Our Week

This week has been busy here at the house. With Alex now able to climb out of the crib, we decided a room change was in store. We've always said that the boys would share a room when they were old enough, so the time came. The crib is NO MORE! We haven't been cribless since med school!!!!! The crib converts to a full-sized bed, which is now what Madison uses. It's been a busy week! Moving three kids' stuff around is no easy task, especially when all three kids are home with you. I had to literally empty the rooms and move all the clothing, toys, etc. There have been tears shed over the "I don't want to give it away" syndrome, but in the end, everyone is very happy with the room swap.

Boy Room

Luke is very excited to have Alex sleep in his room. They both have new matching bedding.

Alex loves his "big boy bed" and took a good nap in it already today.

Something tells me these two are going to be up to no good a lot! I love the "Football" sign I found at Kirklands this week. The red lamp was a find last weekend as we were mattress shopping for Madison.

The girl room-Madison is delighted!!!! All of this came together really nicely. The bedding set was a good find a few months ago, and the rest has just come together.

The headboard and footboard are the remenants of the crib...looks nice, huh??

Madison was very excited to move all of her girl toys. She's been desperate to have some space from her brothers. Everything has been hung except the new mirror next to her chair. That was also a Kirklands find, and it has flower decals that came on it. The butterfly chair was a find yesterday at Target. The different purples are all found in her bedding to coordinate.

I found the "Soccer" sign with the football sign at Kirklands. She loves it!

That's been our week! Whew! It's been busy here. I should have taken pictures of the closets. They look awesome and so organized!

Go Tigers!

I love using my reusable grocery bags when shopping. I'm totally excited to use my new CLEMSON TIGER bag! Thanks, Lori, for sending it!!!! She found it in Tallahassee while visiting her in-laws (Edward's Aunt Janet and Uncle Chuck). Ironic to find the Clemson bag in Seminoe country...It made my day. We definitely don't see Clemson stuff out here.

My Calming Car

I'm that Type A...I now have three matching carseats in my car. Ahh, I like my car to look uniform and clean. Alex has graduated out of his convertible carseat into a Graco Nautilus, and now he matches Luke and Madison. These are great seats because you can use a five-point harness up to 65 lbs. (most are 40 then with seatbelt), and then after that, it converts to a booster or a backless booster to use with a seatbelt. Edward's car will look the same too...ahh, nice and matching. I also can't believe Alex is big enough to be in one of these, but he definitely is! His head was at the top of the convertible seat, and I'm sure he was close to the weight limit too :)

If you can't tell, I like the Graco Nautilus a lot. I own six of them!

I think the flash made the colors look different, but they do match :)

Little Soldier

Alex has really been enjoying this soldier dress-up helmet. He seeks it out from the toy box daily.

Riding along in my Automobile

Alex got his Power Wheels car for his birthday from my parents, and he's been trying really hard to figure out how to push the button. A couple of weeks ago, he finally managed the coordination to do it! Now, he loves to cruise the strip in front of the house.

Instead of resting his feet on the footrest, he loves to hold them off the ground like this. I don't know why; I guess he just likes making things hard on himself.

New Kicks

The kids and I did a little shopping today here in Yuma. The boys were in desperate need of new running shoes, and after checking online, I just couldn't find what I wanted. So, we went to Famous Footwear, one of our only shoe stores in town, and I'm happy to report we had success!

Here are all three kids showing off their new shoes. Luke and Alex ended up getting matching Nike shoes, which delighted Luke. He loves to match Alex. They ended up being a steal of a deal. They were originally $39, and I got them on sale (not a clearance either!) for $12.75!! Madison found some church shoes, which I must admit are super cute, and they were also $12.75. Good shopping, kids!

Okay, Edward and I have big feet, we know. Today, Alex needed a SIZE 7!!!!! He's 16 months old! Luke bought a size 10, and Madison bought a size 13.

And, if you didn't notice, the Nikes are CLEMSON ORANGE AND BLUE! Go Tigers! I didn't even plan that.

Excuse the kids' "bed hair." They had just gotten out of the bathtub, and that's the best we could do with the brush. They hate having their hair brushed in the evening.

"Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day"

Alex might argue he had a great day...

I thought the title from Judith Viorst's book was the best way to describe Alex's day.

Alex figured out how to climb out of his crib. I almost wrote "learned how," but believe me, I didn't teach him how to do it. At 16 months old, he's lasted the longest without learning this trick. We moved both Madison and Luke into twin beds at this age...sadly, I think we're getting closer and closer to doing that with Alex. I did take out the bumper, which up until now, he didn't mind, but I saw him standing on it today. So, maybe the extra couple of inches there will help?? That's probably wishful thinking. I'm sure Edward will be "glad" to come home to this newly acquired skill.

And, here's the kids' bathroom. Sadly, this is the SECOND time today it looked like this! Alex did it the first time as soon as he got up this morning. During his morning nap, I cleaned the bathrooms and was so happy to have nice, clean bathrooms. After he got out of the crib this afternoon (no nap of course after he learned how to climb out), he did THIS!!!! The kids know they are supposed to keep the bathroom door closed, but we have the French doorknobs on all the doors (handicapped accessible housing). He can open the doors!!! Uggh! Yesterday, he pulled a rolll of toilet paper into the toilet. That was fun. Now today, he's gone through two more rolls of toilet paper and now a box of Kleenex. He must be stopped!!!! Oh, and that's also a bottle of shampoo he pulled out and somehow he pulled the hand towel off the rack and threw it on their laundry hamper. What a mess.

Apparently, toilet paper is becoming a bigger priority on the grocery list.

The Artist

I received a text message from my neighbor, Kellie, today, saying, "Madison received third place in the Hispanic Heritage Art Contest at school." Seriously! My daughter did well in art?? Madison is a GREAT artist, something I never was (and even though Edward isn't here, I can venture to guess he wasn't the artistic student either), and I'm so proud of her for her sweet poster. Her class all had sombrero pictures to decorate, and she jazzed it up with glitter everywhere. Apparently, that was sparkly enough to land her third place in the contest. The kids were judged by Grades K and 1, Grades 2 and 3, and Grades 4 and 5. The winners were announced at lunch, and Kellie, happened to be the one they asked to take the pictures of the awards. So, that's how I was given the inside track on her winnings, and thanks to Kellie, I have some pictures of the big award :)

All the school winners

Madison with her prize artwork...the winners were given these nice tote bags full of goodies. Madison even shared some of her winnings with Luke. She was so excited about her award.

Way to go, sweet girl! Keep up the artistic ability. I think you are already eons beyond my abilities!

Alex-Proof (I hope)

Yes, that's right. I'm blogging about a trashcan. Alex has an obsession with the kitchen trashcan. He's thrown away a TON of things, some of which we haven't discovered in time. We had a flip top lid trashcan, and he could easily get into it. Well, after returning from North Carolina and getting the latest trash update from Edward, we decided enough was enough. So, armed with my coupon, off to Bed, Bath, and Beyond I went. With a large family, I knew it would be foolish to get a small can, so I got the motherload 13 gallon kitchen can. Of course, our small store didn't carry it, but they ordered it and shipped it to the house. It finally arrived today, so hopefully, we have come to the end of "Alex's Trash Era."

I had the kids try to open it, and they had trouble (with their hands), which is a good thing. Hopefully, Alex will be stopped. He doesn't know how to step on the pedal...yet.

It was more expensive than I wanted, BUT he's thrown away a hand mixer, popcorn air popper top, and countless cans of food, chips, and toys. Edward discovered Alex had thrown the hand mixer away one day while I was gone, and luckily, the trash hadn't come yet. He was able to rescue it, but sadly, the popcorn popper top is gone. I'm guessing Alex doesn't like green chilies...I found eight cans in the trash one day.

Edward Update (or lack thereof)

A couple of people have asked or emailed inquiring about Edward and how he's doing at his course. I don't know. This is definitely the case of "No News is Good News." He has no communication. They took his cell phone when he arrived, and they have no access to computers, or any other media. They weren't allowed to bring books or magazines (only a Bible). So, I haven't heard anything and hope not to until Oct. 23 when he comes home. I do know he arrived at Ft. Bragg safely last Friday, and that's about it. Thanks for thinking of him, praying for him, and the concern for him. If I do hear from him, it means he's either hurt or coming home, neither of which are good, so know that if you call, I'm scanning the caller id very closely to see if it's a government phone and glad to see that it's not!

I also wanted to say a big, "Thank You" to those of you who sent him notes of encouragement before he left. It meant a lot to him and to me. He felt very humbled and blessed.

A Little Too Much Help

With Edward gone, I guess the kids are trying to "help" more around the house. Tonight, Alex decided to help with the dishes. Thanks...I think.

Luke was a "big help" too today as he tried to get the milk out of the fridge for his drink. He knows he's not allowed to get beverages out of the fridge too. I was standing right there!!! In front of the milk was the gallon of iced tea I had just made, so he picked it up, or shall I say, tried to pick up the tea, and he spilled the gallon on the floor!!! Uggh! As you can see, I didn't get a picture of that.

My Firefighter

After our morning outing to the fire station, Luke spent the rest of the day "dressed as a fire fighter." He did pretty well improvising with his wardrobe. He did it all; I didn't give him any of these tips! I had to really laugh at the purple snow boots. They are Madison's for this winter (in Flagstaff). Luke has snow boots too, in the same closet, and they are black and red, so they actually look like fire fighter attire, but he opted for the purple boots. The backpack is his oxygen tank. He enjoyed looking at those at the fire station.

Welcome Home Clay (for now)

My brother, Clay, arrived home in Raleigh this morning for his two weeks of R & R before he heads back to Afghanistan. As you can see, Wes, was a little excited to see his dad. Clay's been gone since the beginning of the year. While at home, Clay gets to celebrate Wes's first birthday, and we wish we could be there. Have a great two weeks at home!

A Visit to the YPG Fire Station

Our MOPS group took a field trip to the fire station today. For me, that meant taking a walk to the end of our street to the fire station :) While we have all lived here awhile, it didn't dawn on us until recently to setup a field trip. The kids LOVED it, and it was a beautiful day to be outside. Temps were finally pleasant; you couldn't have asked for a nicer morning. I'm so glad we were all able to visit the fire station. Happy Fire Safety Week!

Luke and his friend, Cassidy, were the first kids there, and they ran right up to Sparky the Fire Dog.

The firemen gave out hats. They gave Luke a "Chief" hat. Alex got the same one too.

Alex DID NOT like Sparky.

He wasn't too sure of the firemen either.

Luke loved every minute.

All the boys

They let them play with the hose connections and levers.

Finally, Alex decided to get out of the stroller and explore.

Still not sure...

Best picture I could get of the boys.

Alex was more interested in the shrubs.

He did like sitting on the back of the truck.

Luke had to get back in the driver's seat for one last time. He had a wonderful time and is still talking about it. He won't take off his hat, and I'm thinking he might sleep with it tonight.

At the End of the Rainbow, You'll Find...

Our house. My neighbor, Kellie, took this picture today when a freak sand/wind/bits of precipitation storm blew through here (lasted less than five minutes). That's my house with a double rainbow over it. How cool is that? The clouds are definitely a rarity here; usually, it's pure blue, so that's definitely signs of a storm of sorts. Awesome double rainbow. God is Good.