Day 21

This is the book that I'm reading right now.

I'm really enjoying it and I recommend it to

everyone!

Day 20

Chase loves going to Storyland @ City Park!
He's on the ship from Peter Pan!

Day 19

Chase & Lilly-Ann....he is the best big cousin

that any baby could ask for! He loves to help take care of her!

Day 18

Chase & Sadie. They have really bonded.

If you see one, you'll see the other! They've become best friends.

Day 17

My niece, Lilly-Ann. Isn't she beautiful?

Day 16

Chase LOVES spending time in his daddy's garage! He knows that

it's one of the places where he can get really dirty! LOL!

Day 15

My husband, Doug, working on the tank for my motorcycle! He is

really enjoying this "little" project!

Day 14

Chase's favorite spot in the park. He's the king of the mountain!

Day 13

Our extremely protective dog, Sadie Mae. She rarely

lets any of us out of her sight. If the kids are in separate rooms,

she'll find a spot in the middle so that she can keep an eye on both of them.

She's a very good dog!

Day 12

My son decided to show his sister how much he loves her by drawing her

a beautiful picture......ON HER BEDROOM DOOR IN PERMANENT MARKER!!!!!

He even started to sign his artwork. LOL!!!! I guess I need to break out the paint!

Chores for Toddlers

So I'm trying something new this year. I am going to get the kids involved in the daily house cleaning. Bryce, the 10 yr. old, will be responsible for cleaning her room, the bathroom, vacuuming the living room and she has to help me with laundry. She will also be responsible for setting and clearing the table before and after each meal. Finding chores for Bryce was easy.

Now, I needed to figure out some chores that my four-year old could help with. So, after lots of contemplating and online research (to see what other moms are doing) I came up with a few things. Chase is now responsible for picking up his toys but since it's too much to expect that he'll put everything in its place, I'll give him an empty laundry basket to place the toys in. Once the toys are in the basket, he'll carry (or drag) the basket into his bedroom. After that, when I have a few minutes, we'll both go into his room and empty the basket together. That way, the toys get put where they belong and Chase will learn where they go when they get picked up.

Also, he is in charge of feeding the dog, watering the plants, and he has to put his own dirty dishes in the dishwasher. Of course, I will have to remind him constantly (he is only four) but he'll eventually learn what's expected of him.

I believe that chores are good for kids. Daily chores help teach the kids responsibilty. This is going to be a learning experience for everyone involved but it'll work. Of course the kids aren't all that happy about it. I think they both wish that we had a maid to clean up after them but that's never going to happen!

Pamela

Day 11

My husband & my son riding our Harley.

Day 10

My great-niece, Lilly-Ann. Isn't she adorable!

Day 9

This is the motorcycle that my husband has taken apart

and is rebuilding for me. It's taking a while but he's not

able to work on it as much as he would like because

of his work schedule. I'm just hoping that it's done by

the time that I'm ready to ride again after having the

baby in September. So he has time! LOL!

I've finally done it!

Well, I've finally done it! I just packed away my the rest of my Christmas decorations. My husband took all of the yard decorations and the lights off of the house this past Saturday. Now, I've finally packed all of the indoor decorations: Christmas tree, lights, nativity, lighted village, etc. Everything is packed away to spend another year in our attic! I'm kinda sad to see it go, though! I love Christmas and everything that it stands for. I love the feel of Christmas, the smell of freshly baked cookies, pies, pastries, etc. The excitement in my children's eyes when we go to City Park and see the Christmas lights. Watching my kids set out cookies and eggnog for Santa Claus. So, for another year everything is stored back in the attic.

Now, we don't have a holiday until Valentine's Day & Mardi Gras in February.

I'm just looking forward to having a great year and making some positive changes in my life until it's time to do Christmas all over again!

Day 8 - "I'm Pregnant!"

I'm preggers! There's a faint line but I'll take another one

in a few days and it should be darker. I'm only about four weeks!

I'll go to the doctor next week and see what's going on.

He told me to make sure that I call him as soon as I suspect that

I might be pregnant. I know that it may seem early to some people

but with my history of miscarriages I'll be considered a high-risk pregnancy.

I'll have to go to my doctor every week until about thirteen weeks.

Please, dear Lord, keep my baby safe and healthy.

2009 Calendar

I have finally finished adding special dates to my 2009 calendar! You don't realize how many birthdays, anniversarys, activities, etc. there are until you write them all down. Between all of my family, my husband's family, our friends, our kid's friends, church, etc. every month is loaded. We have at least two birthdays EVERY month, an anniversary in MOST months and activities out the wazoo! And that doesn't include stuff that just "pops" up! I don't know how I'm going to handle it.

How do you squeeze in family time when there's so much else to do?

I think that I'm going to need to weed out our calendar a bit. At least some activities are going to have to go! I like being able to spend some weekends at home with my husband & kids without having to run to here or there!

We'll see how it goes!

Day 7

My four year old was supposed to be in bed sleeping.

This is where I found him about 9:30 tonight.

He had climbed out of bed and proceeded to take

just about every book off of his bookshelf.

He said that he decided he wanted a bedtime story.

So, I let him pick out one book and then laid in bed with him while I read it to him.

Day 6

Chase built his tallest tower ever! He was so happy & proud of himself!

Day 5

Chase & Sadie watching t.v. after a long day!

Day 4

Day trip to visit family in Alabama.

Day 3

Driving to Manchac, LA!

Literally, the middle of nowhere!

Day 2

I love the country!

Day 1

We ended the first day of 2009 around a beautiful fire!

Just me, my husband & the kids!

How wonderful!

NEW YEAR, NEW THINGS!

Ok so I decided to try some new things for 2009 and blogging made it on my list. I am so excited about this year! Things are looking up for us! I am a stay-at-home mommy to two kids, one dog, four turtles and my husband! My husband sometimes seems to be the biggest child of all! LOL! We are trying to get pregnant with our third child. I've had a few miscarriages so I'm nervous but I refuse to give up! I know that we will have another baby. I have faith in God that He will see me through this and that He will send us another baby. In the meantime, I am just dealing with the everyday craziness of running our household. There's always something to be done or somewhere to run to. But I wouldn't have it any other way! I love my life and can't wait to add to our growing family.

Hopefully, I'll get the hang of this blogging thing, also! (Eventually)