MOPS

I am so thankful for my MOPS group! I am so blessed to be part of such a great group of women. I'm happy to serve and help lead this group! We had a "field trip" today to the Monkey House and the kids loved it! Here is Whitney with her friends Beau and Hayden.

We had 19 moms, 26 kids running around and 3 babies!

Abby, Harper and Courtney
(who got to skip school to come with me because I wouldn't be back in town to pick her up, so she was a little bit excited!)

Some of our moms chit chatting...fellowshipping...such a great part of this ministry, connecting with other moms who are going through the same "stuff" as moms!

We had pizza and kool aid for the kids. This isn't even all of them, obviously, but they looked so cute at these tables!

This ministry has become near and dear to my heart. It has met my needs in so many ways. I'm so thankful for friends that I can be around that encourage me and walk beside me through these years of my life! I am excited to see what God has in store for us!

Spring Break 2011

We decided to head over to Tulsa for a couple of nights at the end of Spring Break. We made a reservation for the Raddison in Tulsa because they have a small indoor water park. We've done this before and the girls have loved it! I got them new cover ups and a new friend monogrammed them for me! I love it!

This little quirt thought she was big stuff running down the hall with her big sisters!

Then we got to the water and she was sooo not interested! Didn't even want her toes in the water! However, she sat like this and enjoyed watching all the other 5,000,000 kids play!

Then she got really relaxed...it was after 8:00 bless her sweet heart! She's such a trooper!

This is what Lindsey did a lot. I know it doesn't look crowded, but this must have been just before the whole town showed up. It was so crowded that you could hardly move!

We actually ended up changing hotels because the girls were just hanging on Ryan and wanting to jump in. Not to mention the sleeping arrangements had not been the best. So we changed to the Residence Inn, with an indoor pool. It ended up not being much better because it wasn't heated. Live and learn. Next time I'll ask if the indoor pool is heated...

Our first day there we went to the Children's Museum. Lindsey informed me that it wasn't really a museum. She's probably right in the true definition of the word, but it was still fun! Our girls were at the perfect age for this place! It was basically a BIG warehouse broken into different creative play areas!

This was the Cafe. Not a great pic of the girls, but look at those "chairs" and how cute they are!

The art room. I thought Lindsey would want to stay here forever, but she didn't. They did make one picture and that was about it!

This might have been their favorite spot. It was a grocery store!

Then there was a post office.

Whitney loved the postal hat!

It was a fun family trip. We went to the mall, ate, played at Chuck E Cheese, got ice cream and spent some great quality time together. I'm so thankful that we are able to do these things with our girls!

Happy Birthday Ryan!

A couple of weeks ago, Ryan had a birthday! It's fun with the girls but we don't do much. We always make a cake. His favorite has been yellow cake with chocolate icing ever since I've known him. So, that is what he gets every year. Of course, it now has to have sprinkles!

Singing Happy Birthday!

WJ enjoying some cake.

Monkey See Monkey Do

This little/big girl is so funny! She's so big one min and then I I have to remember that she's only 4. She came in the other house the other night and said that Daddy was taking her training wheels off. I wasn't really surprised, her personality seems to be that way. I want to do something, so I'm going to. That can be good and bad...

So it didn't take long for her to "get it" but she still isn't confident in all the things it takes to ride a bike. She isn't sure about turns at all. She has to really concentrate to stop. But...she's getting there!

A girls blog that I read (Reba) says sometimes that she "writes posts in her head all day" and I had that happen to me the other day. It's funny having 3 girls and realizing how different they all are. I'm so glad. However, it makes for interesting thoughts as a mom--how to deal with the same situations differently. Then I realized how much Lindsey is like Ryan and Courtney is like me. Who knows about Whitney yet?!

Here are something that I thought of the other night: (as I laied in bed writing this blog post)

• Very social. Always wants to be around people and can generally find a friend--be at church, the park, McDonald's, Lindsey's friends, etc.
• Speaks her mind. There is rarely a time when you don't know how Courtney feels about things. She will tell you, whether you want to hear it or not. Hmmmm, where does she get that again?
• Picky eater. She knows what she likes. She knows what she wants. She may not love a lot of foods, but the ones she does...she loves a lot!
• Not a reader. I know this isn't necessarily how she may end up, but it is like pulling teeth for her to sit and listen to me read a book to her. She doesn't want to sit still that long I guess.
• Words mean a lot. Lindsey has learned the use of sarcasm. Courtney. Not so much. Lindsey "gets" it. Ryan teases and she likes that she can tease back. Courtney always always asks if Daddy is being serious or for real. She doesn't get it and I think it is because she takes words to heart. I'm soooo much this way. Lindsey can take a much more harsh tone from me or Ryan when we have to get onto her. Courtney...all you have to do is barely raise your voice and she is crushed. Words to Courtney mean so much more!
  
• Mercy. I say that she will either be a nurse or a missionary. If someone is hurt, Courtney wants to know about it and why something is wrong. If someone is hurt, she will do whatever she can to make them feel better. If Whitney is crying and I'm not paying attention (mostly because I know all she wants is for me to hold her) then Courtney gets very disturbed. It bothers her when someone is upset. (this is not from me, but from her daddy...in fact after I had Lindsey my mom even told me that she was impressed with how much mercy I had for her because she had wondered how I'd be. Great! My poor children!)
  

Oh Courtney Ann...she's a fun little girl. She's a great sister--little and big. I have many people tell me that she's a mini-me. When I sit back and look, I guess I see it too. I hope that she can embrace the personality that God gave her and never squelch her zest for life!

Around Here....

Here are some random pictures, but pretty cute ones too...

I put Whitney's hair in pig tails and couldn't decide if I liked them or not. They sort of stuck straight out. Cute or not? I don't know, but her smile was priceless!

Courtney wanted to be in this picture. Courtney seems to have a hard time smiling naturally in pictures so I love this one of her! She adores Whitney. They have a different relationship that Whitney and Lindsey. It's fun to watch all the sisterly interactions....most of the time!

Whitney loves the marshmallows that are in lucky charms. She will beg and beg for them. However, now she's figured out how to open the box. So she helped herself. Nice...

This is what I happened on one day. I love these moments and I love that they just "happen" sometimes!

A while back the girls had been begging to make sock puppets. It's funny how sometimes it just seems so over whleming to let them do some of these "projects" they come up with. However, with an old sock and markers...they were so happy. We happened to have this cardboard box that was perfect! They were so funny!

Miss Patty Cake

Last month, Miss Patty Cake came to FBC Greenwood. I wasn't familiar with MPC until a few years ago when Honey bought the girls a CD. Oh.my.word! MPC and Honey were seperated at birth I'm pretty sure! She is a preschool/kindergarten teacher style that is running deep in her blood. Not all of us have that...even if we are early childhood educated!

I honestly don't know who was more excited...the little girls, or Honey! My parents came down just to see MPC. I'm sure these 2 would be BFFs in real life. I can only imagine this conversation.The next day at Upaward, our pastor, Bro. Ronnie, asked me about our date. We talked for a min and then he said, "I saw your mom last night. I think she had a good time." As I roll my eyes and say, "Yes, I'm certain that she did." He laughed and said, "I think she was even giddy!" HA HA HA! Yes, he nailed it on the head! I told you she was excited! Gotta love Honey! I had told my friends to look for her and that she was so excited to come. One of the things I would say is "Yes, Honey is coming because she wants to be MPC." Courtney kept telling everyone this tid bit of information as well! So funny!

My sweet dad stayed home with Whitney so Ryan and I could go on a date! It was so nice to not have to pay a babysitter! What a treat for us! I'm thankful for grandparents that want to be involved in their granddaughters lives!

Whitney June

This little girl is growing up so fast! I just can't believe the toddler that she is and now non-baby she acts more and more. She's communicating so much lately! It seems that everyday she says something new or does something new.

Today it was putting her hands up like "I don't know" and saying "go" as we looked for her blanket! So cute! This age is so fun to watch them discover and do new stuff so often. However...she definitely has her times of coming upon the terrible 2s! She knows what she wants and has an opinion about it!

She has so much hair! Oh my goodness! Lindsey and Courtney hardly had this much hair at 2! She likes a bow in it, but the few times I've put a ponytail in...she screams at it ends up getting pulled out!

First Tooth...lost!

Lindsey had a very loose tooth for quite a while. It was literally hanging on. It was getting to the point where she couldn't eat because it would hurt her tooth. One night it was really bothering her. I had tried to mess with it after school, but to no avail.

Ryan came home from work and after dinner, he was met with her doing this:

So he convinced her to let him wiggle it...and it just "fell" out! :) She was more scared than hurt I think. It happened so fast. She literally hardly even bled, that is how loose it was!

She was so proud! The tooth fairy brought her $1!

Courtney's Date Night

Ryan told the girls that once a month they would each get their own date night with Daddy! This was his idea and they are excited about it! Courtney chose McDonald's. Not surprising!

Ryan said he could hardly get her to sit with him long enough to finish her dinner, then she was off to play. Isn't it funny. When he took Lindsey, she wanted to go to Olive Garden. They could talk and she got all of her daddy's attention. Courtney...just wanted to play. Love their differences and their special personalities!

Swinging

A long time ago Ryan and I happened on this swing on sale and it has been hanging in the garage for months. One pretty day, I decided it was time for her to swing. We had tried this before at the church playground and she HATED the swing (what child hates to swing?) so I wasn't sure how she'd like it. She did ok at first.

But before too long and by the time I took pictures, she was DONE! The girls had fun pushing her and would fight over whose turn it was. So I hope that Whit will learn to love it, but for now it is a short term activity!

Courtney on the other hand...would swing for hours!