Well, I did good there for a few weeks...

I am sorry I have been MIA, but life has kinda been getting in the way of me keeping up with blogging on the family lately.  So, thought I would take a minute while the sick little boy is napping today.  He stayed home from school today with a little fever and a cold.  I have, however, wanted to stay on top of it so he does not get pneumonia again this year, so I have stepped up breathing treatments and fluids.  He is running around like crazy again since the Motrin kicked in and giving me a very hard time about locking him inside and not letting him head out in the back yard.  Hopefully he will be back at school tomorrow.

These past few weeks have been busy, busy...

Right now, we are...

*Recovering from Halloween this weekend, where the kids were stylin' as Jake from Jake and the Neverland Pirates and a hip hop dancer (costume #2, as the hula girl idea would have frozen Jaedyn's grass skirt off)

*Enjoying this cool down, loving my shoots without being a sweaty mess, and the peacefulness of being outside with my kiddos in this beautiful fall weather

*Trying to carve out time to enjoy each other as a family and have some family time - hoping to visit the Dallas Arboretum next week, already went to pumpkin patch

*Doing homework daily, getting to gymnastics practice on Mondays, playing with friends from the neighborhood, dealing with some teasing/friend issues

*Learning to prioritize my time by overbooking and not saying "no" as often as I should

*Growing in the Lord each week as we study at church, keep our mind on Him and not on the world, living by example

*Teaching responsiblity and accountability to the kids through chores and consequences

*Evaluating daily our true needs vs. wants

(Thought I would try a little journal deviation today with the "Right now, we are..." instead of the " I want to remembers".  I will switch back and forth and maybe even throw in another kind of journaling to keep you on your toes from time to time! :)

And, as always, a few pictures of the last few weeks...

Hummer Limo Ride

I am attempting to update the blog from my phone... Aren't I the technology guru?! Ha! :). So I wanted to post a few pictures from Peyton's limo ride at school. He sold 15 items so he earned a ride in a limo to McDonalds for lunch and play time.
Boy was it an event... Riding in a limo with 19 1st and 2nd graders singing "red solo cup" and "jingle bells" all the way to Hillsboro at the top of their lungs was even a little much for someone who taught kindergarten for years. I think I would rather spend an entire day at Chuck E. Cheese than relive those 30 minutes in the limo and friends of mine know how I feel about that place! The kids, however, had a blast! Peyton was quiet but enjoyed watching all the others! So glad he got to experience that! Thanks to all who bought items from him... Pawpaw and Meemaw, Uncle Cody and Aunt Melissa, Mr. Rossi, Aunt Shirley, and Granny and Grandpa!

And a few other pictures of happenings around here since my last post...

Dogs got their boy/girls parts removed this week.  They aren't happy with us!

Russell found this visitor under our bench the other night before bedtime.  YIKES!!

My sweet little girl

I admit, this was posed.  But I love it!

Sometimes it is dangerous when they are this close. ;)

My mysterious little boy

Family fun, feed the ducks!



This week's  "I want to remembers"...

*I want to remember, on the drive to Waco yesterday, Peyton told me he still wanted to be a garbage man when we grew up. But also explained it was a very dangerous job, because you could fall off the back and get run over.  He doesn't want to be the driver, he want to actually dump the trash!

*I want to remember when I asked if anyone had any prayer requests in children's church, Peyton raised his hand and asked for prayers for Jaedyn and to pray that her friends  would be nice to her. (She has been having some friend issues lately!)... ~melt my heart!

*I want to remember that after spilling his entire snow  cone all over his pant legs in the car (because he could only hold the cup with one hand), Jaedyn said "give me your cup", and quietly and sweetly poured half of hers in his cup.  ~melt my heart x2

*I want to remember that on the way home after dark from cleburne on Saturday night, it was a little chilly outside.  Peyton grabbed his blanket from under the seat.  Jaedyn was complaining that she didn't put hers back into the car after taking it in the house.  Peyton chimed in" here Jaedyn, take mine, I am not  that cold".  ~Awe, melt my heart again <3

*I want to remember that Peyton has had a great attitude about his arm.  He has been a pretty good trooper.  He pretty much accepts, with the exception of a few instances, that he is not able to do certain things and he is learning to compensate and accept what he can do. 

*I want to remember that as Peyton was asking about why we were taking the dogs to get their boy/girl parts removed on the way to pick the dogs up, he interjected  "I bet Dakota has had a peace and relaxing day without Skippy there today".  (Dakota is our very old dog who gets cranky with the little pups  when they try to play with him).

*I want to remember Peyton asking if people, girls and boys, got their parts taken out like animals do. I reassured him they didn't.  (at least for now, as far as he knows)

*I want to remember that after bringing the dogs home from the vet yesterday, Peyton reminded me we were supposed to leave them in overnight. I told him they would be find outside and they had pain medicine.  Remembering all the things the lady told us about the after care of their surgeries, Peyton told  Daddy, we can't leave the dogs outside, they don't know all the rules. What?  They don't know all the rules of what they can and cannot do after their surgery.  They will overdo it!  :) 

And I am sure there are many more, many of which are not so sweet and kind but I try to block those out.  That is why I call it "I WANT to remember"!  All those other moments that are arguing, grumpy, fighting, hitting, name calling, and overall unpleasant don't make it to the blog so often.  I have to deal with those the other 23 hours and 30 minutes of the day! 

Have a blessed week. Thanks for bearing with me through this long and picture heavy post! 

Love and God bless,
~Jennifer

Another curve ball...

As many of you know, our little "simple break" scenario with Peyton's arm didn't go quite as planned.  When Peyton and I went on Tuesday to the orthopedic doctor to get his cast put on (or so we thought) they took more X-rays.  What they determined was that the ER doctors had taken an X-ray from above the arm and it looked great, lined up perfectly.  However if they would have taken it from the side, they would have seen the break wasn't even lined up closely at all.  Therefore, the doctor explained we had two choices:  leave it or have surgery to get it lined up as good as we could, possibly involving pins.  I was devastated.  I had reassured myself this wasn't that bad and that we would be in and out in 6 weeks and onto life.  Guess that wasn't to be.  So Peyton was scheduled for surgery the next day.  Wednesday was a very hard day.  As soon as the doctor said hospital in the exam room, Peyton buried his head in my leg and started quietly crying.  He just didn't understand why we had to do all this.  I tried to explain the best I could.  So when we went to the hospital on Wednesday he was pretty clingy.  He did like the idea that he wouldn't have the IV until after he was already out.  He didn't like the idea that he had to change into some "stupid" gown with tigers on it instead of wearing  his own clothes.  That took some convincing.  With his pillow pet, Handy Manny blanket, and  his angry bird game (thank the Lord for that) he began to relax and get used to the hospital time again.  It was stressful to have him put under anthestetic and to have him back in that room without us.  He didn't like that at all.  He wanted us where he could see us.  After about 30 minutes the doctor came out and told us he could not get it 100% lined up.  He felt that about 75% was about all he could do but felt that was a better option for Peyton than putting in pins to help correct it.  We were so thankful there were no pins!  As Peyton came from the recovery room to his room it was painful to watch.  He was in so much pain and mad at the world.  Luckily once we got him settled  into his room and he got some pain meds he and I talked and he calmed down to a great degree.  Before long he was drinking, sucking on a popsicle, and playing Angry Birds again.  His arm was in so much pain after the surgery but he was a tough guy!  After a couple of hours we were cleared to go home...exactly where Peyton wanted to be all along.  With strict orders to keep his arm in the sling and not to be too active at risk of shifting the bone again, we were headed home. 
This poor boy has been so frustrated that he can't do normal active boy stuff.  I feel for him but boy has it been a trial for us to keep him in check.  We finally received his CAMO cast yesterday (so no more sling!!) and he loved it!  He got the last camo cast in the office as they aren't allowed to order it any more!  He will have up to 3  months of treatment/monitoring but we are thankful that he is on the road to healing.  He will receive a different cast in 3-4 weeks and we will see how it is healing from there.  So thankful for all the friends, family, acquaintances who have been praying for us in this time of trial for our family.  We love you all and appreciate you! 
Peyton was bouncing off the walls this morning ready to go to school and have everyone sign his cast.  Such a sweet boy!  Meanwhile, as about par in our home now...his big sister woke up last night about 10 times with the stomach bug so now that he is at school, she is home sick today!  If I weren't so exhausted, it might be funny! 

"I want to remembers" from this past week...

I want to remember that when I signed Peyton's cast this morning (the 1st person :), I drew a heart and wrote "I love you" inside it.  I caught him raising the sleeve of his shirt to look at it several times before going to school. (sigh*)

I want to remember that as I told Peyton last night that he needed to start sleeping in his own bed again, he cuddled up next to me and said "but you are more comfortable".

I want to remember that my kids were overjoyed to go work at PawPaw and MeeMaws this past weekend.  I love that they are helpful and want to work to help their family. 

I want to remember the way Jaedyn has been a little mother hen (this week in  a good way) reminding Peyton what he can/cannot do to be safe with his arm, buckling his seat belt for him, getting things for him he can't reach, and helping him get dressed.

I want to remember Jaedyn's excitement when the Wildcats played Clifton for homecoming this past weekend and she got to see the other three of the "four muskateers".  Such love and sense of friendship with those four even after over a year of being apart! 

I want to remember that even though Peyton has only had one arm this past week and a half, he has been the same helpful little kid.  He genuinely wants to help out  in anything that he can. 

I want to remember that playing the Wii for the first time after he broke his arm that he asked me to help him play.  I was his "left hand".  He worked one remote while I worked the other.  He reminded me time and time again that I wasn't good at it!  We laughed and laughed!  So fun making memories!

I want to remember that while we were talking and visiting late one night, my husband starts reminiscing about our wedding and it was so nice to think back.  And then turns to me and says I would marry you all over again! 

Have a blessed week!




This boy can do anything, what a trooper!



Being wheeled out.  Ready to go!

Angry Birds, life saver!
 

All done, such a cooperative  little boy, they said!



 

 

 

Ready to go, being brave!

Popsicles make it all better!
 

Here we go, the CAMO cast!