We're here!

The Hartsell family has been crazy busy since school has started!

Keaton started T-ball this season and Tatum is still doing dance. That meant that on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays we were gone in the evenings. Keaton loved T-ball and did pretty well. He learned that he is a GREAT hitter and can throw the ball from the outfield almost to home plate, but...he had no idea what to do after he hit the ball :-). His first time around the bases (with a lot of coaching), he got to home plate and stopped. He had this look on his face like, "what do I do now?". We did see improvement thru the season...I guess you can call it that. They only played like 5 games because of all the rain.

Tatum moved up to a 'big' girl dance class and after the first class was very upset. I asked her what was wrong and she said it was because she is the youngest in her class. All the other girls are in 2nd or 3rd grade. She looks so tiny in there with all those 'big' girls. As usual, she is loving dance and wants to know when she will get to be famous. On the down side, I bought her new shoes for dance when school started and she has outgrown her jazz shoes and her ballets are almost to small. Does anyone know how to stop feet from growing? If so, pass it on...all my kids feet are growing like weeds. Weston (17 mos. old) is in a size 6, Keaton (5 yrs. old) is in a 13.5 and Tatum (6 yrs. old) is in a 2!

Weston is now 17 months old going on 5. He loves to roll around with Keaton and sit on the couch with Tatum. He will repeat anything you say and has an amazing vocabulary! One day he was in his room sitting on a stool that GP made the big kids. I asked him what he was doing and very causally he replied "sittin" then gave me a look like "you can't tell what I'm doing?". Weston stays at home with Jarrek 3 days a week and we have a sitter come in 2 days a week. Some days he gives her a run for her money! He has defiantly found his personality.

Jarrek's stores have finally changed names...come visit him at Whiskey Charlie's! There catch phrase..."It's good if you like it!"

Right now we are still trying to work out our schedules so that the kids get to spend time with us. Man, it's hard being working parents ;-)

We are Siamese if you please

Tatum: What kind of cat is that?
Me: I think it's a Siamese cat.
Tatum: Well, where's it's twin?

It's a crazy life

The past few weeks have been hectic and crazy and I'm sure it will only get more so in the weeks to follow.
I was hired to work at the kids school on Thursday (two weeks ago) and started work on that Friday! Needless to say, I was of no use...I cried almost all day. I was happy, but sad. This means I have to leave my baby, which I don't think I was quiet ready for. Anyway, the craziness began. Since I am working at the kids school we need childcare for Weston (sniff sniff). All the day cares that we would think about putting him in are full and Jarrek has to work at the stores so our only option was a 'nanny'. We found a great girl that comes and watches him two days a week and Jarrek watches him the other three. This will on last until Weston is 18 months...we counting the days. This also means that there are many nights that Jarrek works and the kids don't get to see him. It is a big adjustment for all of us, cause we are use to having our daddy around, but we are doing good with it.

My Job:
I am the Paraprofessional in Life skills at the kids school. Not my own class, but it gets me in the doors for when an opening comes up. It is nice to get to take the kids to school and see them through out the day.
I love my job! It is not something that I really thought I would like, but the kids we have are great and I love going to work (it's only been a week) ;-)

The kids are doing great in school. Tatum was a little upset that no one from her class last year is in her class this year, but she is meeting new friends and enjoying first grade. Keaton was super excited when he found out who his teacher was. She taught the Kinder enrichement class he went to this Summer! He seems to be liking school, but it's hard to tell with Keaton. One day we're good, the next we're not.

With all the craziness, I have been a posting slacker :-(. Hopefully when we get in a better routine it will work out.

We own it!

Yesterday was Jarrek's first day as the OFFICIAL owner of the stores. For those that don't know, Jarrek, his brother and my brother purchased three liquor stores in BCS (The Cork). Right now they are still operating as that, but will soon change the name to Whiskey Charlie's. So...if yall are in town and in need to some refreshing beverages, stop on by.
It has been a hectic few weeks with Jarrek getting everything prepared for the purchase and running of the stores. The kids and I are really having to do some adjusting to daddy being gone. All in all we are doing good.

Mom and Dad came to town last week and we all went School clothes shopping. It was so fun to see how excited the kids got about picking out school clothes. Weston even got an outfit or two.

We went yesterday to Target and got backpacks and lunch boxes. I decided to spend a little more on their backpacks this year in hope that by Christmas they would still be in working order. Last year, both of their backpacks had broken zippers by Christmas break!

The kids have decided to take a break from Soccer for the Fall. I had mixed emotions about it, but they were excited to try new things. Tatum will be taking two dance classes...Ballet/Tap/Jazz class and Leaps & Turns class. We are signing Keaton up for "Ninja Class". I hope he's not disappointed when he walks in on the first day and no one is wearing a black ninja suit with mask. We'll see how this goes!

Disney

Disney World was great! We did realize that July was not the time to go...95 degrees with 45% humidity. The kids were great about it though. Their sweaty little bodies enjoyed every ride they went on and every show they saw.

The first day we went to Magic Kingdom (MK) and headed straight to Tomorrowland. The friends that we went with convinced all the big kids to go on the Astro Orbiter. I had a feeling Tatum and Keaton wouldn't like it, but they begged to go so we let them. Jarrek and I don't do spinning things so they went with our friends. Jarrek and I waited with the little ones. When they got off the ride, Kara was carrying Tatum who was hysterical and Keaton wasn't much better. Tatum swore she was about to die on the ride and Keaton was upset cause Tatum was upset. He also thought he was going to fly off the ride. Lesson learned: Hartsell children do NOT like spinning rides. It was the first day so we went all out and stayed for the parade, fireworks and the extended hours. We didnt get back to the hotel until 1:00 am. 2nd lesson learned: kids are cranky at 1:00 in the morning.

The next day we had our first character meal...Breakfast with Mickey. The kids loved seeing the characters and getting their autographs. It was a pretty hectic meal, but in the end it was worth it. After breakfast it was off to Epcot. It was HOT again and everyone (adults included) was tired and a bit fussy. We rode some rides, saw some shows and headed back to the hotel early for some much needed rest. After nap we headed to the Pirate Pool. 3rd lesson learned: nobody is pleasant after only 6 hours of sleep and alot of walking.

Animal Kingdom was our third park to visit. We started the day off with another character breakfast...Donald's Safari Breakfast. It was a little better, mostly because we had sleep. AK was awesome. The kids loved the Safari ride and even Weston liked looking at the animals. There was a parade that went through the middle of the park. It was so cool! 4th lesson learned: Hartsell children are fascinated with animals. They LOVED AK.

We headed back to MK to catch all the stuff we missed the first day and to have another character meal...Character Dinner @ Crystal Palace. We saw the Winne the Pooh characters. The kids went back and rode some the their favorite rides...Pirates of the Caribbean, Buzz Lightyear. The kids also rode the Haunted Mansion ride, which turned out to be kinda fun. Before we rode it they were worried it would be scary, but when it was over they thought it was kinda funny.

Next it was Epcot again. Too much to see in just one day. My favorite ride there was Soarin'. Keaton and Tatum liked the flight simulator ride. Tatum and Kayla also got to get their hair done at the Bippity Boppity Boutique for their Princess Dinner that night. While the girls went to the boutique (which was in Downtown Disney) the guys hung out at Epcot and did some male bonding. We stayed for the light show which was awesome. 5th lesson learned: Take it easy.

Our last park was Hollywood Studios. There weren't many rides, but we saw several shows which were great and inside ;-). Keaton had been talking about the Stunt show since he saw the promotional DVD Disney sent us months ago. So, of course we had to go see it and it was worth it. Tatum wanted to see the American Idol Experience. We headed back to the hotel early, had a little dinner and went swimming. It was a nice little family time.

On our last day in Disney we went to Downtown Disney to do a little shopping. It was nice to just relax a little. Keaton made a Star Wars light saber, Tatum helped me fill a giant Mr. Potato Head with Disney characters and Weston grabbed everything he could.

All in all it was a great trip! We are actually planning on going back...in about 4 years! Weston will be 5 and can really enjoy it and Tatum and Keaton will be old enough that they can go on rides by themselves.



Pictures coming!

Crazy

The past week has been crazy and it looks like it will only get worse for awhile.
First, Jarrek and Keaton headed to Louisiana to help Uncle Ted and Aunt Neha load up some of their stuff to bring to Texas. Teddy and Neha will be moving here at the end of July. Jarrek and Keaton left on Wednesday and came back on Friday. Tatum, Weston and I had a great time hanging out together. On Friday, Tatum, Weston and I headed to Brenham and Jarrek and Keaton meet us there that evening. We all hung out with Ma and Pa and Richard and Carol. We then got up on Saturday to enjoy the Chappell Hill 4th of July parade which has become our little family tradition. We have not missed a parade in 6 years! After the parade we headed back to Ma and Pa's for some hotdogs (another tradition yet to be broken) and then we loaded up and came back to CS. Everyone took a little rest and then it was off to our next function, a 4th party with some friends. This afternoon Jarrek and the big kids, along with Uncle Ted hit the road to go visit family in Kingsland. They will return on Tuesday and then we are off to Disney on Saturday. Are you tired yet? I am, but we are all having a great time.

Tonight I was folding clothes and Weston was 'helping'. He found a pair of Tatum's silky PJ pants and carried them around for the rest of the night. He would hold them up to his check, hang them around his neck, put them on his head or just drag them around. I don't know if he liked them because they were soft and cool or if they belonged to his Big Sissy that he was missing. Either way it was too cute.

What are you gonna do?

I took the boys to get their check-ups today...1 yr and 5 yr. I know, a little late. Anyway, when Keaton found out he was going to the doctor all he wanted to know was if he was going to have to get shots. Weston had no idea what was going on until the nurse tried to take his temperature. I guess all the memories came flooding back and he did NOT want to be there. Weston is in the 70% for height and 10% for weight...long and very lean. Doctor said he is good. While Weston was getting his shots, Tatum and Keaton sat with their eyes closed and their fingers in their ears. They wanted to leave the room cause, "We just cant stand to hear him cry like that".

Next was Keaton's turn. The whole time the doctor is asking me questions about Keaton, Weston was banging on the metal cart that holds the baby scale. It seemed with every question, his banging got louder. I would pick him up and then he would scream to get down. I could tell the doctor was trying not to laugh. Good thing we have been going to this same doctor since Tatum was little.
Keaton was grateful he didn't have to have shots, but he did have to get some blood work done (no problem, just typical 5yr check up stuff). We went downstairs to the lab and the whole time he just keep saying "what are they gonna do? What are they gonna do?" I didn't want to tell him so I just kinda ignored him. We got there, signed in and waited. They called us in and all 4 of us squeezed into this tiny little area. Tatum figured out real quick what was coming up and kinda panicked which lead to Keaton's panic attack. Tatum was asked to wait in the waiting room (by me and the nurse) and the hold down began. I had to hold Weston and practically sit on Keaton at the same time. It was cute though, Weston started screaming when Keaton did and he kept trying to push the nurses hands away from Keaton.

Doctor's visits are never dull in the Hartsell family.

Cold Turkey

Jarrek and I decided that Weston should go 'cold turkey' with his bottles. He has only really gotten 2-3 bottles a day for about a month now. Some days he would only have 1, so we thought "this will be easy". WRONG. He must have know the day was coming when I threw the formula can away and didn't bring out a new one. This morning he woke up crying for his 'nigh-nigh' or bottle in Weston-talk. He pulled me until I followed him to the kitchen and he pointed to the drawer that contains his bottles and when I said "no nigh-nigh", he pulled me to his diaper bag. I finally got him calmed down and he drank his milk and ate breakfast. We then went to Target to get a few things. I went down the sippy cup aisle to get him some new cups and on the end were some cans of formula. He knew exactly what those were and tried to put them in the basket saying 'nigh-nigh' the whole time. Weston is now in his crib for his morning nap and crying for his 'nigh-nigh'. It breaks my heart, but I know it must be done.
For clarification...We never gave him milk in his bottles only formula so there are many things that make him think of his beloved 'nigh-nigh'...nipples, bottles, liners, formula cans, the little travel formula sectioned thingy, his diaper bag. When he sees them he calls out to his 'nigh-nigh' waiting for it to come to him.
I just went to calm him down in his crib. When I walked in his little hands reached out for his bottle and when I didn't hand one to him, he just broke down. He looked so disappointed, but finally fell asleep.
Cold Turkey SUCKS!

Sleepover

Tatum had her first sleepover last night. She had so much fun and we didn't have to go get her in the middle of the night! She did have a little breakdown right before they went to bed...she started crying because her ear hurt and her ant bites started itching. The little girls mom took care of her and everything was good. Tatum cant wait to have her friend over here.
Keaton and I decided we were going to go swimming last night. When we were ready to go outside, Keaton looked kinda sad. He said he missed his sister...it was so cute.

Splashpad party!

This past weekend we celebrated our nephew Brody's 2nd Birthday! It was at a Splashpad in Houston and everyone had a great time. Tatum and Keaton loved showing off their swimming skills in the little pool and Weston had a great time running through the spraying water. After the party we spent the whole day in Houston with Jarrek's sister and her husband and family. We also got to meet Jarrek's biological dad for the first time. It was a nice meeting and a great day. By the time we left to go home we were ALL exhausted.

Weston enjoying the sprinklers. As you can tell he LOVES the water!

Keaton ready to swim in the Olympics. He insists on wearing his goggles whenever he is in the water.

Tatum going down the slide. I never thought she would do it, but she loved it.

Keaton is still going to his Kinder prep class and is so excited to show off his Kindergarten knowledge! He is starting to love writing and playing word games. When anyone says a word, he always tells you what letters are in that word! This is a wonderful thing to hear since only a few weeks ago he didn't recognize all the letters in the alphabet.

Our countdown to Disney world has begun! Only 16 more days until we leave. We are all looking forward to it. Mommy (and maybe Daddy) is a little nervous about the plane ride with Weston, but hopefully all will go well.

Hello Summer

So, there were no real camping crazies. Tatum was sick the whole time with a strange virus. It was so sad to see her just sitting there and not really getting to enjoy the camping. We were suppose to have a fish fry with fish the guys caught...they ended up catching most of their fish at Brookshire Brothers. The kids had a great time just hanging out and playing.

We have started our summer off with a bang! The first two weeks the kids had swim lessons here at the house. They did great. Tatum can now do the freestyle, breast stroke, back stroke and side stroke. She can also tread water for 1 1/2 minutes and float on her back for god knows how long. She is unstoppable in the pool! Keaton also did really well. He can do the freestyle, breast stroke and back stroke. He can also tread water for 1 minute and float on his back until you make him laugh. It was kinda sad to look out and see my little babies swimming like pros.
Weston also LOVES the water. Every time we go swimming he just wants to put his head in and go. He will soon be a little fish like is big sis and big bro.

Keaton started a Kinder Prep program with CSISD on June 1. He loves going to his 'Summer Kindergarten'. It helps that Tatum's Kinder teacher and one other teacher from Tatum's school are teaching the class. Keaton adores Tatum's Kinder teacher. He seems to be really learning alot and hopefully he will be ready for Kindergarten in August. I cant believe that I will have 2 kids in school. Man, time sure does fly.

Weston had is first birthday on May 30 and since then has been getting into everything! He started walking a few weeks ago and now I can hardly keep up with him. He loves to follow his sis and bro everywhere they go and try to do everything they do. Here are a few things I have learned since he started walking:
* Markers taste good
* Crayons taste good
* Paper tastes good
* It's fun to climb up on things and even more fun when you don't know how to get down
* Everyone else food/drink is better than your own
* Cat food tastes good

Camping anyone?

So, we are leaving today to go on a Family Camp-out with our Sunday School class. What does this mean? Well, it means...5 kids, 2 adults, 1.5 hour drive, 17 adults camping, 19 kids camping, lots of fun and lots of funny stories. I am taking a pad and pen so that I can write things down and report our happenings when we get back. So, pray that all the adults are still sane when the weekend is over and pray that all the kids make it back ;-). We are all really looking forward to this much needed break from everything.

Stay tuned for camping funnies!

Here We are!

The Hartsell's are still here!! Mommy has been a slacker. It seems like the last bit of April and the beginning of May have flown by. I have been super busy with Junior League, but that's over and now I am going to get back to writing more often. So here is what has happened over the last several weeks (as best as I can remember)...

Tatum and Keaton finished up their Soccer season and we are all excited to have our Saturdays back. Tatum is ready for the next season to start. Keaton has decided that Soccer is not for him and he would like to try Football...tackle Football. We sign him up next week. There is some excitement and some hesitation on my part.

Weston is no longer a 'baby' :-(. He is starting to walk and took 2 steps last night without any support!! He doesn't want to be cuddled anymore and would rather be on the floor wrestling with the cat or Keaton.
Weston has a pretty good vocabulary for only being 1. He can say...dada, dog, hi, bye, mama, night night and a few other words that of course only mommy can understand ;-)

Last week, we watched our nephew Brody (he's almost 2) for 5 days. The kids had a great time playing with him and helping out. I enjoyed having him here, but it confirmed my thoughts that 'I should not have anymore kids'. Not that we were thinking of it, but I think I would go crazy if we did. Brody was so good and really had fun. By the time his stay was over, Weston was ready to have him mommy back to himself. Jealousy reared it's ugly head a few times during Brody's stay.

Keaton had his 5th Birthday yesterday!! What happened to the time? It seems like only yesterday he was just a little toddler. He is super excited to be going to Kindergarten next year.

Tink

Well, we might just be crazy, but we have a new puppy! 3 kids, 3 dogs...sounds like a good idea right? Anyway, the new puppy is way cute. She's a Boxer and her name is Tink as in Tinkerbell. I will post pictures soon. The kids love her, but Keaton gets freaked out every time she gets playful. I am not sure what he thinks she is going to do, she only weighs like 5 lbs. But, whenever Tink jumps up on him he runs to the couch and screams. Tatum treats her like a baby. Weston is not real sure what to think. He just looks at her and screams "OG, OG, OG!" That's dog for those who are not proficient in babytalk.

The other day we were just sitting around and Tatum said, "I want another baby. A baby girl. Mom can you have another baby?" After I picked up my chin off the floor, I said "No, mommy and daddy are not having anymore kids." In her profound 6 yr old wisdom..."But God decides that and what he thinks you should have another baby?" Then I said the words I probably should not have said, "I dont think God wants mommy to have any more kids" I am hopping God knows that those words were not a challenge.

Need it

Today on the way to take Tatum to dance, she was admiring the Bluebonnets. Here is conversation:
Tatum: When are we taking pictures with the Bluebonnets?
Me: Soon
Tatum: I wish he had gone to church. (she meant had gone with our 'church' friends to take photos in the bluebonnets) We would already have our pictures, but were in Boston. I don't mean that I am glad we didn't go to church, I like to go to church and learn about God. There are SO many stories that I would like to learn, but sometimes you need alittle Spring Break.

NYC and Boston

So we are on our vacation which started with a short stay in NYC.  We ice skated at Rockefeller center, saw Times Square in the day and at night, rode in a limo, went to the M&M store, did LOTS of walking, ate NY style pizza, saw a Ferris wheel inside the Toys R Us, went into a 4000 sq. ft. Barbie house, saw some interesting people and explained what a Bedit was to the kids. Then we were off to Boston.

What was suppose to be a simple 3 hour drive ended up being a drive that took the whole day.  We took several little side trips, which are always fun. 

We got to see alot of nice scenery in Connecticut and Rhode Island.  We also went to Plymouth, Massachusetts and saw Plymouth 'rock'.  

Yesterday we went to an outdoor market and got our first taste of the Boston culture.  Today we wen to the New England Aquarium and to the Boston Museum of Science.  The kids are having a great time, but getting on each others nerves.  Tonight we ate at a restaurant on the harbor and Jarrek and Tatum shared a 3.75 lbs Lobster! Keaton just kinda played with it.

Cowboy Keaton

Today was Cowboy day at Keaton's school. He was so excited to get to wear his boots, jeans and 'cowboy' shirt. He also wore his cowboy hat that his Ma and Pa got him. He looked so cute! At school they got to sit on a real saddle, play cowboy games, race stick horses and they got to see a real horse. Keaton loved all of it.

Ma and Pa came over this evening. Tatum and Keaton were so surprised when Pa WALKED in the door! He got his new leg today and they were both very interested and curious about it. Pa showed them the 'leg' and they asked lots of questions. They were all so excited!

Let me see those teeth!

Tatum went to the dentist today. I am one of those horrible parents...this was her first visit. It was just in time too...she lost her second tooth last night. Anyway, she did great. They gave me a questionnaire to fill out and one of the questions was "is the patient feeling anxious or nervous about this visit?" Our conversation:
Me: Tatum are you anxious or nervous about seeing the dentist today?
Tatum: No, I'm scared.
Me: Ok. About what?
Tatum: What if they hit my teeth with a hammer and then they all fall out and then they have to fix them? (I'm thinking...WHAT? but not a bad scam for a dentist to pull)
Me: They wouldn't do that. They are here to help your teeth.
Tatum: Good!

All in all the visit went well. She was very grown up about it and didn't argue or complain about anything they did. She does have to go back and get some work done on her molars, but not too bad. It hurt the pocket book more than it did anything else. Maybe in my next life I'll be a dentist.

Now all we have to do is convince Keaton that the Dentist is not out to get him so he will go.

Watch and learn

Weston is constantly watching the kids, picking up on everything they do. Sometimes that's good, sometimes it's bad. He LOVES his big brother and every time Keaton comes into the room Weston just gets so excited. Weston rolls around on the floor with Keaton, climbs on him, 'screams' with him and does just about everything Keaton does. He plays differently with Tatum, but still watches her intently. I think he know she is 'teaching' him different things than Keaton is.

This evening, Tatum, Weston and I were in Tatum's room reading. Tatum was reading her daily reader and Weston was crawling around playing. The next thing I know he is in her bathroom. Weston had climbed up on her stool, grabbed her toothbrush (which he had to really reach for) and was 'brushing' his teeth. He look so proud when I looked at him.

Here are the pictures.

Anatomy lesson

Several weeks ago we went to the zoo with some friends of ours. They have a little boy that is just around Keaton's age. We were walking through the zoo enjoying the animals, when Jarrek noticed that the little boy was 'adjusting' himself. Jarrek asked "Do you need to use the restroom?" His reply: "No, my penis itches". Well, Tatum and Keaton just thought that was hilarious. We very quickly had a talk about that word: it is not a bad word, it's the doctor word for a weewee (that's what we call it). Keaton and Tatum found numerous times to use the word penis. Every time we had a talk about how it was not appropriate to use that word the way they were using it. Finally, they got the idea of when it was OK to say and when it was not. Well, apparently I didn't explain it too well...a few days ago the kids were playing with some wooden poles and Tatum grabbed her 'area' and started groaning. I asked her what was wrong and she said "I hurt my penis". I tried so hard not to laugh out loud and had ANOTHER talk about that word and made it very clear that only boys have those. Tatum just said "OHHH".

Things and stuff

I am such a slacker. Everyday I tell myself...Write something on the blog. Then something else distracts me.



Well, the kids had their first soccer games last weekend. It started out great then came the rain. Keaton's game was pretty much played in the rain and it was cold rain. By the time Tatum's game started the rain had stopped, but it was like 10 degrees colder! Only one other player showed up on her team. They were good sports and ran their little tooshies off.



On Monday nights I take a sewing class through the city's extra education. It is really fun (i know...dorky). Last week we made a little tissue holder for travel Kleenex. We also started on a pillow case. Next week is the last week and we are going to learn how to read a pattern and cut out the material for it. I am planning on making a dress for Tatum. Once it is complete, I will post pictures.



Weston is getting another tooth. This makes TWO little snaggle-teeth. He is learning so much everyday. Weston now waves bye-bye. It is so cute, he cocks his head to one side, sticks his hand way up in the air and waves with his little fingers. His new favorite song is "the wheels on the bus". Tatum and Keaton have added many new verses to the song to help keep their little brother entertained. We drove to Brenham not that long ago and to calm Weston down, Tatum, Keaton and I sang that song for about half and hour. It got pretty creative!

Reading love

The kids had their second soccer practice this evening. It is always interesting watching 10 kids ranging in age from 4-6 trying to play an organized game. Tatum and Keaton both have their first soccer game this Saturday. I hope the weather cooperates and gives us sunshine and warm weather.

Weston has been sleeping through the night!! I owe that to my awesome, patient husband who can stand to listen to the screaming and still calmly go lay him down and pat him. Jarrek only had to do that one night and Weston caught on. He now wakes up maybe once, but will go right back to sleep when you pat him. It is nice to get a long good nights sleep.
Every time I go to his room in the night, or have to hold him while eating dinner, or listen to him screaming cause he wants to play with the dishwasher, I think...I was pregnant when Tatum was his age!

Tatum has been having some trouble with her reading...not that she cant, she doesn't think she can. I emailed her teacher to talk about it and she has seen the same things. So, I had a talk with Tatum about how she was a better reader than she was showing me and her teacher had the same talk with Tatum. The very next day her teacher re-assed her to see what level Tatum was REALLY on. Tatum was so proud to tell us that she is now a D+ Reader, which means she is reading on beginning First grade level. We are so excited for her and glad to see she got her excitement for reading back.

Keaton is like a little sponge...soaking up everything his teachers are teaching. He still throws out his bits of random info.: "did you know the moon is extremely cold?", "there are some metals that are magnetical and some metals are not magnetical.", "brush up, brush down, brush all around, that's the way to brush your teeth." I am learning so much from him
Today, mom and dad came into town so we went out to eat with them. Keaton announced at the table: "My girlfriend knows how to tie her shoes. Well, she didn't know she new, but then she tried and then she knew she knew how to tie."

We went to a birthday party today for a friend of ours little girl who is in Keaton's class. There were lots of kids form his school and his class. Of course his 'girlfriend' was there as well. The party was at the Bounce, so much fun! When the kids were out in the big room, I could hear Keaton and his 'girlfriend'...
Keaton: Lauren, where are you?
Lauren: Over here.
Keaton: Wait right there, I'm coming!
Lauren: OK
Keaton: (running to find her) I'm coming!!
This repeated every time they got separated. It was too cute.

Last night Jarrek and I got a sitter and went out to eat to celebrate Valentine's Day. While at dinner, we realized that we were celebrating our 11 Valentine's together...WOW.
At home, the kids were decorating Valentine's cards for us (materials were provided by our sitter who is AWESOME). When we got home they were so excited, but Kelli (sitter) kept telling them to wait until Valentine's to give them to us...no use. Keaton ran out and got his so Tatum followed. It was so cute to see the excitement in their faces and their pride in the fact that they had created the cards.

What I have been doing?!?!

OH MY GOODNESS! I just looked and realized it has been a long time since I blogged. I will try to keep up better...lack of sleep and a ton of things keeps my mind fuzzy.



Weston is growing like a weed! He is now in 12 months clothes and some of them are too short. Good thing the weather is warming up...can an 8month old baby boy wear 'capris'?

Jarrek and I realized the other day orange and red are not good colors for Weston. He wore and orangish-red shirt to church the other day and everyone that saw him made a comment about his red hair. I really didn't notice until I picked him from the nursery and went "WOW! His hair looks so red!"

He has now decided to eat like a 'big' boy. He only eats table food and occasionally baby food that is mixed with yogurt or cottage cheese (college cheese as Keaton says). It is messy, but boy does he love it. When he is eating he make the cutest smile you have ever seen...he scrunches up his nose and smiles real big, squinting his eyes. Tatum use to smile just like it when she was his age.



Tatum had the flu about two weeks ago and we are slowly getting back to her 'old' self. She kept complaining of a headache and earache which we thought was just from the flu. We were wrong. She had an ear infection and sinus infection. I felt awful when the doctor told us that.

She is reading up a storm. At the doctor's office she picked up "The Cat in the Hat" and read the first few pages by herself. When she would get to a word that stumped her, we would sound it out. She read a 'first grade sight word' and she was so excited!

Tatum now has 6 (and counting) loose teeth. It seems like everyday she comes to show me another tooth that is loose. I am afraid she is going to have the dreaded 'daddy' teeth that were hoping none of the kids would get.

She too is growing like a weed. I have the fear that all my children are going to tower over me (which isn't too hard).



Keaton is such a ladies man. When I pick him up from school he is always playing with the girls and when I ask him who he was playing with he says, "Ella. She's my girlfriend." Then the next day it will be another girl.

He is starting to really get interested in learning and school stuff. When we are riding in the car, he will tell me some random fact about something he learned at school. Like, did you know that there are 3 types of penguins...the brown ones that like hot, Emperor penguins and macaroni cheese penguins? Also, did you know that bears hypernate? Or did you know that you have like millions of taste bubs on your tongue that help you know what taste good and what taste bad? These are just a few of the things Keaton has taught me in the car ride home.

Keaton put on some pj pants that he has not worn in awhile and they are now pj high waters. He thought it was pretty funny. Yesterday his teacher told me that Keaton and her were having a talk about how much he has grown. She told him that he has not only grown taller but he has also grown-up with is behavior and what he knows. Keaton told her, "Well, you do know that I am almost five."



Hopefully I will do better with my blogging and keeping everyone posted on our happenings. The kids start soccer soon so that should lend itself to some pretty amusing stories.

Girlfriend?!

Keaton come in the living room from playing and said "I wonder if Madalyn will want a boyfriend when she gets older?" Hum! So I said, "Would you want to be her boyfriend?...giggle, giggle" Keaton shrugged his shoulders and gave his 'I'm too cute look' and said "No...giggle, giggle".


He asked me the other day "what happens to the bell on the outside?" I had no idea what he was talking about so I pried him for some more details. Finally after much questioning I got that he wanted to know what happened when you rang the doorbell to make it ring inside. That was a question for daddy! So Jarrek showed him the box on the inside and told him how it worked. Keaton just said "OH". I wonder how long he thought about that before he asked.




Tatum now has her molars coming in! Do 6 year olds have teething symptoms? Hopefully that will explain some of the 'funky' attitude we have been getting.

On Thursday I had to pick her up from school...she had 102 fever. I took her to the doctor that afternoon and...the flu. Keaton got his flu shot to help keep him from getting it. You would have thought the nurse was trying to cut off his leg. He screamed and kicked and made his body so stiff I could hardly get him up on the table. The nurse said she was pretty sure he was not going to get beat up when he got older cause he was strong.

Teeth for everyone!

As you know Tatum lost her first tooth not long after her 6th Birthday. Well, we now have a 'big' tooth coming in! She kept complaining of her 'hole' hurting and when I looked, there was the tooth. It is pretty crooked so it looks like we are headed for braces. Her next tooth is also very loose and about to come out. We will be heading to the dentist to get everything checked out.

Weston has his first tooth!!! Well, its not all the way in but you sure can feel it and see the little tip. He chews on EVERYTHING...most of which is not really baby friendly. He puts anything in his mouth, but has never choked on anything. He just gums it and swirls it around in his mouth.

We have always had issues with Weston eating baby food. Well, we have pretty much given up on the typical baby food for him. He flat out refuses to eat anything mushy. So he is now eating 'grown up' food...Kix, chopped banana, Veggi-all, mashed potatoes, green beans, chopped peaches, chopped oranges. Anything he can pick up and eat, he will. It is kind of exhausting finding him things to eat that he can pick up and put in his mouth without turning it to mush in his hands.

Keaton, not wanting to be left out of the tooth club, keeps asking me to check his teeth to see if they are loose. Poor baby...those baby teeth are holding tight. Every now and then I tell him that I think one might be getting loose.

Whose gonna be our president?

Since Monday was MLK holiday, I decided to ask Tatum if she knew about MLK Jr. We talked about segregation and how he had a dream that all people would be treated the same. She then made a very profound statement: "Yeah, we are all humans no matter what our skin looks like; brown, black, white, tan, peachy. It's not like some people are mermaids on the inside and look like humans on the outside." I tried my hardest not to laugh...history told by a Kindergartner.

When we talked to Tatum about the presidential inauguration she was super excited that we were going to have a new President. Her eyes lit up and yelled "John McCain for President"...oops. We told her that Obama won, but I guess she forgot. We had to break the news to her that McCain was not going to be our president. The light went out in her eyes. Only 6 and so strong in her 'beliefs'. She was still excited for him and the fact that Obama got the be president..."It must be exciting".

Weston has said his first word!! I know you are probably thinking "Yeah right." I thought the same thing...he's just making sounds that happen to sound like a word. Well, I was wrong. Anytime he sees our dogs or any dogs (the cat too) he begins saying "og, og, og" over and over again. If you ask him 'what's that' and point to a dog he says "og, og". It's crazy to think that he is actually talking. Maybe he's a genius ;-)

Keaton has become a little bit (I use that loosely) of a stinker. I think the middle child syndrome is finally starting to kick in. Hopefully we get everything under control before he starts Kindergarten...which is only 7 months away! They grow up so fast.

Girls gone crazy

On Saturday night Tatum had her 6th Birthday party...a 1/2 sleepover. We did everything that you do at a sleepover except sleepover. She had 8 of her friends over! WOW! I had forgotten how 'excited' little girls get when they are all together. They all arrived around 5:00 and the craziness began. The girls had pizza, decorated their own purse cakes, did each others makeup and hair, played with Keaton's dart guns, did a lot of screaming, had some popcorn, watched a movie and played charades. They had a great time, I was exhausted! During the movie I sat down for about 5 minutes and almost feel asleep. At 9:30, they were all gone and Tatum was pleased with the party.


Weston has become even more proficient in his mobility. He is now crawling faster than the cat can move and pulling up on EVERYTHING! He went to the doctor last week for his 6 month check up (I know alittle late). He was 28 inches (80%) and 17.8 lbs (40%). I don't know what to think about that. I am use to having the children that are in the 90-95%. I guess Weston will be long and lean.

Keaton started school back with a bang. He is really enjoying getting back in the groove of things and spending time with his friends. He has started Stay N Play at school...he gets to stay an extra hour after school to have some 'fun' time with his friends. He loves Stay N Play.

For those that don't know, my dad has his leg amputated several weeks ago. He got his prosthesis about 2 weeks ago which we were all really excited about. When I told the kids about it his new leg, they wanted to know what it looked like. They asked me whose leg it was and where did they get it from. Come to find out they thought that the doctors cut off someone else's leg and gave it to Pa! Wow, wouldn't that be a sight. I guess since dad has someone else's heart, why not someone else's leg. We went to see dad at the rehab facility and Tatum and Keaton got to see his new leg to verify that it was not a 'real' leg, but metal and plastic. They were both relieved.

Do I drink it?

Today at church Tatum went to Big House (kids church). It was communion Sunday so they took communion there. When we go in the car after church we asked her how Big House was. This is how it went:

Tatum: We got bread and then there was this big glass of red drink. I think it was wine.

Mom: Oh you took communion?

Tatum: Yeah. I didnt know what to do so I was like 'do I drink it?' and reached for the glass and then they told me just to dip my bread in there. I was so embarrassed.

Mom and Dad: Oh (by this time we were laughing, which we shouldn't have done, but come on...it was just so funny)

Tatum: (crying) I didnt know what to do! I wanted to cry.



She is so emotional. We explained that now she knows and that is how you learn to do new things. She would be totally devastated if she knew I put this on here, but when she grows up it will one of those times she will look back on and laughs (just like mom and dad did).

Tooth Fairy

Tatum lost her first tooth!! If you recall on Halloween night she bit a toy and kinda forced the tooth to get loose. Well, that thing hung on until last night when Jarrek pulled it. She was so excited. I had to sew a make-shit tooth fairy pillow for the tooth and the money that was going to be deposited. This morning she came running into our room with money ($5) and tooth in hand...the Tooth Fairy lets you keep your first tooth. Keaton keeps checking his teeth to see if there any that are loose.

When does school start?!?!?!? Two days right? The kids are driving each other and us crazy. It seems they have reverted to 2 or 3 year olds. Every sentence is uttered with a nasal whine, hitting has become the answer to almost any question, toys have become projectiles and bed time has turned into a debate contest. Weston doesn't really know what to do...he gets overwhelmed with them very quickly and screeches for someone to save him.

Weston has decided that sitting is no fun. He would much rather stand and tries to stand up by pulling up on anything. He also has started trying to stand where ever he is...the middle of the floor, sitting in your lap, anywhere. He has also figured out how to sit up from lying down. So, he will sit up in his sleep and then fall back asleep. Several times we have gone into check on him or to get him up and he has been sitting up with is forehead resting on his mattress between his legs.
Weston also like to jump so we got him a free standing jumper (no good place for a Johnny Jump up). Today he was super tired but didn't want to take a nap. Jarrek put him in his jumper and he went crazy, jumping like a maniac. Then it got quiet and we noticed that he had fallen asleep, but not for long. He would wake up for a brief moment, jump a few good jumps then fall back asleep...then he would repeat. It was very amusing and of course I have it on video.