Cousin Camp

Warning TMI here...This past week Lucy has had green gooky eyes when she wakes up.  It started last weekend and I thought it was a cold.  Her nose was running a little but not even that fussy or whiny overall. After 10 days of it not getting better, I finally after church yesterday took her to a Walgreens Take Care Clinic (LOVE those...was in and out with my prescription in 30 minutes!) and my suspicions were confirmed...she had an ear infection.  Poor baby she hasn't even acted sick, was eating and sleeping normally and had no other symptoms other than yucky eyes (and has never had that symptom before).  So today finally her eyes are better and she has slept sooo hard last night and today.  I felt bad that I even took away her paci during an ear infection but I had no way of knowing and she did great anyway.  Oh well!

My great uncle (my  mom's dad's brother) passed away and tonight we went to the visitation.  It was great to get to see all the cousins that we don't get to see very often.  Karis didn't come because she had gymnastics....so wish she had been there!  Starting from the left:  Chris and Cortney's daughter Anne Catherine (Cortney was holding her and is 6 months pregnant due in April), Dan and Kara's 4 kids Cannon, Ellie, Asher and Hallie Ann and my youngest 2 kiddos Lucy and Brayden. They are all such sweethearts and they are all pretty stinkin' cute too! :)

My cousin's wife Cortney, me and my cousin Kara (love these girls!)

We all had so much fun chatting and the kids were loving each other's company too.  We all agreed we need to have cousin camp soon so we can all hang out again soon!  :)

A Spring day in January???

Oh my goodness it was GORGEOUS outside today.  Not so sure why we had snow last week and it was almost 70 today?!  But I wasn't complaining!  It was sunny and felt perfect outside.  We spent the entire day out but before I share about that, I wanted to give you a "papi" update. 

 Lucy hasn't had her paci in 36 hours (or so) and has done GREAT!  I was dreading this whole thing but it has turned out to be a breeze!  Last night she did fuss for a few minutes (not even a cry) saying, "papi! papi!"  but then when on to sleep and slept all night.   Multiple times today we have talked about it and she keeps saying, "papi boke! uh-oh!  papi gone-gone!  byebye papi!"  She doesn't seem upset about it at all.  I even convinced her to throw the damaged paci in the garbage this morning and she did it and then waved at it and said, "bye bye papi!"

I told the kids it would be warm today so we planned to stay out there all day and so Karis came down wearing this!  I told her it was warm but not Summer ha!  It is still January...oh well.  She is hot natured and didn't get cold at all.

We live on 100 acres and there are tons of trees which also means LOTS of leaves!  So we usually just wait until they all fall and then mulch them.  They are absolutely out of control.   The kids kept losing their toys under the leaves this week so we finally had to do something about them.  Here are some of the before pics...

We had some helpers today too.  Karis "babysat" Lucy for me for a while and Brayden helped us pick up sticks.

Jay and I make a good team.  I raked/blew flowerbeds and got all the leaves in the yard and Jay used the mulcher and just mowed over them.  The blower was my best friend/sidekick today!

We took a break mid-afternoon and picked up lunch and went to a local park to let the kids play.  Our friends Destin, Brandon and Ax came too so they had fun playing together.  Ax got this tractor for Christmas and Brayden loved riding it and "helping" drive Ax around.

Yep she changed and is wearing a spaghetti strap shirt now.  I pick my battles around here ha!

We came back from the park and finished (for today) the yard.  At least we can actually play in the yard now!

Sweet Brady boy!

Tonight we took it easy, ate some dinner and took baths and everyone was worn out!  

Oh I wanted to share 2 recipes I have cooked this week that are good.  Last night I cooked Cranberry Brisket and it was SOOO good! It was super easy and everyone in my family loved it.    Also one night this week I made a WW low-fat chili that was delicious as well called Crock Pot 3 bean turkey chili.  If you like Cilantro, you will love this chili!

Her smile turned upside down...

Lucy's sweet, sweet smile....

...turned upside down today.  It happened when I did this....

When she first put it in her mouth, she would suck on it and then look at it...suck on it and then look at it.  Like "why in the world is this thing not working???"  Then she kept saying, "boke!"  (broke)

Clinging to my legs...

Sad eyes...

Although these pictures are pitiful, she really did well at naptime (she really only gets it at bedtime or in the car).  She fussed for a few minutes and then slept normally.  Every time she holds it now she just throws it down. Not sure if she is mad at me or the paci ha!

I wasn't really planning on getting rid of it yet (she is only 20 months), however I am really tired of this thing!  Don't know if this will do the trick but I am willing to give it a shot!  So here is to the broken paci, have a moment of silence with me....cause we may be in for a LONG night(s)!

This is a video of Lucy saying her paci is "boke....uhoh!"  

http://vimeo.com/19308548

Lucy's paci is "boke!" from Amanda Lemonds on Vimeo.

Hair Salon and Sunshine!

Happy Thursday to ya!

Today was a productive day.  I think the sunshine gave me a boost!  This morning the kiddos somehow all were trying to do hair.  They all had babies and/or a brush and were styling the babies' hair and each others.  Do we have some future cosmetologists on our hands???

Lucy was playing patty-cake with babies' toes... 

This made me laugh...then she started brushing them!  I guess baby had hairy toes ha!

The big boys started making silly faces at me...

Then Lucy copied them.  I was laughing out loud!

It was so warm today we got to play outside!!!  I was so thankful for the sunshine and the heat wave of 50ish today.  They went out with jackets and ended up taking them off because they got hot!  It was awesome!  I was working outside while the kids were playing and managed to sweep/clean out our garage, blow the driveway and vacuum out the car.  It was great just to get some fresh air!

This afternoon, I walked into Lucy's room to find this.  She was playing so quietly and was concentrating.

She had her fruit snacks lined up on her window sill (I am afraid she will be an organizer like her momma and sissy).

And she was reading her Bible.  Fruit snacks and Bible, what more could a girl want?  (For me, I would have chosen coffee instead and I am sure she would have too if she had been given a choice!)

Tonight Jay had a meeting so the kids and I went to wash the car, came back to eat dinner and take baths, I managed to mop, vacuum, dust, iron about 20 items of clothing, wash several loads of clothes and clean the kitchen.  The kids are now in bed asleep and I am cuddled on the couch sipping on some Joe waiting on my man to come home.  We have a home date with 24 tonight...and there is no place I'd rather be!  :)