Looking for Treasures

The lake is down at Grandmama's house, so it was time to do a little cleaning up and looking for treasures.  Mark helped clean up and the kids of course looked for treasures and crystals.  They were so excited this morning.  Gracie said she wasn't getting into the mud, but it wasn't bad at all.  They didn't even have to change clothes after they were done.  We didn't let them go out too far because Aunt Linda had to rescue a little girl that sank to her waist earlier in the week.  They did find some clams, crystals and some shells.  Colton was more interested in the chain saws and watching them cut stuff down.  He took his own little chain saw too, but he is really disappointed that it doesn't really cut down anything.  He kept telling every one that it wasn't a real saw!   I enjoyed sitting on the dock in the warm sunshine and looking at how pretty the sunshine was on the lake!  I am glad we have had a couple of pretty, sunshine days.  We all really needed it; so tired of being confined inside the house.  Hayden, Colton and Mark slept all the way home and Gracie sang with the radio and kept me company.  That little girl loves music.  She kept saying "turn it up Mama."  That is another thing in the last week, she no longer calls me Mommy....I am now Mama.  However, they better not ever call me MOM.  I can handle Mama but not MOM! 

This is a little off topic but talking about the Mommy / Mama stuff made me think about it.  Hayden recently made me a card while they were doing crafts and playschool.  In this card she put...I love my Mama because she always takes care of me and she is always there for me when I need her.  Yeah, I cried.  It meant a lot to hear that from my almost 9 year old! 

Ok back to my topic. When we got home Hayden made sure to clean all of her crystals.  They really are very pretty and sparkly.  Gracie rested by catching up on a little TV.  I guess she will clean her crystals later.  Colton helped Mark cut up some more fire wood.  Evidently there is a chance of snow in the next week.  I better make sure we stay stocked up on milk and bread!  Then the girls wanted to ride their bikes down the driveway.  I took them and enjoyed the nice sunshine as I walked the driveway.  I am going to have to get me a bike pretty soon.  I want one just like Hayden's.  I was a little bit jealous watching them have so much fun and we have a pretty long driveway!  Once again Gracie did a great job.  I really can't put into words how proud I am of her.  I could hear her talking to herself as she was riding at the end of the driveway.  It was something like "Here comes Gracie Leigh Stancil riding her purple bike."  I just laughed to myself because I didn't want to embarrass her.  It was funny because even Hayden was telling her how proud she was of her too!

Who Needs Training Wheels

Today was the first really pretty day we have had in weeks, so we decided to let the kids ride their bikes down the driveway and play.  Mark taught Colton how to ride his new motorcycle bike today.  He mastered it within minutes.  That little boy is determined and can do anything.  Oh and he isn't scared to try anything either.  He was so proud of himself too.  When he would stop, he would turn around and say " I did it".  It is amazing to me that a 3 1/2 year old can ride with no training wheels!  I love watching them be so excited about stuff.  Mark is a great teacher too!  I think he really enjoyed today too! 

Gracie is not a fearless as Colton.  She can ride her bike just fine but she gets scared very easily. Which means that she doesn't try many new things in the fear of falling off.  With that being said the other night she stood in front of all of us and sang the Frozen theme songs.  She sang loud and proud and when she finished she informed us that she can do anything that she wants if she tries.  I am glad to know that she listens.  Well, today she proved that she could ride her bicycle with no problems. 
She mastered riding all the way back down the driveway and won the race against her brother and sister.  You should have seen the smile on her face when we caught up to her.  She said "mommy I did it and you didn't even have to help me."  That is what makes all the hard work worth it.  That is also one of the best feeling as a parent...to watch them conquer and succeed.  She has been talking about it all afternoon.

Hayden is a pro as usual.  I think she may have felt a little left out today at first.  She knows how to do all the stuff they are working on.  So, she decided to ride her bike as fast as she could and show off a little bit too.  She was really going.  The Mommy in me really wanted to tell her to slow it down but the child in me knew she was not going to because she was having a great time. 

It was a wonderful, successful day of riding bikes.  I am so proud of all three of them!  I love them all to the moon and back and infinity!

Oh, One more funny thing for todays blog.  Mark tried to sneak out for a little bit to go to the store.  Colton wants to be just like Daddy, including going everywhere Daddy goes.  When he went in to kiss him, he said "Daddy where you going."  Mark said " to a store that doesn't have anything."  Colton was okay at first, then he started pouting and saying he wanted to go.  So Mark told him to get his coat.  He was so excited that he got to go with his Daddy.  With that being said Colton didn't want the girls to go too.  So when they asked where they were going, Colton innocently said " to a store that doesn't have anything."  Just goes to show you they do listen to every thing you say whether you think so or not!  The girls were not interested to go to a store that doesn't have anything so they stayed home with me.

Pajama Day

Today it is pajama day for Gracie.  Of course, she was all sorts of excited this morning.  She wore some pretty purple pajamas and her robe.  Well, actually Hayden's robe...we found out that Gracie's robe no longer fit yesterday.  However, it was a 4/5 so I guess it has been awhile since we got new robes.  Hayden's robe obviously is too little for her too being that it fit Gracie perfect!  Guess it is time for a new one for her too.  She wore her hair in pigtail braids, her request of course.  She has no problem telling you how she likes things.   She was all smiles before we left so I took pictures.

The funny part is that none of our pajamas match anymore.  We have decided the most comfortable ones are mismatched like fleece pants and a T shirt.  With that being said I had to dig deep in the drawer to find some super cute pajamas for today.  As always Mommy pulled it off.   Thank goodness, I thought we may be going to Wal-Mart again first thing! 

 

 

 

 

I also found this picture from a couple of weekends ago.  They were outside cutting wood with Daddy all dressed up!  What beautiful girls we have!  They think their vest our made out of opossums, since that is what their Daddy told them. 

 

 

Also, I was playing this little piggy with Colton's toes the other day.   After I finished he started doing it to himself with these words exactly " this little piggy went to Wal-Mart, this little piggy didn't want to ride in the buggy, this little piggy wants a new blue truck.  I started laughing so hard that he didn't finish.  I love this little boy so much.  I also believe that we may go to Wal-Mart too much!  Monroe needs a Publix or Kroger!!!

Tennis Shoes

So, this morning it was Monday and we started our morning off pretty well.  I had Hayden and Gracie's clothes laid out and ready to put on.  We let Colton sleep until the last minute and then he gets dressed.  He eats his breakfast and drinks his milk in the car.  Hayden and Gracie got their breakfast and ate at the table while fighting over who spilled the milk.  It is nice that they are old enough now to fix what the want even if they do make a terrible mess.  Then they get dressed.  Don't get me wrong, they really like to take their time so I am always on repeat mode "Come on or you're going to be late".  Hayden has PE on Monday, Wednesday and Fridays so she always wears tennis shoes.  Evidently they cannot participate unless they have tennis shoes.  Apparently this is a big deal to the whole class too.  Don't ask me why because I really don't know but it is a REALLY BIG DEAL. 

Well, I told Hayden this morning to wear her tennis shoes and she told me that she was going to wear her new black boots and take her tennis shoes with her.  I told her that was fine with me but don't forget to put them in your book bag.  Well,  guess what????  We were half way to school and she starts panicking because she forgot her tennis shoes.  I told her that it would just have to be ok because I couldn't turn around and go back because they would be late.  She said "we just need to go back and get them or I am going to be in big trouble. "  I told her that she would just have to miss PE and she started crying and I mean really crying.  She was so upset.  She was trying to convince me that the PE teacher was going to yell at her and that her whole class would be mad and in trouble.  I am thinking to myself....yeah right!  As a child I always tried to get out of  PE! However, she continued to get herself all worked up over tennis shoes and so I told her that she really needed to be focused on her spelling test that she had to take first thing instead.  I also told her that I would fix the tennis shoe problem.

 As a Mommy you are always there for your babies even when it is just about tennis shoes!  I told her to get calmed down and stop worrying I would fix it all.  When she got out of the car she turned to me and asked me one more time if I was going to take care of the tennis shoes.  I assured her that I would and that I loved her to the moon and back.  She got out of the car all red faced and upset and walked into school still worrying about those tennis shoes.  As I pulled off I knew all the teachers were asking her what was wrong, but I knew that I was going to make her day when I fixed the problem.  I drove straight to Wal-Mart and bought her a fancy pair of $9 shoes and took them back to the school for her to wear to PE.  I walked into her classroom and Mrs. Moss told me that I was the best Mommy in the world.  Evidently she had still been upset and worrying about those tennis shoes.  She got out of desk all smiles, took the shoes and gave me a big hug and kiss.  Then she told me that she loved me.  And that is what Mommy's do for their babies.  It was something so simple and silly to me but it was very important to her.  She really loves PE and she doesn't ever want anyone to mad at her.  I hope that her class was grateful that she didn't get them in trouble today and I am even more glad that the PE teacher didn't have to yell at her.  I highly doubt the PE teacher ever really yells at kids but then again I don't know. 

New Year

We celebrated the New Year with a lot of friends from GWA.  The people up the road for us had a new year party and the kids were so excited to attend and see all their friends that they had been missing for two weeks.  It was so much fun.  There was lots of good food and a huge bon fire and lots of really good fireworks.  All three of my babies brought in the new year.  Colton was a little confused at the kissing and counting down but partied right along with us. 

We started school last week and officially completed our first week back.  Hayden and Gracie got report cards on Friday and they were both great.   Hayden has all As and Bs, 3rd grade is a lot harder especially at GWA.  She is doing things that I swear I didn't do until like 6th grade.  Gracie is really coming out of shell, finally.  She is doing a fantastic job in Kindergarten.  She is considered to be the calming person for the whole class.  This kind of surprised me because she can stand her own at home and cause a fight in a heart beat, but with that being said I am glad she knows when to be a little pistol and when to be a peace maker.  That is some really awesome qualities. 

Colton is still loving Preschool and once again he has a bad cough and snotty nose.  I am ready for SUMMER.  I am so tired of snot I do not know what to do! 

Gracie started baton again this week and she was so excited about it.  So glad that I finally found something that excites her.  Her recital costume has to be paid for next week so that means we are getting close!  I can't wait to watch her perform. 

Hayden is signed up for Softball and ready to play.  I am ready to.  I love watching that girl play some ball.  I am the true Softball Mom.  She is also planning her birthday party. It is going to be Feb 1st and she has invited about 30 people from school.  We are having it in Madison at an indoor pool.  What better way to celebrate a February birthday?  She is so excited about all of it.  I hope it meets all her expectations.

Here is to another great week!

Riding Bicycles

Since the weather was beautiful and warm yesterday, we rode bikes all down the driveway and through mud puddles and ditches.   Colton rode his old bike because he is still learning to peddle his new one.  He knows how to do it but he forgets he can't go backwards and it makes him stop.  He will get there.  Gracie is still getting used to a bigger bike.  She is so scared to try new things, so I may have pushed her a little bit yesterday.  With that being said she was so very proud of herself after she did it.  I also had to run along side her to make her okay with it the first time.  She really needs to be more confident in herself but I guess that will come with time.  Hayden has already mastered her big girl bike and rides it like she has had it for years.  She is the one who will not give up on anything she is determined to learn how to do things right then. 

Hayden and Colton had fun riding fast through the mud puddles.  Gracie didn't want to get dirty or take a chance of falling in the puddle.  Probably a good choice for her since she was already learning lots of other things.  The best part of the puddles was Colton.  He was wide open and didn't care how dirty he got. 

Hayden and Colton also rode through the ditches at the end of the driveway.  They were splashing mud all over the place, having a blast.  Gracie didn't try the ditches either but she practiced riding her bike the whole time.  She would cry out "look mommy I am doing it" about every two minutes.  Of course we did have a couple of crashes too.

Linda also came over and we went riding again.  She had her bike too so she rode with them.  This time Gracie was a little bit tired but went anyway.  Linda and I let them ride and play for a little while, well that is until it started getting cold.  I made Gracie ride down a hill and keep going.  Thank goodness she didn't crash until after she got down the hill.  She wasn't real happy with me but she was glad to see she could go down the hill. 

It was a great time riding and playing in the mud!

Christ.mas 2014

Once again Christmas came and went all too fast.  We have enjoyed each and every one of our traditions though.  We made rice krispy Christmas trees, cookies, icing and popcorn.  We also strung some popcorn, although it was a little time consuming that Gracie and Colton decided to eat it instead.  Hayden did string a little bit and enjoyed it.  We read Christmas books every night,  W"e talked about how Christmas is Jesus' birthday and not just about presents.  It was a great holiday season.  The kids got every thing they asked for and more.   They were very excited Christmas morning and they have managed to play with every single thing. 


Christmas Eve we spend with my Mema and my family.  Mark cooked boston hiney we are not allowed to use or say the work butt at our house.  It was all yummy and the kids enjoyed it.  It is still a little different without Pop but we all made it through it happily.  The kids got lots of gifts to play with right before Santa came.  When we got home, we took baths, put Santa's key out and read the Night Before Christmas while eating popcorn.  They were all sleeping soundly at about 10pm.  Then Santa made is arrival sometime after that!

Christmas morning we get up early and do Santa, then we go to Grandmama's house for breakfast.  Mark and Pop cook omelets and we all bring some casseroles and it is always so good.  After fun at Grandmama's house we go to open presents at Mimi and Pop's house.  The presents from Mimi and Pop and Kim and Artie looked like Santa came again.  They all got exactly what they wanted and their surprised faces were priceless.  Hayden got lots of clothes and jewelry (man she is growing up).  She also got a surf board from Kim and Artie.  Boy was she surprised with that and of course she loved it.    Gracie got her radio and Singing Olaf, Anna, and Elsa.  She also got clothes and jewelry too.  Colton got lots of trucks and tractors but most importantly he got his blue tractor from Kim and Artie.  He also got drums from Mimi and Pop! He plays them very well.  The kid is a natural!  Mark and I also got more than we could have imagined.  I am blogging from my new laptop touch screen and Mark got every thing he needed to finish his Jeep the way he wants it. 

Thank you every one for every thing.  We are so blessed to have such a wonderful family.  We love you all and now to celebrate the New Year of 2015!!!!