Mini Snowmen & Milk

Kayla & Danielle made a "mini-snowman" today. He only had one hump for his whole entire body! He did have a hat and a carrot nose and cool arms!

Here is my mini-snowbaby--Olivia--all dressed up in her Frosty snowsuit. I put her in this about every morning to keep her entire body all snuggly warm!
Olivia has been having a little bit of real milk when she eats cereal with us but as far as actually drinking it she hadn't until today. She snuck off behind the recliner to do her duty in her diaper & also to steal Kayla's cup with milk in it and drink it! She was gulping it dry so I decided to give her a cup of her own and she loved it. What the heck--she's only 14 days away from her 1st b-day! I also turned her carseat around about a week ago to face forward. Mainly because her feet were so scrunched up that she had to be uncomfortable! She loves seeing out & it's like a whole new world to her!

I had to add these 2 pics! Olivia squats all the time and it's so funny! Here she is after getting out of the bathtub & waiting on me to lotion her up & put her diaper on. She'll be squatting in the middle of the living room floor playing with her toys but heaven forbid she raise herself up to stand unless she's hanging onto something. She'll probably never walk due to 2 older sisters. Why walk when they can pack you, right??

Snow day & without power :(

We were all so excited to be home today. My clinic and all the surrounding clinics out of DCH were closed & the girls were out of school. We were all snuggly and I was preparing to make a massive breakfast about 8:30 when guess what?? Our flippin' electricity went out! I sat for a minute and prayed it was just a little flicker thing happening but no such luck. I immediately called REMC to report it. They were closed but I was transferred to a live person who reported me. I waited 40 minutes then I called the actual manager of REMC (who has been a long time friend of our family) and asked exactly how long he thought this would last. I told him I have 3 children at home including an 11 month old baby. I told him Eric was out cleaning the walk to the garage and digging through 9-10" of snow in case we needed to leave. He said it took their trucks an hour and a half to get to Lawrence Co. and then they got a truck off in a ditch. He said they were on there way back to Martin Co. but had no clue when and even if they could fix it. Then my aunt called (she spent the night at my parents house) and said he called there looking for me and to tell me that he called in my problem but still no clue if it would be fixed or not. I am so stubborn when it comes to the power being out. I do NOT want to leave my cozy home especially when the roads are considered to be in a state of emergency and the cops are issuing tickets to those outside on them! We waited about another hour and the house temp was dropping to the low 60's & the girls were dying to eat something hot so we decided to pack it up and go to my mom and dad's house. They live just down the road from us and takes approx 3 minutes or so to get there normally. After we finally got packed up, packed up the guinea pig, and got everyone loaded it still took us a long time to get there. The roads were horrible. I mean horrible!!! If it wasn't for our neighbors, the Arvins, we would not have made it to the highway. No county trucks have been down our road, no state trucks have been on the highway, etc. It's sad when the neighbors have to risk their lives just so we can get out for emergencies! Anyway, he took his tractor and did an excellent job on the main paved road and our long gravel road. He even went in and scraped our drive! We are so very thankful! We were starting to get pretty cold and had to load up. We had to and I'm glad we did since the power was off for approx 4 hours!!! Kayla took this pic below and it looks like it's off a calendar photo or something--she did great and it's a beautiful view from our backyard.

Here is Eric driving his cousin Shawn Howell's Kubota to clear our drive out the rest of the way. He wanted to get it cleared so he could get to work tomorrow. He has 4 wheel drive so he'll try his best. I'm sure he'll make it cause he rarely has missed in the 16 years we've been together even after I get onto him for going!

The girls cleared the ice and snow off of the 2 trampolines we have in the backyard. They took big chunks of the ice off the small trampoline and built a "castle". Look how cute it is. They have their arms resting on the trampoline and the chunks are their "walls".

Here's Kayla standing on the front porch this morning. My big flower bed is in front of the porch and you can barely see it!


Kayla took this pic of Danielle on the snow covered slide in our backyard.

Some of the ice and snow on the back deck.

Our tree in our front yard is so pretty no matter what time of year it is. I believe it's a flowering crabapple or something like that. Anyway, here it is covered in ice and snow and still looking pretty! The girls and Tiger are playing.

We took Olivia in and out a few times due to having to go to my parent's house but since she still has a gross runny nose I didn't really want her out in it for very long. It didn't matter though. She was just as content watching the girls play through the windows and here she is being spoiled rotten by her sisters and eating a bottle. (Notice no socks--she refuses to keep them on)

a little bit of this week...

Well, this has been a pretty decent week except for me having a sore throat one day with a runny/sneezy nose, but it was gone in one day. Then, Kayla awoke Wed morning with a slight sore throat but went to school. By that afternoon when Eric got to Mindy's to pick them up she was sleeping on the couch so he knew she was getting sick. Thurs she stayed home from school, which was okay since that's my day off, and I took her into my clinic to see Cathy, the NP. She had tonsillitis and a fever and got a Rx for Amoxil (the good pink stuff). She doesn't look sick in this pic but she was talking like someone was strangling her. She was feeling lots better by that afternoon and returned to school today.

Olivia is quite the little helper. Thurs she dug out all the dishtowels out of the drawer in the kitchen, threw out all the blankets that were in her bottom drawer of her dresser, went into my bedroom dresser and threw out all of her dad's underwear on the floor and then when I transfer wet clothes from the washer to the dryer she grabs them before they get into the dryer and throws them on the floor. Man, she is so much help. What would I do without her?? Of course I am one of those dorky moms that lets her do things so I can accomplish something without her interrupting too. For instance, when I want to pick up the kitchen or clean up the countertops and stove, etc, I open the fridge door and let her explore the fridge a little. There's nothing dangerous for her to get into and she loves to dig out water bottles and chew the tops of them and find baby food jars, etc. Hey, if it keeps her occupied for at least a few minutes then what the heck I say? I will sometimes just open the dryer lid because that's her fave place to stand hanging onto and let her dig out dry socks or whatever. It lets me pee in peace or get my hair fixed in peace and there's no harm. Dig in the magazine rack, dig all of the girls' markers out of their craft box--I know, bad mom--bad mom!! I let her have fun and NEVER endanger her or let her get something toxic in her mouth so she's fine. Here is an older pic of her in the fridge. She basically looks the same except has a little more hair!

Here is my helper pushing a chair across the kitchen floor like she does thousands of times a day.

Well, who doesn't love freebies?? When I was just barely pregnant with Liv I signed up to Enfamil baby formula to receive free samples and coupons. I rec'd some great stuff and got more in the mail this week! I guess they realize that she's about to turn one and retire from formula so they sent me the Next Step stuff that's a sort of transition from formula to milk. Although I won't continue giving her this after it's all gone I will definitely use this up so it doesn't go to waste. I plan on adding an ounce of cow's milk every couple of days to her bottles coming up in February to get her used to it. Here she is posing like a model with her new freebies. Look at the size of these cans! I was impressed and thankful. Now I shouldn't have to buy anymore formula at all. (her t-shirt says i'm a princess, mommys the queen and daddys.....around here somewhere!) Her great aunt Judy got her that and she wears it around the house--too cute!

And here is Danielle, AKA the Dobbi, just being the Dobbi! If you have ever watched the movie Harry Potter then you know where she gets this nickname--thanks to her Pop!



Spoiled rotten riding her sister's shoulders. Danielle took this picture. They steal my camera every now and then and I download my pics and find all kinds of things! They are pretty good girlies!!!

Preparing for the big one!!!

Well I've been trying to get things ready for Olivia's first b-day party. This really gets you to thinking and wondering where in the world has the time gone? I can hardly believe the baby I'm holding in this pic is almost one year old!! Where did my little newborn Liv go? She was just maybe an hour or so old in this pic!


In our family, the first b-days are the big parties and we have lots of fun. She's not really interested in anything as far as cartoons yet or certain toys, etc, except for cats and dogs. I wanted to do a "kitty" theme because every animal is a "diddy" but the only ones were Hello Kitty and I didn't want to do that for a 1st b-day theme. So, I did lots of research and decided on a Hugs and Stitches theme due to the purple in it and the butterflies. Since I'm too retarded to figure out how to save & post a picture I had to take a snapshot of it with my camera so it's not a clear picture!

We're not really into pink and frills and lace such as the princess themes and like I said the others are either Pooh or Elmo and she's not into that yet. I looked all this stuff up on the internet on every b-day party website there ever was including Ebay and the cheapest site I found was birthdaydirect.com and they even advertise to be like 60% cheaper than all the others. I ordered invitations, plates, napkins and table covers yesterday. If you spend $55 you get FREE 3 day shipping, which is awesome! My aunt Peggy helps Jolene McAtee decorate for weddings, parties, etc so she is going to help me the night before.

The party is at the Martin Co. Comm. Bldg on Feb 7 which is just 3 weeks away! Lots to do in the meantime! I found these awesome personalized embroidered shirts I was going to order on Ebay for her for like $20 but then found one on sale at the KMart in Jasper for $5! It is pink, has a cupcake and says "Happy Birthday to Me!" I thought that was good enough. Besides, it'll end up being covered in cake and ice cream probably. I did find a great deal on Ebay for some nice khaki pants to match! Too bad she doesn't have enough hair for a bow yet!! Of course the cake is being done by the one and only Heather Arvin (the world's best cake maker!!) Her cakes melt like butter in your mouth. I don't know how she does it and for the price! She's amazing!! I was going to do a meal but decided to go just for cake, ice cream, chips, punch, pop, etc and keep it simple. Pricewise, it's what we can afford to do right now! I do wish money grew on trees or that I could win the lotto but since I rarely play I guess that won't happen!

I'll quit rambling for now and post more as I get things for her party. The girls want to have a big party this year too since we really didn't have them a very big one last year. They are content with just having a good ol' pool party at mom & dad's with lots of family and friends. Thank God they have that pool and big garage. That's where we had Kayla's 1st b-day party at back in 1999. They have had several parties there. We just don't have much space at our house unless we have an outside party. Of course with Liv being the "ice queen" it's too cold out to party so it has to be indoors:)

Funny Liv !

Here are some random pics of Olivia I have taken here lately. The first two are of her walking behind her lion push toy she got from Santa. Somedays she likes him and some days she does not! This day she did!


I happened to remember the girls' old Elmo chair stashed in the closet and decided to bring it out to show Olivia. I think I bought it in Evansville about 9 years ago or so. She likes it but prefers for Danielle to sit in it and she knocks her out of it! Like I've said before this one will probably be the roughest of them all:)
My brother Josh says this is her "Chuckie" smile. You know, from the scary movies---the Chuckie doll! Isn't he awful? She squishes her face up so tight when we say cheese!
Today she was eating fruit loops wearing her Hannah Montana shirt. Yes, I know, the coldest flippin' day of the year and she's wearing a t-shirt, but believe me--the house was toasty!! I did put a long sleeve shirt on under the t later on. I can't get her to keep her socks on!

Last but not least--Olivia's big trick. She loves taking her blankie and putting it over her head all by herself while we say "where's Liv?" Then she pulls it off and just grins while we say "there she is!" Isn't that an awesome trick?? She's only been without her blankie maybe 4 nights since she was born. A couple times we forgot it at the sitter's house and one time she puked on it. My bestest friend Jenny Mathies bought her this blankie as soon as I found out I was having a girl!!

So Proud of My Girls!!

I'm so proud of Kayla & Danielle. First of all, this week they brought home their report cards and they both made honor roll. Danielle made straight A's & Kayla made A's and a couple B's. She raised her Math grade up too which is not her fave subject! Secondly, Danielle served for the first time at church tonight! Kayla has served at St. Martin's now for almost 2 years and we wanted to wait until Danielle made her 1st communion to have her start serving but she wanted to so badly that we went ahead and let her sign up! Here they are getting the gifts ready for communion before church started.
Danielle was so super excited & Kayla did a great job teaching her! It's great how when you go to a small church everyone there knew it was Danielle's first time serving. (Not to mention I have been a member since birth 33 years ago and we rarely miss a weekend!) They were really glad it was Fr. Effie as he is wonderful with the kids and teases them alot making them comfortable and glad to serve. Here they are walking into church with him behind them.

I like this one--they are both sorta looking up towards Fr. Effie but Danielle especially.

Look at these cute little Catholic girls:) It's awesome to see them enjoying the same religion and the same church as I grew up in! I have always been a big believer that it doesn't matter what church you go to or what religion you belong to as long as you believe in God & worship only Him we'll all end up in the same place one day!!! Here they are leading out of church after Mass.

Of course a funny pic is always neat to add to the end--here's Olivia today feeding herself noodles. I love the one on her nose!!!

Godzilla & Monkey Butt!

Okay, now I need to explain my title, don't I? Kayla & Danielle will be trying to play and have a million pieces of something like Barbies, tiny shoes, etc and Olivia comes just a barrelling in-literally. She comes with full force and intent to totally destroy whatever it is that they are playing with. So I started hearing Godzilla!! Mom, come get Godzilla! She's tearing all of our stuff up! Of course I find it hilarious but they don't! Here is a picture of Godzilla coming at us!
Okay, now for the monkey butt part= she will sometimes have something in one of her hands like a marker (her fave thing) and won't want to put it down. She has it in one hand while sitting, then takes the free hand and helps scoot her butt to where ever it is she's going! It looks exactly like a chimp or monkey trying to crawl around from tree to tree!!! I wish I had a pic of it but I don't yet--still trying. She wants to grab my camera or video camera when I try to catch it. So naturally we call her monkey butt too! Glad she's too young to mind.
Below is a picture of the coolest Christmas gift I got! Eric & the girls surprised me with a puzzle of the Christmas pic of the girls from this year! I love puzzles so this was awesome. It was especially tricky with all the black Kayla was wearing!!
We all went to the home basketball game this past Saturday. The girls and Eric go to every game but I haven't been to one yet with Olivia. This was her first game! Here's a pic of her clapping with the girls & Papaw Brown beside her. She even went down on the floor when the Lionettes danced--she was so cool.
She danced & clapped & laughed anytime the band would play. The buzzer almost drove her crazy. It's right above our heads and every time it went off she would hoot!

Here we all are again....

Here's my Dad & the Dobbi (Danielle)! We had a good time and won by a landslide against Shoals. I think it was 31 points I believe. It was good to see my Aunt's stepson Brett Mattingly playing too. He's a senior and an awesome player!