Happy Things

The nature of a child is a happy thing. They truly live in the moment and turn everything into an adventure.

Watching Miles learn new tricks is a happy thing.

I was inspired by my friend Melissa D. to write a post about happy things in my life. I wish I recognized these more and feel selfish for my lack of appreciation for them.

Isaac's sense of style (or lack thereof) is a happy thing. He's a clothes horse. Look out J. Alexander, Isaac's extraordinary attire would make you proud.

I was able to take a few mission trips in college during my year's as an HFC (Hilltopper's for Christ). There's nothing more eye opening than a mission trip. For instance, armed guards at local fast food places, dirt roads with pot holes that could swallow a small car, brick fences with barbed wire, broken glass, metal and rock to deter intruders, sewage and water running through pipes at the same time, an overall fear for safety. I will never forget a Mexican girl name Flo and her mother. Dala Narramore and I spent the night with them in their home which wasn't any bigger than my garage now. They slept on the floor and small sofa so we could enjoy their cozy double bed. They bathed out of a large barrel which resembled a trash can. You dipped a cup in it and poured the water over your body. No paper waste could be thrown in the commode, and I'm not sure if they cleaned it by hand or not??? Dala and I had to brush our teeth with bottled water due to their contaminated water. This is how they lived each day. Flo's mother made us fresh squeezed orange juice in the morning, and they treated us as queens. I can't think of many things that have impacted me more and made me thankful for our United States luxuries than that trip to Mexico.

Some of my BIG happy things:

My bathtub. It's one of the few private places I have in my home. I look at the nasty ring-around-the-tub and think to myself..."I sure do take a lot of baths". I love nuclear hot baths and my lavendar vanilla Bath and Body sleep body wash.

My children's art work. Karson is BIG into authoring books. I wrote a post about it a while back, but she's since completed even more books. Isaac leaves NO white on any coloring sheet. He must use each crayon and color every square inch of his picture. He's also into fraying his pictures with scissors. I don't mind. He needs to learn how to cut for preschool next year =).

Matt's family. I love his mom and dad as much as my own. They have taught me a lot about the meaning of family and unconditional love. His parents are keeping our children during Spring Break so that we can go to Destin. They love our kids and frequently keep them and give Matt and I money to go out on a dates. Their son John takes Karson to Chuck E. Cheese's and WKU ballgames. Their son Andrew invites them to spend the night with him a couple times each month. Their son Ben babysits on occasion. My children are lucky having such a loving support system. Matt got a pricey golf shirt with Christmas money that he's been using to taunt Paul (our brother-in-law) about upcoming golf matches in Destin. Paul and Shannon are going to the beach with us. Matt even went as far as morphing our heads to his body wearing his new shirt.

My husband. I love Matt so much. He has such a witty sense of humor and is the kindest person I know. He spent his entire day off on Monday cleaning our house. When I got home that afternoon, I smelled Pine-Sol, Pledge and Windex. Everything was spic-n-span, if only for the day. Matt is my best friend. He takes such good care of our family.

Some SMALL happy things:

Lysol wipes. I have a canister of these in almost every room in the house. I have no idea how women survived without this necessity for so long.



I buy Bare Minerals make-up on eBay and also found Karson's Easter dress.

eBay and Amazon. I have done loads of shopping on eBay and Amazon. I buy make-up, children's clothes, Hallmark ornaments, DVD's, toys with the click of my mouse. I enjoy online shopping.

Movies. I have recently purchased two movies Dan in Real Life and I am Legend. I love watching movies. We recently upgraded our cable from basic to premium and got a DVR. I don't watch much TV but love watching movies. I've been able to record some oldie but goodie flicks.

Coffee. I was a regular at Bread and Bagels until we moved out to Plano. I love their Southern Pecan. I also like Panera Bread's Hazelnut coffee. Coffee is one of my indulgences. I wouldn't consider myself a HUGE coffee drinker, but I need at least 1 cup a day.

Hippity, Hoppity Easter's on it's Way!

Our church held its annual egg hunt on Saturday. My Mom has hosted it the past couple of years, but Saturday's nasty weather forced us to move the hunt indoors. What better place to have an egg hunt than at the church building!

Karson has the art of egg hunting down to a science. She won last year's contest of finding the most eggs. I was glad that she was able to bring home LOADS of candy. Since her mouth is mostly metal, she might as well make the most of it.

Isaac was not real interested in hunting. He told me, "Mom you go find them." I think he found two eggs on the stage. One had bubble gum in it, and the other had a pack a Nerds. He ate both at the same time and had no reason to look for any more candy filled eggs.

Is Miles not the sweetest Easter rabbit ever?

Miles would much rather play with the visitor cards and pens in the back of the pews than hunt for eggs.

He found lots of eggs in other children's baskets. Hmmmm, whatcha got in here Ansley?

Community kids minus our wonderful leader Ms. Windy.

She has the flu =(.

Tattoo-ey Louis

Isaac has recently become obsessed with temporary tattoos. We have a stash of them in our kitchen appropriately hidden underneath the dish towels in a drawer. I'm not sure how they ended up in the kitchen but am QUITE certain why they were hidden. Karson went through the tattoo phase at age 3. Although these lovely pieces of art are supposed to last a few short days, ours manage to last much longer. Our Easter pictures should be wonderful with Isaac's recent self-expression through dressing himself coupled with tattoos.

And might I mention that I am well deserving of the coveted "Mother of the Year" award. Isaac recently cut himself on the bridge of his nose with my razor. He had the thing in his mouth and was jiggling it around when Matt saw him. The story is to long to post but, as always, interesting. There's never a dull moment with three kids at home.

A Few Firsts

Karson's 1st time sledding.

Miles, the one glove bandit.

I have the house all decorated with Easter and spring decorum and BAM, our town gets blasted with snow. I think I would've enjoyed it more had this storm come in January, but I'm truly ready for some warm weather. We made the most of yesterday though. Matt and I bundled up in our ski bibs, heavy jackets, hats and gloves. We stuffed the kids up and headed to Pap and Nana's for sledding and four wheeling. Matt and Miles on the four wheeler. I think Miles would've rode all day long despite the fact he was half frozen in this photo.

Those of you with 2-3 year olds know how impossible it is to get a good photo of them. Isaac rarely poses for photos. Most of the shots of him are long distance or backside.

I like to rotate out toys in our home by storing them in the attic. Karson has SO many different playsets that I can only handle a few at a time. Polly Pocket has become my nemesis. Polly sets consist of about 1,000,000 tiny pieces from shoes, hats, handbags, hangers, scarves, clothes, SUNTAN oil, etc. Karson wanted to put her Polly sets up yesterday and retrieve her Fisher Price dollhouse. Although the task at hand was great, it was well worth banishing Polly back to the dark attic. While I was upstairs at the Toy Barn, I decided to pull some "new" toys down for Isaac and Miles. I LOVE these shots of Isaac playing with his Elmo Tool Bench.

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ONE HOUR OF SHUFFLING TOYS AROUND IN THE ATTIC: priceless

(for the underwear tool belt advertisment)

Karson was invited to a skating party yesterday at The Skate Box (aka Greenwood Skate Center). I was concerned because this was her first time, and she strives to be PERFECT at everything. She learned how to ride a bike, write her name, TAKE CARE OF HER TEETH all on her own =). I was impressed with her perseverence at skating. She fell a couple of times and got up and kept going. She even did the hokey pokey and chicken dances. My shoulder is sore today from aiding her around the rink, but it's a good kind of pain. I'm proud of her for trying something new.

Me and my peeps looking fine in our skates.

Torture Chamber Round Two

Move over Flavor Flav, there's a new blingster on the block. Karson went to the dentist AGAIN this morning. I made Matt take her this go around. More work needed to be done, and I, honestly, didn't want to see my eldest undergo that kind of pain again. She had a spacer inserted where the extracted tooth had been, got ANOTHER crown (bling, bling) and had a baby root canal. I mean SERIOUSLY, have I marred her for life with all this dental torture? Please pray for my Karson. Her dental nightmare is far from over. We have another appointment in June.

Karson and the Flav morphed together.

I wonder if they still make the bubble gum waxed lips--play with them now and chew them later. Do any of you fellow bloggers remember this brilliant invention? After the novelty of playing with these awesome Angelina Jolie lips wears off, you can chew them and turn them into bubble gum. I am a gum chewer and never managed to turn those waxy pearls into gum. I would gnaw and gnaw, chew and chew, grind and grind--NOTHING. I also remember the fad with Cinnaburst gum where you could chew the wrapper. Again, a brilliant idea with terrible results. My gum always tasted like papery putty. Not sure why I went off on this tangent, but memory lane always serves up some good laughs (which I can certainly use with our impending ER and dental bills).

Are You Readdddyyyyyyy?

I have been pining over what to do for my birthday this month. Should I have a nice relaxing weekend at the spa, go to Gatlinburg for a day of shopping, eat at P.F. Chang's in ritzy downtown Nashville -or- see MONSTER TRUCK JAM live at Rupp Arena? Isaac LOVES his monster trucks. He has a few in his collection.

We went to see the trucks in action Saturday in Lexington. It was quite entertaining.

Grave Digger flipped during the freestyle competition. Digger was the crowd favorite.
Devastator making wheelies.
Rap Attack (driver Dave Rappage) walking over the cars. The truck actually stayed upright over all four cars.
Destroyer which is appropriately named for it's ability to pulverize cars and eardrums. The event is LOUD. Be sure to take your plugs and cotton.

Why yes, we'll be happy to purchase that $10 program. What a deal!!!

Pap covering Isaac's ears. I love the look on Isaac's face.

My sweet Karson and I will be attending some interesting events with two baby brothers.
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Matt and I left early for Lexington. I wanted to see my cousin Lyndi who had a baby two weeks ago named Katie Isabella (KatieBell).

Matt and I posing with Katie.

Randy, my Uncle Ron holding Katie, and Lyndi.

*I should clarify that my birthday isn't until the end of this month.*