Say Bye Bye to Paci!

Well tomorrow will mark ONE WEEK.....Emily is finally breaking away from paci....or should we say her parent's are finally breaking away from paci. All because David couldn't find it one night and then the next night she spent the night at her Nana's house, where she isn't allowed to have paci! I thought hey we have made it through two nights let's see how far we can go with this. She would ask for it a few times during the day, so then I made a deal with her if she went 5 days without paci I would buy her a toy....well she has gone 6 days and isn't begging for a toy. That is what is great about three year old....they don't really keep track of these things! A couple of days ago she spotted a paci that hadn't been well hidden. She pointed to it and said mommy, my blue paci.....I need it. I reminded her about her deal with me and the toy she could get. She looked at me and said, it's okay mom, I don't need my paci. She still asks about it everyday but she doesn't have to have it.....so it looks like at 3 1/2 Emily Simpson has finally broken the paci habit! Way to go Emme. You probably could have done this a long time ago but your parent's were holding you back.

I must add to the story......when I told David I blogged about Emme and her 1 week anniversary of no paci.....he says, "the last signs of having a baby are gone now.....and that is very sad." If I didn't know better I would say that man wants another baby, if he could find a woman to have one for him.....and if I weren't 44 I would love to be that woman.

Bearkadette Camp......

Olivia finished her Bearkadette camp tonight and had her "show-off". It was quite cute and long, but that is okay. The Klein High School drill team has a camp for young girls and this year I signed Olivia up. She went with her friend Abby and they had a great time. Olivia loves to dance and be "on stage". The performance tonight was right up her alley. The faces that girl makes is something else. She was excited to win the Outstanding Smile award for the 3rd grade class. She also can't wait for October 10th when they will get to preform their dance at the Klein HS half time show!

Olivia can't understand why she can't be a Bearkadette one day. I explained to her she will go to a different high school. I told her, the school she will go to has a drill team as well, they are called the Tiger Belles. She quickly informs me she doesn't want to be a Tiger she wants to be a BearKat! Well who knows maybe they will re-zone by the time she is in high school.

The curious wanderings of a 7 year old mind.....

Olivia and I were having another one of our random conversations in the car the other day. She asked, "when will Jaci get her permanent?" I had her repeat it because I had no clue what she was talking about. I finally figured out she was asking when she would get her driver's permit. I said I don't know when she is 16? No, Olivia said, you get your driver's license when you are 16. Oh okay, good to know....since I appear to have already forgotten these minor details of teenager life. For some strange reason I was in no hurry to get my driver's license, so I guess the age thing just skipped my mind. Moving on with Olivia's randomness...she then asks why my picture on my license has me as an adult? I told her when your license expires you go and did a new picture taken so you won't always look like a 16 year old!

Will you ever send us to daycare momma.....?

The other day we were in the car driving and happen to drive by a daycare. Olivia asked, "Momma will you ever send us to a daycare." I told her no I didn't plan on it...she wanted to know why. I told her that was my job to take care of her and her sisters. She paused for a moment and said yea and sometimes you get days off.....I replied.... I do?.....she replied....well not in the summer.

Summer is flying byyyyyyyyyyyyyy.......

Summer is half over and I haven't even gotten back to blog about our Tennessee trip in detail......now the details have left my mind.....so I will move on to our other adventures before they leave my mind. Last week we took a spontaneous trip to Galveston before July 4th. We thought we would go during the week and beat the crowds which I think we did. Last minute trips are always fun. This was really the first time for the girls to actually get to swim in gulf water. We have been to many beaches but they were either babies or it was the wrong time of the year to be in a bathing suit. Well the brown water didn't deter anyone....it was the salty water they weren't real crazy about. I had already prepped the girls to keep their mouths closed because this water wasn't going to taste like swimming pool water! But little kids can't scream and have fun with their mouths closed! So it took them a while to get used to keeping their mouths closed. Emily and Abby said the water was spicy! The wave thing was a little freaky for them at first but once they got used to it, they loved playing with their body boards and riding the waves. And of course just being with Daddy was the best. I got in the water but I didn't stay for long. The first beach we went to wasn't the best we soon learned and Olivia and I meet with some nasty rocks below the surface. We tripped over the rocks and I cut my toes and poor Olivia really got cut up....her feet, her hands and her knees....blood was flowing when we finally made it out of the water. As you can imagine open skin and salt water are a terrible combination! There was lots of drama and we were ready to call it a day. We were going to Rain Forest Cafe that night for dinner and daddy told Olivia she could order anything on the menu......I think he was counting on her ordering the Volcano for dessert! Cha Cha the frog was there and Abby and Emily wanted to follow that frog all over the restaurant!

The second day at the beach was much better! Once Olivia was certain there were no rocks she was all in! The girls saw the big bikes cruising along the seawall and of course wanted to do that as well. So we came in from the beach, took showers and headed out for a bike ride at 1:00 pm......what were thinking. David and I were drenched 10 minutes into the bike ride. We informed the girls they should be glad they had two parents that were halfway in shape or there would have been no bike ride. We had a great time. We hope to make it back one more time before school starts!

This week we took a spontaneous trip to Austin with David, as he had to go for work. We had fun there as well. Swimming in Barton Springs....burrr eating outside at ShadyGrove :) going to The Children's Museum(Houston has them beat) and the LBJ library....not that the kids wanted to go there! Olivia pulled out her Brain Age game for her DS and David, Olivia and I started testing our brains everyday. We all started out at 80years old! More Simpson family summer fun!

This week MawMaw , Aunt Paula and the boys are here. The girls are excited to have them here. It should be a fun week!

Back from Tennessee

Boy do I have a lot to blog about! Our vacation to Tennessee was fantastic and of course I have lots of stories to tell but no time to tell them. We got back Sunday and VBS started on Monday so we have been a little busy. So for now I will post a few pictures and note that our trip was one to remember, from the looooonnnnnnnnggggggggg drive to the Smokey Mountains, to the crazy driveway at the house that you had to back into(very scary, I hate mountain driveways), fun times at Dollywood, jumping the metal rails(in a skirt no less) to rescue Emily from a horrible bumper car ride that she should not have been on, David and I celebrating 9 years of wedded bliss, horsebacking riding, the storm that blew in and knocked the lights out in our house from 8:30 until 3:30 am. Of course we had a few scardy cats who didn't like being in the dark. There are lots of stories to tell, so I will be back, just as soon as VBS is over and I get all our clothes washed and put away not to mention the bugs scrapped off the front of my car!

Summer is almost upon us!

My 44th birthday...David and the girls made my favorite Red Velvet Cake!

Emily's last day of school.....our favorite MDO teacher Mrs. Mindy

Abby's Splash Day at school.

Those cute Lemur's

Field Day 2009 Kuehnle Elementary

The last month has flown by......too busy to blog....how sad. Many funny things said that I didn't get blogged....now gone forever from our memory but the big things we still remember.....Mother's Day....the girls made great cards and gifts.....David took video of my in my rollers and no make up eating my breakfast the girls brought to me....I was suppose to be in bed. But hey Sundays are not leisure mornings....we got to get ready for church.

There was the fishing tourney at the Lanier's. Who could forget Abby getting hooked in the head( it wasn't very bad) and moments later as I am returning from doctoring Abby, David is carrying Olivia off to the first aid station, as she has just fallen on some rocks and skinned her knees up good. Blood and everything. It was hot and there were too many mosquitoes, but on the bright side we got to see kangaroo, lemurs (my favorite) pigs, goats, llamas and many more interesting animals. Oh and we didn't catch one single fish!

Abby & Emliyhad their end of the year school programs, they both sang their songs so well and didn't mind the large crowd. Abby and Olivia had their choir production at church. Let's Rock. Emily could have been in it as well. That girl knew everyone of their songs and they still sing them.......Let's rock...let's give our lives away....give it all to Jesus....Let's rock or I won't let a rock be louder than my voice....I'LL SHOUT FOR JESUS! Or Emily's favorite....The Audition......she loved Charlie's part in the song. Singing with a cracking voice.....my voice is the voice for the world to hear the woooooooooorld tooooooooooo heaaaaaaaaaaaarrrrrrrrrrrrr! 5 Different people had to talk Abby into getting up there on stage and singing with her class. She wasn't listening to anyone until one of the choir teachers (Jennifer) said we are having a party next Wed. You have to sing to come to the party! That was the magic words! She was all in for the party. David was out of town so he missed their performance....

Then there was Olivia's 2nd grade school program. Two shows and a very detailed costume to make....at least for me it was. It required sewing and cutting out many felt feathers to hot glue on to the shirt and hood. She wouldn't let me take a picture of her in her costume..so I have nothing to post. She had two lines......we miss the days of Spring Baptist when there is only 10 kids in your class and you get a little more action in the school productions. She didn't seem bothered which was good. It was just her mother who was bothered. I suppose Mrs. Farmer doesn't recognize talent when she sees it! LOL

Oh yes, I forgot we had the swine flu episode......first of May where we thought we would be out of school for 2 weeks.....which turned into two days.....PTL! So Field Day came right in the middle of that mess and I was in charge at Olivia's school. That seemed to take up at lot of my time, finding volunteers for every class. The whole family came out for Field Day. Daddy took off work for the morning and brought the girls. It was a fun day. Being in charge I had to be there for 3rd and 4th grade field day. I farmed Abby out to a friend but Emily had to come with me. I was a bit nervous but that child was an angel. I got their early and David dropped her off at 9 and we were there until 11:30. Little doodles stayed by my side and followed me from event to event and rarely complained. The teacher for the class I was helping even said she sure is a good little girl. I chuckled in my head thinking, "thank you Lord that she behaved today. I don't want the teacher making a mental note.....Emily Simpson don't won't her in my class when she makes it to 4th grade."

Abby had her splash day at school and loved playing in the shaving cream. Then Emily and Abby had their last days of school last week. Olivia is in her last week right now. Of course all that is on their minds is when are we leaving for Tennessee, well that and swimming. That is all they want to do....everyday they ask is the pool open yet?

We also celebrated my 44th birthday durning this month. Of course Olivia and I got on the topic of age. She said she didn't think 44 was old but at school when her friends ask her how old her parent's are and she tells them they always say.....that is old. I told her to tell them we are not old just experienced! We will see how that goes over!

Oh yes there is one more thing that marked May.....they Obedient Bee chart.....but we will save that for it's own blogging session. Last week was the first week and it was a bit rough!

Enough blogging for now. Have to finish the laundry and get packing.....Thursday will be here before we know it!

Abby's Eye Surgery

Before surgery

after surgery

Abby had her eye surgery today. So glad it is all over. We never really told her what was actually going to happen. Never mentioned the word hospital or surgery. Just that we were going to the doctor and he was going to put some medicine on her eye. She has had this bump on her eye (chalazion) since January. After Easter it turned into a big ugly red bump under her eye so we went back to the pediatrician again and this time she said you need to go to and Ophthalmologist . We did and of course he says she need to have it removed and we do that in a hospital. Now I wasn't expecting that. My eye doctor friend told me they would do it in the office, but he is used to treating adults not children, so that got me a little rattled.

The actually doctor visit was quite fun for Abby, she liked the chair and all the gadgets. Emily did too for that matter. But when they started putting drops in Abby's eye to dilate them they layed the chair all the way back which freaked her out a bit. She jumped when they put the first drops in. Emily when hurried over to the chair and put her hand on Abby and said, "it's going to be okay Abby." That just melted my heart. They fight all the time but when it comes right down to it they want to take care of each other.

Back to Abby's surgery...( this is way I should blog everyday, because everyday stuff happens, but who has time) We were all prayed up by the time we arrived at the hospital. Abby didn't seem anxious or nervous at all. There were lots of different people coming in and out of the room asking her and me all kinds of questions. We got her all dressed in her gown and hat and socks. She looked so cute, wish I had a camera. But you really don't think about bringing a camera to the hospital unless you are having baby. Anyway, once she was all dressed they brought in her kiddie cocktail. She asked to have water with it as she always has a chaser of water with her medicine. But not this time...no food or water before surgery!

Which reminds me of something she said in the car on the way to the hospital. She knew she was suppose to have food or water and when I told her it was time to brush her teeth her daddy said but she can't have water. I said she won't drink the water she will spit it out. That registered something in her brain because on the way to the hospital she said," oh no momma I just drank my spit." Too cute.

Back to the surgery once again.....they had her all wrapped in blanket and put her in the wheelchair. It didn't seem to me that this kiddie cocktail had done anything to her but she waved and said by mom as they wheeled her to the operating room. No tears from either one of us and I knew right then Jesus was walking down the hall with her and we both had peace!

The surgery was fast 30 minutes or less, so that felt great. But when she woke up the old Abby was back. She was crying and an absolute mess for 15 minutes. She kept trying to take the patch off her eye and she wouldn't talk only cry. The doctor and the nurse kept saying this is normal all kids are like this when they are coming out of the anaesthesia. But David and I are thinking...no this child is like this all the time! She finally calmed down, drank some water and had a popsicle and life was good. After an hour they let us go home. When the nurse asked do you want your daddy to carry you out or do want to be wheeled out. She picked being wheeled out. So out she went in a wheelchair very excited oddly enough!

We had promised her we would take her to Luby's after the surgery if she felt like it. She had been asking to go to Luby's for two weeks. We had to wait a bit for Luby's to open but Luby's for lunch it was. We came home and of course the first think she wants is the patch off her eye since we told her it could come off when she got home. Now David and I knew the patch coming off was probably going to be more painful than the surgery but she wanted it off. And yes, there was lots of hollering when the patch got ripped off! She immediately wanted to look in the mirror and when she did she started crying. I guess it looked pretty scary to her. She wanted to know when it was going to go away.

She laid down to watch a movie and of course she didn't even take a nap. She was excited to go pick up Emily from school and show off her eye.

Glad it is all over with. Thank you Lord for once again giving us peace like a river and thank you Dr. Miller for making the process fast and painless. You are a great doctor!

We have a pool in our backyard!

Well, we have always wanted a pool in our backyard and that is what we have right now. The rains have not stopped in Houston , Texas. Water levels in some areas are similar to those when Allison came through town in 2001. For some crazy reason I got out in it today. Which was fine until I started home and had to take some alternate routes that weren't flooded. The girls enjoyed seeing all the high water until we pulled into our neighborhood and the street which leads to our street was under water. I finally decide we could make it through, though there were plenty of other cars waiting it out in the clubhouse parking lot. Thank goodness I drive an "ungreen ", gas guzzling, air polluting SUV!!!!!!!!

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It has been forever since I have blogged. We have been sick and blogging has been on the back burner. We missed Easter which was a big bummer. Half of us were sick so no church or Easter egg hunt at Nana's. Olivia came to me that night and said, "This is not how I planned my Easter to be!" You and both both girl...... All that time that went into picking the matching dresses and getting the shoes and sweaters etc, etc,..... and we still haven't worn our Easter dresses! We went to Louisiana the Wed. before Easter and had a great time. Though Emily threw up right before we left...not a good sign. We headed home and halfway home I started feeling sick. 20 minutes from home Abby threw up and 30 seconds later Emily did the same! Oh my....what a disgusting mess! Two days later Olivia starts the same thing. We go to the Dr. on Wed. and everyone has strep! We were going for Abby's eye, which we were then referred to an eye Dr. She has had a stye under her eye for months but now it has gotten so big and ugly. It is obvious it is not going away. Yesterday after two hours at the doctors office (thank Emily for being a good girl for those two hours, though Daddy and I both paid for after those two hours) I am told she has to have surgery to remove it! Oh yea. Right now the poor child had diarrhea and eczema to contend with. Who knows what is going on in her little body....but she is happy to stay home with mommy! We still managed to have some fun last week when they were home because of strep. Even though they were sick this time they did not feel bad or act sick. So Thursday we went to see the Hannah Montana movie. We were the only ones in the theatre for a while and then one other lady showed up. But that didn't keep the girls from dancing in the isles. It was a cute movie and everyone had fun. Emily even took a little nap! This sickness took Olivia out of school for 3 days. This week she brought home her Absence Warning Letter from the Principle. She had had strep throat three times this year! I didn't realize I really need to turn in the Doctors notes. I had know idea she would be sick some much this year. She never missed last year. I guess public school has more germs! :) Regardless of her sickness Olivia had a great report card. All A's and 2 B's. She said she was going to get straight A's. Which I knew wasn't going to happen but excited about her abundance of self esteem even though I knew it was somewhat misguided!

Oh, our neighbors are selling there house. so Olivia and I have already started praying again for more good neighbors to move in. We are exited to see who the Lord brings next door to us! We tried to get a unamed family that is related to us to move next door, but unfortunately you need more than great neighbors to make it worth the effort of packing up your entire house to move and the house next door fell a little short!

Well I guess that is all for now. Hopefully soon we will get to wear our Easter dresses and post some pictures!

I Don't Want to Go to Heaven.

Yesterday Abby and I were looking through some old pictures. She saw a picture of herself as a baby sitting on someone's lap. She asked who is that? I said that is Grandma Wiggins. Do you remember her? Yes she said, I have been looking for her, where is she? I told her she was in heaven with Jesus. Abby quickly looked up at me and said, "she died?" I told her she had. Abby then wanted to know where heaven was. She asked if everyone went to heaven. I said if you love Jesus you go to heaven. You could see the wheels in her head turning as we were talking. Finally, she very quickly stated, "I love Jesus but I don't want to go to heaven." And that was the end of the conversation. You could tell this was not a topic she cared to discuss any longer.

The Bluebonnets are here!

Thursday we made our usually annual trek to see the bluebonnets and take pictures. This time Uncle Scott came with us carrying his awesome camera and photo taking ability. Aunt Ruth and Natalie came with us as well so we had a great time hanging with family. We found a sunny spot behind Walmart in Brenham that had a field full of bluebonnets and we had fun there but the sun was awfully bright. We made our way to Independence and unfortunately The Antique Rose Emporium was closed. We LOVE that place. The girls do to because there is lots of space to run around and lots of things to investigate. So we drove on to Old Baylor College. They had swings there for the girls and a huge oak tree perfect for climbing which is exactly what the girls did. Scott took some awesome pictures of the girls at what I guess were the front steps to the old college. The sun was starting to set, so the lighting was perfect. We then spotted an incredible field of bluebonnets beside Sam Houston's old house. So of course we took more pictures. The girls did a good job of smiling pretty and striking poses. Some our naturals at it and others.......not so natural, but I won't mention names. The pictures can tell the story. The girls found an orange tree in front of Sam Houston's house, so they had a little snack after taking pictures.

It was a long day of all of us.....and I didn't mention all that we had to accomplish before we left just to be ready for our photo shoot. Really I was wiped out before we got to Brenham. We started bathing, washing hair, blow drying hair and rolling hair at 10:00 am. Then there was the ironing of the wardrobe not to mention putting it all on! Fortunately this was a day that Emily woke up in the middle of the night with fever so she sleep most of the day before we left, so that made the day a bit easier. Yes, I know I am a terrible mom for dragging my fever ridden child out to take bluebonnet pictures. But once we got into the car she didn't have fever anymore. Plus she had a great time on our little road trip!

They did get a little tired at times having so many pictures taken.....I think David even said they are going to grow up hating bluebonnets. But I disagree totally. They will have found memories of all our road trips to the bluebonnets each spring. Some of those bluebonnet treks have included stops at the BlueBell Creamery, which I think is a very good memory. I suppose only time will tell what they have to say about their memories of bluebonnets.....but for mom it will be all good!

Olivia CAN let her nails grow!

I made a bet with Olivia a couple of weeks ago that if she grew her nails out I would take her to get a manicure. Now getting a manicure is a big deal. I am one of those mothers who thinks taking 5,6,7,8,9 and 10 year olds to get there nails and toes done is ridiculous. Don't we already give our kids too much too early as it is? So, if they start expecting manicures at 6......well it can only go down hill from there. Therefore, we have always done our manicures and pedicures at home. But I decided to make an exception because I needed an extra special reward in hopes of getting Olivia to stop biting her nails! It drives me NUTS! Her little nubby nails just looked pitiful all the time. She would want to paint her nails and I would tell her...you have nothing to paint, let's do your toes! I guess she finally got tired of hearing me go on about her lack of fingernails. One day she told me she was going to stop biting her nails. Well, I jumped on that one fast and made deal with her completely believing she would never stop biting her nails. She would come home from school and tell me mom I'm not biting my nails anymore. I would look at her little nubs and think....yeah right! WELL....yesterday I looked at her hands and actually saw signs of a white nail emerging! I was so excited I wanted to throw a party. I went on and on about how good her nails looks and how proud I was that she had stopped biting her nails. I told her they needed to get a little longer before we go get a manicure, but I do believe she is well on her way! Good job Olivia, momma is really proud of you and I am sorry for not believing you could do it!