-04:00

We went to KS for Easter to see our fam. This is the only pic I was able to take before my batteries died...thus the reason nobody is looking. They are with my sister's son, Trevor.

Some of our cousins had just moved to a farm nearby, and the kids got to feed their baby goats. They absolutely loved it!

Mother's Day wouldn't be the same without some silly faces...

The Infirm

2010-03-06T22:59:00.002-05:00

My sissy is very sick. She is the queen of pitiful. Life pretty much stops in our household cuz she has to be held at all times. Thankfully it's the weekend so Joey can share the "lap time." Was actually looking forward to church tomorrow..

Christmas in KS (Part 1)

2010-02-23T15:24:00.001-05:00

Yummy Christmas dinner!

Love my little girl!!

Christmas in KS (Part 2)

2010-02-23T15:15:00.003-05:00

All the cousins took turns reading the Christmas story before we opened presents. For the younger ones Grampa read a little bit and let them repeat after him. Ethan really got into it and was using the same vocal inflections that Phil was using. Wish I would have videoed that.

Joel is in love with Starla.

Each year Esther is into a different game. This year it was Rumikub. I was horrible at it. Later I found out that it would have been much better if a few of the rules had actually been shared with me. :o/

Most of the fam.

Joey and I made homemade pizza for everyone New Year's Day. Got a litte over zealous and ended up eating pizza for several days.

Christmas in KS (Part 3)

2010-02-23T15:03:00.004-05:00

Chloe loves to try to squeeze Mr. Potato Head's glasses on her face.

Ticklefest!

My "adopted parents", Phil and Esther. Love them so much!

Hyper fam pic.

Ewww!

2010-01-12T13:42:00.001-05:00

Chloe

2010-01-07T12:55:00.002-05:00

We went to Virginia and spent a long weekend with Grammy and Grandad Holden a few months back. It was such a relaxing time. Love this pic. I think they have the same smiles.

Chloe Jewell loves to cuddle with Grandma Jewell (who would kill me if she knew I posted this pic). Wish she lived closer.

Love her expressions!

Sportin' some bling and posing.

Santa Visit

2010-01-05T12:35:00.002-05:00

Santa (Poopa, i.e. Flatbeard Santa) came to our house, and . . . .

brought Happy Meals!!

A Little Catch Up

2010-01-04T15:16:00.002-05:00

Got a fire pit, and we let the kids do their own hot dogs and marshmellows. They were far from edible, but they had fun.

I've been trying to conserve on our gas bill, and you could say that the kids are becoming closer because of it. They are sitting on the heater vent in our living room eating their breakfast.

Fun around the heater vent, cont.

Best buds

2009-12-14T15:16:00.000-05:00

Taking it Further

2009-12-08T19:46:00.002-05:00

Thought I'd help a little with some Christmas cheer. ;o)

More Illness

2009-12-08T14:20:00.001-05:00

If anyone cares to know why I haven't posted pics lately it's cuz my pc with all my pics on them has been at the dr. for over a month. Not sure if I'm gonna get it back. *sigh*

Pepperoni Rolls

2009-11-25T14:45:00.001-05:00

I copied this recipe from someone elses blog. It looked so yum and easy that I thought I'd share.

1 loaf frozen (or refrigerated) bread dough
Sliced pepperoni
Shredded mozzarella cheese
I let the frozen bread dough thaw/raise throughout the day and then cut it in half and rolled out two rectangles. Layer the pepperoni on the dough, and then cover with mozzarella cheese. Roll up lengthwise and seal the ends and seam and place seam-side down in a baking pan (I used a jelly roll pan).
The second roll I did something a little different. I brushed butter on the dough, then sprinkled with Italian seasoning and parmesan cheese before layering the pepperoni and cheese and rolling. Then I brushed the top of the roll with butter and sprinkled with more parmesan cheese. After tasting the finished product I actually think this would be great with a marinara dipping sauce!
I baked them at 350 degrees for about 35 minutes"

More Pumpkin Farm

2009-11-18T12:29:00.001-05:00

Loved this pic of Jake (my nephew)!

Pumpkin Farm

2009-11-18T12:18:00.002-05:00

I think the kids would have played in this little house indefinitely.

Ethan wanted Aunt Kristy to take a pic of his leaves. He really been in to taking pictures of things lately so I'm getting him a camera for Christmas. I'm so excited to give it to him!

Love this shirt!

These horses were quite smelly, and you couldn't pet them cuz the sign said that they would bite.

Little Mommy

2009-11-16T00:39:00.003-05:00

Chloe loves to hold baby Jake. She would be such a great big sister. . .

Warning

2009-10-28T18:03:00.003-04:00

Do not leave alcohol near the pumpkins.

Watch This

2009-10-02T12:54:00.001-04:00

Speeding Ticket

2009-09-29T11:50:00.002-04:00

I got stopped for speeding yesterday. I thought I could talk my way out of it until the officer looked at my dog in the back seat.

Arm Wrestling

2009-09-28T11:51:00.002-04:00

My hubby won this one. He loves beating his "big" brother at things. :o)

Chloe wanted to get in on the action.

2009-09-24T12:35:00.000-04:00

Joel's Bday

2009-09-23T12:06:00.003-04:00

Joel loves anything pirates. At dinner time he and Ethan have fork fights while saying "arghh." The other day I told him to do something and he said, "Aye, aye, captain."

Joey did a little mini treasure hunt. Joel's holding his "map."

Treasure found!

It had a harmonica inside. He played and played it. That was the first present he opened and he didn't care about opening anymore after that. We finally convinced him to put it in his pocket, but between every present he pulled it out and played a few notes. It was quite cute.

Ethan's Party Cont.

2009-09-21T15:52:00.002-04:00

Love this pic of Joel. He looks so old here.

The kids had a blast running through this cave.

Ethan was being a 'scary monster.'

Chloe absolutely adores her cousin Sophie.

Summer

2009-09-09T16:04:00.004-04:00

It's been a busy summer!! A little over 2 months ago we put our house up for sale, and have had 9 showings. It's been crazy trying to keep the house ready for people to invade. Hope this ends soon. I'm ready for more room for these kids.

I took the kids to Kansas for 2 weeks to see my fam, and had a great time, but was questioning my sanity on the way home. Took at least a week to recoup from that.

We've also had birthdays out the wazoo. I completely forgot my camera for Ethan and Joel's parties so I had to have other people take pics for me. I have yet to receive the pics from Joel's party (ahem, Kristy), but I'll post a couple when I do. Ethan had his party with his cousin, Sophie, at a little garden/water park for kids.

Can't believe he's 4!

We got him a little hand held leap frog game. He was so excited!! He played it for about a week . . . . and then we lost it somewhere in KS. Makes me a little sick to think about it, and he's quite sad.

My Little Model

2009-06-25T21:06:00.002-04:00

My sister-in-law, Carrie, took some pics of Chloe out by the pool the other day, and they turned out totally adorable. This is the only one I have saved to my computer, but the rest are on my facebook if you care to see them. (not sure why you need a microscope to see it)

Jack and Jill

2009-06-05T15:02:00.003-04:00

Ethan and Maddie having a moment of stillness at the top of the hill.

And the rolling begins.

The "men" decide to get in on it. This is Joey and one of his old bosses. We were at his boss's going away party. (Not sure whether or not I'll tell Joey that I posted this.)

Suprised that one of them (not telling who) wasn't completely squashed.

The Hunt

2009-06-04T20:18:00.002-04:00

Whoever hid the eggs put a whole bunch of them in these really pokey bushes. The kids were not impressed.

Quite belated, I know.

Stairsteps

2009-06-04T20:13:00.002-04:00

Tired Out

2009-06-03T16:38:00.002-04:00

child labor

2009-06-03T16:26:00.002-04:00

We start 'em early.

Kid Update

2009-05-15T14:35:00.002-04:00

I've taken pictures lately, but haven't taken the time to transfer them to the laptop. Maybe I'll get around to that next week. (no procrastinating here)
I took the kids to an appointment last week and they were all weighed and measured so I thought I would pass that info on to anyone that cares.
Ethan: 40 inches tall & 38 lbs.
Joel: 38 inches tall & 37 lbs.
Chloe: 31 1/2 inches tall & 28 1/2 lbs.
Looking at this helps me to realize why my back always hurts. :-)
Besides that nothing much is going on in our world. I AM excited about Joey painting the bathroom this weekend. I've had the paint since the beginning of December. (was beginning to think that was a lost cause) It'll be so nice to cross one more thing off our to do list on this house. Besides the fact that I am writing this blog instead of being in the bathroom cleaning the walls and the baseboards. Ughh!!

The Lord's Prayer

2009-05-12T16:51:00.001-04:00

2009-04-24T14:36:00.000-04:00

Swiper

2009-04-04T21:50:00.001-04:00

Chloe loves to steal people's chairs when they get up to do something. She'll sit there and giggle until you come back to reclaim it. Here she is in the act.

Come One, Come All

2009-04-04T21:44:00.001-04:00

The kid's favorite chair, but they only like it with the cushion out.

2009-04-04T21:39:00.001-04:00

Trying to fill daddy's pants.

The "Mess" Hall

2009-04-01T15:02:00.003-04:00

This is how the kids entertained themselves during a game of guitar hero. I about wrote my letter of resignation as maid of this establishment upon discovering the latest disaster.

Guitar Hero

2009-04-01T14:44:00.003-04:00

This is one of my favorite games. One of the fun parts about it is watching other people play. Especially people like Kristy. Observe.

Red Bird

2009-03-27T13:50:00.002-04:00

I took this picture from my back door about a month ago. I was walking by it and the little spot of color caught my attention. By the way, I'm pretty much a month or so behind on all my posting so you can just assume that from now on. Also, it's totally coincidence that my last two posts were about birds. Not getting some kind of fetish. No worries.

Dancing Bird

2009-03-27T13:46:00.000-04:00

http://www.maniacworld.com/bird-loves-ray-charles.html

Ethan's Owees

2009-03-18T16:21:00.004-04:00

PLEASE START AT THE BOTTOM The day after. 13 stitches and minus one of his front teeth. Life gets really interesting trying to find soft foods that don't have milk in them. The fun never ends.

The funky expression is mainly from the medicine they gave him so he couldn't fight while they stitched him up. It didn't end up working for him, and they had to put him out. Not fun for mommy.

We were at the hospital for 6 hours. This is how we passed a lot of our time. The little cast thing on Ethan's arm is covering his IV so he wouldn't mess with it. He was not impressed with that at all.

These are pics from our exciting day a month and a half ago or so. Ethan and Joel were jumping on the bed. Long story short, Joel bounced Ethan off head first and he landed on a wooden desk. Going up, the first pic Ethan has tape over his chin with numbing gel on it, but you can still kind of see one of the gashes. I don't know if you can enlarge the pic or not, but you can kind of see his tooth that is sticking straight out in his mouth.

Panties!

2009-03-18T16:14:00.002-04:00

Chloe loves to run around with underwear around her neck. (They're clean by the way) The day I took his picture she kept them like this pretty much the whole day.

2009-03-11T15:42:00.001-04:00

Dennis the Menace. His missing front tooth and scar really goes along with his personality.

2009-03-11T15:39:00.001-04:00

My little A&F model. He's such a little flirt.

2009-03-11T15:18:00.002-04:00

As you can tell getting Chloe to cooperate was not an easy thing. These pics were all snapped while she was in motion. I think she looks like such a big girl in the next to the last picture. I had a cute little dress that I wanted her pic in, but she decided she was finished before I got her changed into it. Anyways, I'm glad that's over for the next year.

Half-hearted Dancing

2009-02-26T14:33:00.004-05:00

Chloe loves to dance, and is in the mood to do it almost all the time . . . except when I tried to take this video. If you listen closely you can hear Joel saying "cheese" the whole time I'm videoing.

Risk

2009-02-26T14:22:00.002-05:00

Does it appear to anyone else that somebody's getting totally ganged up on? I just happened to be red and yellow. The person getting totally tromped all over. My last stand looked so pitiful that I thought I would share it with whoever bothers to look at this blog, and hopefully get some much needed sympathy. The Bengals record this last season is better than mine at this game. Very sad.

Blackmail

2009-02-26T14:13:00.002-05:00

I was hungry for some of Joey's burgers the other night. So he very begrudgingly went out in the 20 degree weather to grill them for me. I was quite amused at his state of dress . . . as I'm sure he would be if he saw this post. hee hee

2009-02-26T14:08:00.001-05:00

I took Ethan to the doctor for an ear infection a while back. I just found this pic that I took of him while we were waiting. Pretty pitiful, huh?

100th post!!

2009-02-13T11:09:00.002-05:00

Never thought I would post this many times did ya, Lizzy?

Anyways, I was reading a book last night while waiting for the kids to calm down and go to sleep. This sentence caught my attention. "There are people on this earth who spend their lives chasing gold, but in heaven it's used as asphalt for roads."

2009-02-03T17:46:00.001-05:00

Chloe's first pony tail.

Belated Christmas Pics (backwards)

2009-02-03T17:29:00.002-05:00

To make sense of this entry you need to go to the bottom and work up thanks to blogger.

Chloe didn't like him at all!

Ethan feeling very unsure about this.

These next few pics are fuzzy, but you get the jist. Here is Joel running away from Santa. He preferred to observe from a distance.

This year Santa Claus appeared on the roof at Grammy and Poopa's house. It was a bummer that Poopa missed the whole thing.

This is the first time in 3 years that I put up a tree. Ethan was infatuated with "Merry Christmas trees" this year, so Joey informed me that I would be a bad mother if I didn't put it up. Since nobody came to our house the 2 weeks that I had it up I thought I would post a pic of it.

Jakers

2009-02-03T17:23:00.002-05:00

Joey was holding baby Jake (my nephew) and saying nonsense to him. I thought Jake's expression was quite fitting.

Household Hint

2009-01-27T12:57:00.001-05:00

Stop dusting and you can use your coffee table as a message board.

My Life the Past 2 Days

2009-01-12T10:06:00.002-05:00

This morning I hear *ping* *ping* . . . and it kept happening every little bit. I followed the sound to discover Chloe dropping Peanut Butter Crunch down the heater vent. (We live in an ancient house that has big wholes in the vents.)

Yesterday Ethan and I were talking about colors, and I asked him what color he liked the best. He said, "Ummmm, rainbow!" We have some work to do.

Something I never thought I would need to say to my child. "Ethan, get the straw out of your nose."

We had Jim and Darla Stroup over for supper and Rook on Saturday night. We ordered pizza from a place we just discovered by our house. It ended up that the pizza place made a special pizza with no milk in it for Ethan. He was so excited that he kept saying to us, "Hey guys, HeeHee's (that's what he calls himself) eating pizza!" Over and over.

My Wee One on the Wii

2009-01-09T15:37:00.002-05:00

I know. Corny title. Couldn't help myself.

Before Christmas one of the malls around here had a whole bunch of Wiis that anyone could play. We decided to let Ethan try one out. He played a boxing game and actually knocked the guy down a couple of times without David's help. Either my son is good or the game is lousy. :o) Anyways, he had a blast and didn't want to stop which is a completely different tale.

2009-01-09T15:34:00.001-05:00

I thought she looked so cute in her cousin Venice's hat.

The Fam

2009-01-08T13:57:00.002-05:00

Thanksgiving was the first time that all of my family was together in the last 12 years or so. It was so good to be able to go home and see everybody. They are all living in the same town now, and get together to eat lunch just about every day at my mom's house. *sigh* Maybe someday I'll live closer to them.

2009-01-08T13:49:00.001-05:00

Chloe played and played with these sunglasses when she at Mammy Esther's house. This is the only pic I could get of her with them cuz she wouldn't stand still.

2009-01-06T14:35:00.002-05:00

Joey had his trumpet out the other night. It was the first time in a while, and Ethan was very interested in it. So I got out an old trumpet that I had picked up at a garage sale a few years back, and Joey showed Ethan how to buzz his lips in the mouth piece. He caught on pretty quick so Joey put the mouth piece on the trumpet, and Ethan actually played some notes. He was pretty proud of himself. He wanted Joey to sing while he played. It was pretty cute.

Conversation

2009-01-05T15:52:00.002-05:00

The following is a conversation the Ethan and I had at lunch today concerning a candy cane sugar cookie that he refers to as the "letter J."

Ethan: Momma, where did my letter J go?
Me: Probably in your tummy.
Ethan: My tummy?
Me: Yup
Ethan: Oh. I'm gonna toot it out. (And he proceeded to try just that.)

Cute Cousins

2009-01-02T15:15:00.002-05:00

Chloe with her cousins Sophie and Maddie at the Ratcliff Christmas. She got her cute little santa outfit from her Aunt Andrea from whose blog I swiped this pic.

2009-01-02T14:24:00.003-05:00

We are working on potty training Ethan. If this was a graded class I would probably be failing. Anyways, I just thought I would pass this on, because it gave me a laugh. Yesterday Ethan was sitting on the toilet doing his business and after being there for a little while he informed me that his toots were stuck. :o)

2008-12-22T17:58:00.001-05:00

My header pic is Chloe on her 1st birthday. I never got the pics posted, but everytime I see this pic it makes me smile.

2008-12-22T17:50:00.003-05:00

Sorry for the depressing post. You'd think I was pregnant if you were around me much. Hopefully things are going to continually get better. The boys are getting over their double ear infections. I got 2 good nights of sleep in a row. Although a couple of the pipes were frozen this morning, they unthawed without bursting. So . . . we'll see how things go.

broken mirrors

2008-12-18T22:39:00.002-05:00

I've decided that the bad luck that I had stored up from all the broken mirrors in my past has unleashed it powers on me the last two weeks. I'm too tired to type more. Not even sure if I just made sense. I'll write more tomorrow.

2008-12-15T14:28:00.001-05:00

Ethan just watched his "abc movie" as he calls it. After it was done he told me that he did a good job. :o)

cough remedy

2008-12-15T14:00:00.002-05:00

Anytime Ethan gets a cold it goes straight to his chest which effects his asthma. He coughs and coughs. Which is what he has been doing the last 3 days or so. My mom told me to put Vicks on his feet before bed and leave his socks on. So I did that last night and he didn't cough a single time. I was pretty impressed. Just thought I would pass the wisdom on. :o)

Uncle David and Ethan

2008-12-11T12:56:00.002-05:00

Ethan thinks that Uncle David is one of the best things in the world. If you want to get him excited about something just tell that he gets to see Uncle David. Pretty sweet, I think.

Ethan's timid version of the abc's

2008-12-11T11:38:00.003-05:00

I was going thru my computer and found this video that I took a couple of months ago. Normally this song is sung at the top of his lungs. :o)

2008-12-09T12:53:00.002-05:00

Baby Jake's dedication was this last Sunday morning. Ethan got some cheese time with Molly. I swiped this from Julie's blog. She has a couple of adorable pics of Jake if anyone is interested.

This has been a crazy week. I started my drive back from KS on Monday and got home Tuesday night around 8:30. Wednesday night Joey had dress rehearsal for the GBS program. Friday I cleaned house to get ready for company from MI, and went to the program. After the program I realized that I didn't have any food in the house for our guests so Faith and I went to Papa John's around 10:00 to get a pizza. (This story does have a point) After we ordered it I remembered that I was out of diapers and milk so we ran over to Kroger. (Not literally) Anyways . . I loaded the groceries in the car and Faith pushed the cart over to the parking space beside the car. We went back to Papa John's and waited about 10 more minutes on the pizza. Got it, drove home, pulled into the driveway, and reached for my wallet . . . . which wasn't there. The last place I remembered seeing it was in the grocery cart. Great moment of spazzing!! So I drove frantically back to Kroger ignoring speed limits and most stop signs, and pulled up beside our cart and my wallet was no longer in there. One reason I was so frantic was cuz my family had given $130 cash for gas money to come home on and it was still in my wallet. So ... (she continued her long drawn-out story) . . . I ran into the store (literally) and looked for the security guard. He wasn't in his regular spot. I then went to the customer service desk. There stood the guard and another person going through my wallet trying to find a phone number. And . . . . drum roll . . . . nothing was missing from it. *sigh* I almost burst into tears right there on the spot. The guard said some guy came in and handed it to him. Considering the area of town the Kroger was in, well, let's just say Somebody was looking out for me.

By the way, KS was good and I have a couple of pics from when I was there, but I believe all 3 children are currently pooped so that will come later.

Happy Birthday!

2008-11-18T17:33:00.003-05:00

To my blog! I just noticed a couple of days ago that it's been a year today since I started this. Nobody probably cares but me, actually I really don't care that much . . so new subject.

I took the kids to a WIC appointment today and they were weighed and measured. Ethan weighed 38 lbs. and was 40 inches tall. Joel weighed 34 1/2 lbs. and was 38 inches tall. Chloe weighed 25 lbs. and was 29 inches tall. The lady told me that Chloe as 4 pounds overweight. Give me a break. If she's anything like her mother . . well, enough said.

After that appointment I took the kids home for naps and set Joey up with the Xbox. (just kidding he knows how to turn it on all by himself) Then off to an hour and 1/2 long oil change. That's just ridiculous. After 10 minutes mine was the only car in there. Somebody was getting paid for nothing if you ask me. But I endured because this just puts me one step closer to leaving for KS on Thursday!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Well . . enough rambling. As soon as the cherry pie (thank you Sara Lee) comes out of the oven I'm gonna wake up the kids and go to Andrea's (my SIL) house for supper. Hope everyone has a good night.

Chlo-bo

2008-11-14T09:57:00.003-05:00

Chloe was very excited to go on the plane with Mommy to KS. Actually, she had no clue. I think the smile was for the bag of food that I had just gotten out of my bag. She's so like her mother.

Salute

2008-11-14T09:50:00.002-05:00

I don't remember what was going on the other night, but Joey tried to get the boys to salute. It didn't quite happen. Especially for Joel.

Baby Brenna

2008-11-12T10:20:00.002-05:00

Joey's sister, Andrea, had a baby on September 12th. Chloe looked SO big next to Brenna. She's no longer my little cuddly baby. But . . I will continue getting my baby "fix" from Brenna and Jake, and quit thinking about little tiny sweet cuddly babies.

2008-11-12T10:14:00.001-05:00

He wanted to wear this while we walked through the mall. Need I say more?

Fashion?

2008-11-12T10:07:00.003-05:00

Guess who wanted to get dressed by themself. . It seems we have some work to do in the style department.