Dodd Daily Doses

Don't Mess With Will...

2012-01-05T16:00:00.001-08:00

If you mess with Will like Wesley did today when he threw his chocolate milk in the sink Will might say, "Mommy, Wesley makes the whole world stupid." Of course, since he can't really say some of the letters in that sentence I asked him to repeat himself (all the while hoping I didn't hear what I thought I'd heard, but no such luck!). He spoke a lot slower and included his arms open wide to make sure I understood "the whole world".

I said, "Why do you think Wesley makes the world stupid?"

Without missing a beat for even a second he said, "Because he scratches me, hits me, pushes me, and scratches me and pushes me!"

Oh well, I guess they can't love each other every minute :)

Wesley said...

2012-01-04T18:04:00.001-08:00

Out of the blue Wesley walked up to Ashton and said, "Ashton, you and Taylor Swift are my 2 favorite girls!" and hugged her. He sure loves his sissy!

1,000 Gifts...

2011-10-10T17:15:00.001-07:00

8. I'm thankful that I happened to get sick on my mom's day off and for a mom willing to watch my kids on her only day off in 2 weeks!

9. I'm very grateful for a hubby who drives home on his lunch hour to bring me crackers and Coke. God blessed me with a good man :)

1,000 Gifts...

2011-10-10T10:42:00.001-07:00

7. Sunday afternoons on Mawmaw's porch hanging out with family. NOTHING is better than hanging out with my family. I am so grateful to have them all so close!

1,000 Gifts ...

2011-10-08T13:03:00.001-07:00

5. Right now I am thankful for yard sales that are over, cleaned up, modest profit, garage much less cluttered, and leftovers donated to a friend.

6. That my 2 boys are playing pirate ship so well together.

1,000 Gifts...

2011-10-07T09:25:00.001-07:00

Today I am seeking things to be thankful for amidst the overwhelming to do's, but it only takes seconds when you stop to try. There's a lesson there.

2. Waking up with one child's body wedged on my right side and one on my left. Then the latecomer had nowhere to go and is sound asleep on my back!

3. Snuggling my growing too fast daughter and naughtily laying in bed way longer than I should while listening to two boys giggle downstairs.

4. Seeing my daughter trying to teach her baby brother to read any reading him lots of books over and over and whispering the words in his ear and her not even realizing all the while she's becoming a better reader, not to mention a better person.

1,000 Gifts…

2011-10-06T19:58:00.001-07:00

While at the beach I splurged and bought myself a book I had been wanting, 1,000 Gifts by Ann Voskamp.

I have been reading her blog for a while and absolutely love it. I’d been wanting to get the book when I could savor it, thus the beach. This is DEFINITELY a book to be savored! I once heard someone say that there are different worship styles just like there are learning styles. Some feel closest to God through music, some through ritual, and some like me who feel closest when studying God’s word and making discoveries and connections therein (there were other worship styles but I can’t remember them right now).

This book spoke to me like few others before (and I’m not even half way through!). There’s a saying about something being a feast for the eyes, but this book was a feast for the soul for me. God truly blessed Ann Voskamp with the gift of prose. I love reading her descriptions of things.

So, I have to join her on the challenge to chronicle 1,000 things I am thankful to God for, though I don’t believe that will be hard as He has blessed me abundantly. I am so excited to chronicle them on my blog and to get into a habit of thankfulness. What a gift that would be to pass on the my children- the ability to always find something to be thankful for during the sunshine and especially during the storms! I can’t think of much I’d rather pass onto them. I tell them all the time that people want to be around people who reflect the joy of Jesus. I’m hoping this habit of thankfulness will make me into one of those joy reflectors.

Wow, number one is kind of daunting. It should be really elaborate and profound and wonderful and the perfect kick off. For once, I’m going to keep it simple. Simple, but fathomless:

1. Jesus.

Wordless Wednesday…

2011-09-27T21:00:00.001-07:00

Remind Me Why I Spent Money on Bunk Beds…

2011-09-27T20:45:00.001-07:00

Every night as I go up to bed I am never sure where I will find the kids sleeping. Sometimes they are all in one bed and sometimes they aren’t in beds at all!

I love when I find them all in Sissy’s room because I know that means she was reading to them:

Jackson’s room is a very popular stop. Half the time he encourages it and they stay up way to late playing. Other nights he locks his doors to keep out nighttime visitors. Usually, it is Will I find in Jackson’s room because they are my night owls while I will find Ashton and Wesley up playing long before the rest of the house. On this night I took a picture because they were both snuggling their stuffed dogs. Every night I still find Jackson snuggling his Sparky is like a gift because it seems he is growing up way too fast!

All this just goes to prove my case that we should just throw them all in one room and use their bedrooms for other things!

When You Spend a Lot of Time in Time Out…

2011-09-27T20:20:00.001-07:00

You have to find a way to entertain yourself:

Big Haps in the Dodd House...

2011-09-01T18:05:00.000-07:00

Part of being this wonderful man's wife is possessing the ability to be extremely excited when dead turkeys and deer show up in the back of your man's truck, always photographing them, eating them for every meal, hanging on the edge of your seat to hear the 45 minute play by play of the big kill, and patiently chasing the kids on Sunday morning while he tells it again to every man in the building (OK, so I don't do so well with the last one).

Do you want to know a secret?

I love every minute of it. Maybe not every minute when he falls asleep all afternoon because he got up so early or when I never get to sleep in on Saturday or when he gets home hours after he said he would... wait, where was I going with this?

Oh yeah, I love my hunter. No, really. I love that he is so incredibly passionate about something. I love that he's passionate about something that has been important to my family for generations. I love that he is passing that passion on to our next generation. I love that after days of working at a stressful job and being a very involved father he has this safe, wholesome way to unwind. I love that he says his favorite part of hunting is sitting in nature marveling at the Creator. I love that he is never closer to his God than when hunting. I love that God has gifted him with many hunter friends who are godly influences. I love that God has placed us within a church family where they embrace hunting and the pastor calls him every time he sees a big buck. I love that he has a secret dream of a way to use his passion for the glory of God's kingdom and as an evangelism tool.

And most of all, I love that in 2 years all 4 kids will be old enough to go with him, and I will be making up all those Saturday sleep ins I missed!

So, as the rest of us feel fall approaching and get excited for beautiful leaves, football, pumpkins, and my birthday (maybe that's only me that gets excited about that one) my man is getting the itch feeling deer season around the corner. I absolutely groan and will dread it, (have I ever told how I once missed my own birthday dinner becuase I was helping him track a deer) but I have to admit to loving it for him as well. Besides, I can always get him to do lots of honey do's on Saturday afternoons- if he stays awake.

So there's my secret. Don't tell him or I will lose all honey do leverage!

My Wonderful Husband

2011-08-06T20:14:00.001-07:00

I have the best husband in the world. He is so good looking.

Wesley Wednesday...

2011-06-15T20:01:00.000-07:00

When I told Wesley it was going to rain today he started crying- I mean big alligator tears. He was sad and crying about a storm for about 30 minutes (He's become scared of them after a few bad ones we've had lately.). Then he walked up to me and with tears in his eyes sincerely said, "Mommy, can you please ask God to stop watering his flowers?"

I've never said that and have no idea where he heard it from! It surprised me but was oh so precious- just like him!

Well, That's a New One...

2011-05-26T20:11:00.000-07:00

Tonight Jon only read the twins one book because it was so late when they got to bed.

Then Wesley informed Jon that, "Jesus said we could have 2 books."

Jon asked if he had talked to Jesus.

Without missing a beat Wesley said, "Yeah, he was at our school. He wore white and He was perfect! And He had a beard in his nose like you."

So, that's a new bedtime excuse around here, and believe me we thought we'd heard them all.

Apparently, I need to keep an eye on Wesley because the morning after his t-ball practice I told the lazy thing he had to put his own clothes on. Then he told me, "My coach said that you had to dress me."

Yep, I'm definitely keeping my eye on that one...

My 10-AGER...

2011-05-04T21:28:00.000-07:00

When my nephew Jordan turned 10 he got all excited that he was finally going to be a TEN-ager So, that has become a big milestone in our family now, and I can’t believe my little baby is there now!

We have a tradition of taking a picture with Mommy the night before their birthday holding up their age for the last time before they officially add another finger! I always have to celebrate lasts- the last year in single digits. That’s a big one!

He still is my snuggler, most of the time any way!

I love this sweet boy. He has an amazing heart and sense of justice. He doesn’t like to see anyone abused (unless it’s him doing the abusing- but let’s focus on the positive here!). He still loves to learn and always asks questions. He still maintains that he wants to be a veterinarian. He has a talent for math and science and only likes to read nonfiction. He is adored by all his siblings (again, most days any way) and really enjoys children. He still loves baseball and is one of the top pitchers on his team.

His daddy and I are so proud of him and are excited to celebrate a decade as parents with the sweet boy who made us a mommy and daddy.

Does Your Table Have These Underneath?

2011-05-04T21:26:00.000-07:00

I'd heard there was an infestation of ice cream sneaking, spoon in the toes three year olds under kitchen tables lately, or is that just me?

Just Hanging Out...

2011-05-04T21:23:00.000-07:00

I don't know how these things always seem to happen in this house:

but I'm pretty sure one day my kids are going to tell their kids about how their mom always had to grab her camera and take a picture for the blog before she rescued them :)

Wordless Wednesday...

2011-04-06T01:12:00.000-07:00

Her Feelings Can Best Be Expressed in the From Of...

2011-04-01T08:56:00.000-07:00

If any of you are SNL fans you will remember Molly Shannon's character always had a monologue from some after school special. Our daughter isn't quite well versed in SNL language yet. However, when she got mad at Jon at bedtime one night she also chose an artistic form of self-expression. He heard her door open, she slammed something down, and slammed her door shut. He came downstairs carrying this to show me how she felt about him:

It was a little scary on several levels- the speed with which she whipped it out and slammed it down, but mostly the fact that that is one of her favorite stuffed animals squished in there to hold up the note! Poor innocent Frenchy had to pay for Jon's "meanness".

Of course, I'm sure now that she got that out of her system there won't ever be any more door slamming around here, right? Girls aren't like that at all, right?

(That's what I told Jon so he'd be able to sleep that night- shhhh....)

Wordless Wednesday...

2011-03-30T13:40:00.000-07:00

Spiderman Saves the Day...

2011-03-29T14:54:00.000-07:00

There are 4 types of kids when it comes to putting on costumes, and I happen to have 1 of each:

1. The kid who just puts it on to get a laugh and act goofy (that would be Jackson- and Jon too)

2. The kid who does it to look beautiful and pose for pictures (obviously, that would be Ashton)

3. The kid who will barely put the costume on and never leaves it on long enough for a picture to be taken (much to my disappointment that is Will)

4. The kid who doesn't just put the costume on but becomes the character:

My Wesley gets full into character. He's obviously a method actor, except he doesn't admit that he's acting! It's very handy to have a superhero for a son. When your other child gets stuck and can't peddle up the driveway Spider Man runs to save the day!

Look at that face of concentration!!!

He also rescues pets as well:

Best of all, he makes us all smile with his constant imagination and the seriousness with which he takes on saving the world. While I've never considered myself a big Spidey fan, I'm the president of this one's fan club!

Junior Daddy...

2011-03-29T13:16:00.000-07:00

Ashton came downstairs the other day dressed like this and informed us that she was "Junior Daddy". She then proceeded to follow Jon every where and do her best impersonation of him. The impersonation consisted of lots of talking on her phone-what should that tell Jon???? I love Daddy and his Junior very much- too much cuteness!

Favorite Foto Friday...

2011-03-28T21:23:00.000-07:00

There are so many things that scare me about this photo. I can assure you that the bikini has been disposed of and hopefully we'll never see another one??????

When I wore that shawl to church every Sunday in the 80's I could've never imagined its future: I love the look on his face. The little ray even makes this look cute: Leave it to Wesley to make a face to match the hair- my little ham!

As usual, there's never a dull moment around here.

I Probably Owe the Neighbor's a Dry Cleaning Bill...

2011-03-23T20:52:00.000-07:00

Sometimes when we have a big project going on and need to concentrate the kids ask us if they can do something we would normally think better of and we absently agree. Case in point, Ashton asked can I paint a big box blue? All well and good until the innocent neighbor girl came over and became a victim of the turquoise paint.

The problem comes when you paint yourself into a corner- literally.

I wrongfully assumed they were using a paintbrush???

Sorry the neighbor's new outfit was an innocent bystander, but it did buy Jon and I a few hours to get our own projects done. Totally worth it, pretty much.

Watch Out Jonas Brothers...

2011-03-15T17:08:00.000-07:00

Everyone loves the Jonas Brothers. There's something kind of cool about brothers with talent, but twin brothers would be an all new angle, right. I had it all planned out- millions of adoring fans, a life of touring the country, them dedicating every song to their amazing mom....yes, I had such dreams. Then their mother's day out program happened: At least they have something in common: They're still cute though:

OK, so maybe the world tour is on hold for now, but I'm pretty sure they were still dedicating their performance to their awesome mom:

Who needed to see the world any way...

Happy Jonzwa...

2011-02-12T20:32:00.000-08:00

Poor Jon didn't exactly have the best birthday as I was so sick. So, the kids and I did our best to make up for it the next week. We even made him a camo cake:

Of course, it wasn't as fancy as he would've made but I thought it ended up looking pretty cool.

Ashton and Jackson also made a birthday banner and there was some pretty cute singing going on as well.

I know he dreamed 37 would find him surrounded by 4 kids but God has a fun way of surprising us doesn't he? I just can't wait to see what surprises God will have him surrounded by at 67!

Happy b-day to the best daddy I know, a pun-ny guy and my bestest friend for 22 years now!

God Smiling...

2011-02-07T19:51:00.000-08:00

This morning I snuck away to my bedroom to have my quiet time. I'm doing a wonderful study by Kay Arthur about prayer. I was sitting cross legged on my bed face down in prayer. As is usually the case, my sweet Will found me. He loves his mommy and always seems to find me when I'm trying to sneak away :)

Apparently I wasn't paying him enough attention so he climbed on my back. He was having a great time pretending I was his horsey. Meanwhile, I'm trying to worship and have, well a quiet time while being swayed back and forth. Just when I felt myself almost starting to be a little annoyed with the stay home mom's constant frustration, "Can't I have one moments peace?"

Just before I went there, in a "sweet kiss" out of the blue God spoke to me, "A little over 10 years ago you were lying in this same prone position crying out to me because there was only one line on the test again. I heard your cry and answered your prayer."

The hardest period of my life was when we were struggling with infertility. It was the greatest test to my faith and the closest I have ever felt to God. I wouldn't change that period of being in the valley for anything because oh how it makes the Promised Land that much sweeter!

God's timing was, as always, perfect. As Jon and I laugh about- "He did exceedingly abundantly above that which we asked of Him."

And the little monkey on my back was proof number 3 of 4 of answered prayer! I think God looked down on this frazzled mommy with a giggler on her back and smiled today. I could feel Him smiling like a proud Papa at what He had done for me. I think He laughed and forgave my distracted prayer and said, "It is good."

And I was again reminded that HE is good, all.the.time.

Wordless Wednesday Will...

2011-02-02T16:40:00.000-08:00

Wordless Wednesday...

2011-01-26T08:00:00.000-08:00

Happy Birthday Mommy...

2011-01-26T01:29:00.000-08:00

Wordless Wednesday...

2011-01-19T08:24:00.000-08:00

Happy Birthday Sweetie, Sorry...

2011-01-16T20:41:00.001-08:00

I'm pretty sure Jon didn't plan to spend his 37th b-day smothered by naked naughtiness! Actually, that might have been the highlight of his b-day weekend. So wrong...
Poor Jon. Not the best b-day he's ever had:
1. Went to the doctor only to be severely fussed at for his cholesterol and blood pressure.
2. Had a very sick wife for 4 days=single parenting + waiting on someone who felt too rotten to move
3. Took Jackson and his best buddy hunting with his buddy only to get in a snow ball battle, at the end of one hour drive home discovered he'd lost his brand new I-phone, drove one hour back with all 4 kids (remember the sick wife) to discover his phone in the creek with a cracked screen.
4. Left a sick wife in bed to teach Sunday School on his birthday morn.
5. Got to go grocery shopping where he decided to purchase: ginger ale, vinegar pickles, crackers, soup and 2 different types of medicice- apparently ready for sick wife to be better :)
6. Went out to eat at Olive Garden (the highlight) only to realize we were locked out of our house.
7. Spent the afternoon with boys who kept getting naked.
8. Spent the day watching the last Hannah Montana episode and the marathon leading up to it rather than the NFL playoffs.
9. Did I mention he got peed on?

Happy birthday baby, IOU a do-over next weekend!!!!!!

Poor Luke the Guinea Pig...

2011-01-15T16:36:00.000-08:00

The Dodd Genes Are Strong With This One…

2011-01-14T19:16:00.000-08:00

Wesley really likes to use verbs. Tonight as we were hanging around the house he said, “Bye Mom, I need to got to go fishing.” (Usually he needs to got to go peepee!)

Then he spent the next several minutes reeling in this big shark and showing me what he caught. Which of course made me think, “Wow he is so Jon’s son.” I wish I had a nickel for every time Jon told me he need to got to go fishing!Meanwhile, here’s what Will was doing:

Maybe fishing isn’t so bad…

Dodd Girls Take In the Ballet...

2010-12-21T16:26:00.000-08:00

Nana has been eagerly awaiting the girls being old enough to take them to see the Nutcracker. This was finally the year, and we've all been looking forward to it all year. Nana even included her older girls too- me and J-Rae. We were just as excited as the girls. We all got to get dressed up and started out with a nice lunch. The girls were giggling and enjoying being together. Nana's always great about doing fun girl stuff. I guess she's been waiting a looooooong time to have girls in the family :)

We got to go to a little presentation before talking about the story and costuming. Who knew how many toe shoes those ballerinas wear out?

The show started out set in the huge fair Nashville had to celebrate Tennessee's centennial when the Parthenon was built. This homeschooling mommy had fun noticing all that with Ashton since we were just studying it.

The dancing was obviously quite impressive, but oh the costumes! They were amazing. We all had our favorites. Ashton's was surprisingly the snake lady that danced like a cobra. It was really good but I can't believe she liked it better than all the princess costumes. Of course, we all liked them all. It was also really neat how they used so many children. The girls really enjoyed seeing so many kids their age. Ashton has asked me a hundred times if she can try out!

It was a very special day I know the girls will never forget. However, the highlight of my day was when I asked Ashton if she liked it and she said, "I liked everything but the boys' pants. They were so tight. They were like, ewwww."

I have to agree with her 100%. J-Rae said all she could think of was the jokes David and Jon would've been making :)

Thank you so much Nana. It was a wonderful way to start the Christmas season!

All Aboard the Minivan Express...

2010-12-20T19:25:00.000-08:00

After snuggling and watching the Polar Express which Will especially adored, we had a fun surprise planned. I got the idea and even printed off free golden tickets from this great blog.

I popped popcorn for everyone and even hid bells in the bottom of their popcorn bowls. I also had made hot chocolate for all the boys, chai tea latte for Mommy and pink milk for my girl. When we were all in our snuggly pj's I told them to go look for a surprise under their pillow where they found golden tickets to the "minivan express". They were all so excited. Even the boys got it and knew it was their train ticket. It was so sweet!
Daddy was supposed to play conductor but stressed out when I told him he had to punch a word on everyone's ticket that meant something to them like in the movie :)

They were excited when we told them the minivan express was going to drive around looking at Christmas lights.

Then Jon and I danced out carrying everyone's hot chocolate and singing the "Hot Chocolate" song. I'm really sorry there is no video to show you of that! Then they all started singing the song as Mommy passed out the popcorn.

I was worried this boy would be upset when he realized there was no train, but he loves him some Christmas lights so he was happy.

We started out at a house in the neighborhood next to ours which is always one of our favorites. They add more each year and are out of room. We especially enjoy the cross on top.

This year when we arrived we died laughing when we saw what was in the yard across the street from the lit up house:

That is SO something I could see us doing!

Wesley surprised us by being the first to find the bell at the bottom of the popcorn. He was so excited which led the others to digging in the bottom of theirs. Wesley said, "This Santa's reindeer bell?" This planning mommy was thrilled that all 4 were so excited about their bells. I had no idea they'd enjoy them so much. They never stopped ringing them for the hour long ride. Jon and I had another of those "we really have 4 kids moments" because of how many bells were ringing :)

Jackson suggested they sing Christmas carols while we rode around and used their bells as instruments. It was so sweet to hear them all singing together.

This was one of our favorites (in Campbell Station for my local friends). You can look here forever and see more and more like the opening and closing mailbox, Santa's seesaw, gingerbread men and lots of others. Jackson suggested we play I Spy which was fun.

Besides the ditto sign mine and Jon's favorite find of the night was the house that had a Festivus pole up! You have to be a Seinfeld fan to understand how awesome that was. After I took this picture of Jon next to it, I made a video of my telling him all the ways he has disappointed me this year- hee hee, too fun! (that looks like a beer can in his hand but it's really a mug of hot chocolate in a church cup!)

By the time we made it to the grand finale house Wesley had tapped out:

We watched the house at Crown Pointe with the computerized lights for a while. It has its own radio station with synchronized music which the kids obviously had fun dancing to:

What a sweet night.

These are the memory making moments this Mommy lives for!

My favorite quote of the night was when Will tattled on Wesley who has an obsession with saying the b-u-t-t word right now after other words- every word in fact, "Mommy, Wesley said Christmas butt!" Gee, thanks for telling me!

I don't think our night could've gone better or been more fun. I can guarantee the minivan express will ride again. In fact, the kids asked if we could do it again the next night and the next. Ashton even wanted to know if we could do it at other holidays like Halloween.

I hope you print yourself some tickets and take a ride yourself.

If you do, let me know how it was!

Video From Santa...

2010-12-20T14:25:00.000-08:00

You can imagine my surprise when I opened my e-mail to see that all 4 kids had received an e-mail with a video from Santa. We gathered them all around to watch. Here's Ashton's. She was excited to see that Santa knew about her beautiful birthday party. She wasn't quite as happy to find out he wanted her to try harder in school and help around the house, but when he showed her a picture of the Calico Critters she had asked for in his book she was a little more motivated.

Next we watched Wesley's. My favorite part was when Santa said he hardly recognized him in his Spiderman's outfit because when he would wear it he would rip off his mask and say, "It's me Wesley" as if we had no idea :) Of course, he didn't so much like the part about going to bed when Mommy and Daddy said it was time. Despite our greatest wish, it didn't really work that night to get him to stay in his bed before 11:00 either :(

Will was hilarious. When Santa told him he had a special trip he just smiled his sweet smile as Santa showed him a picture of him and his beloved Snow White at Disney World. Then when Santa said he need to needed to stop throwing those silly tantrums he gasped and looked at us then tried to unplug the laptop!!!! It was hilarious, but he wasn't amused in the least.

The entire time Jackson was saying he didn't even want to see his because he knew it was going to say to be nice to his sister (just like Santa told him when we had our picture made with him). When Santa showed him a baseball picture and said he knew his team could count on him, Jackson said he remembered seeing him at his game. Last summer we all thought we saw Santa at the game in a tropical shirt! Sadly, I'm afraid this year we have a 4th grade doubting Thomas among us, but I suppose it was time. It still makes me a little sad though.

I hope you liked their videos. It was truly a priceless moment. Maybe someone you know will get one too?

Look Mommy...

2010-11-26T21:31:00.000-08:00

Mine and Jon's new favorite sound is the gasp Will lets out each time we turn into our neighborhood and he sees the Christmas lights. It is so precious and never gets old for any of us. In fact, my husband who isn't crazy about any holiday decorations has decided he has to put up lights this year. He even said if Will keeps gasping he might have to computerize the lights and set them to music :)

Our favorites are the blue LED lights in our neighborhood. Tonight as we drove by Will said, "Oh, look Mommy. It's God!"

That would be the nativity scene with baby Jesus! Oh, how I love that sweet boy!

Can You Ever Teach Your Kids Too Much About the Bible...

2010-11-09T18:33:00.000-08:00

As we got ready for church Sunday morning and my kids were pushing, fighting, picking and tattling for the 100th time I gave my Sunday morning lecture, "We're about to head to God's house and you two are not showing love for each other. Do you think God is very happy with how you are acting right now?"

Without missing a beat Ashton raised her hand and sang, "Thank God I serve a God of second chances!"

I think it is from their Christmas musical or something, but I got so tickled that she had an answer for getting her out of trouble, as usual.

Last night I just happened to finish up an amazing Bible study on Jonah, which was all about 2nd chances. God really talked to me yesterday about my attitude and self-centeredness. I am as much of a spoiled brat as Jonah ever was. As frustrated as I was with my kids for their constant misbehaving God has so much more reason to be frustrated with me for my constant sinning and lack of faith. Ashton was right, but actually I am so glad that He is a God of much, much more than just 2nd chances. I blew my 2nd chance long ago but am so glad my Father is slow to anger and abounding in love!

I think I'll join my precious little "circus missionary" raising my hands and singing to our awesome God!

The World's First Circus Missionary...

2010-11-04T20:59:00.000-07:00

Tonight we were watching the PBS special about circus life (that's what happens when I let Jon have the remote). We got to a bad patch with the road crew's language. I couldn't get it turned off fast enough so I just said, "Those people really need Jesus in their hearts."

Ashton immediately responded, "That's why I'm going to join the circus so I can tell them about Jesus. Each Sunday morning I'll have church and teach them about Jesus."

I asked her, "So, you're going to be a circus missionary?"

I heard Jon laughing from the kitchen. Then in a few seconds he came in acting like a clown, literally, spouting "Jesus loves you." Without missing a beat, Jackson jumped up dancing reciting John 3:16 and Ashton acted like a clown honking her nose and reciting Genesis 1:1.

Yeah, we're cool like that. If anyone is interested in sponsoring some circus missionaries feel free to contact me. Believe me, this is the perfect mission field for mt clowns!

My Famous Daughter...

2010-11-01T10:12:00.000-07:00

I have a very talented friend, Amy, who has taken beautiful pictures of my kiddos. She has an equally talented mother who is an amazing painter. She decided to turn this picture of Ashton into a painting: She called to ask me if she could use it in her art show. I agreed only if we could come see it. Ashton was excited. It was such a cool experience!

Isn't it beautiful? No, I don't own it, but I may have to something about that eventually. At least I know where to find the artist...

Wordless Wednesday- Boo to you...

2010-10-27T02:04:00.000-07:00

DejaVu...

2010-10-26T12:31:00.000-07:00

Jackson has almost completed his 11th baseball season-wow! That's almost as many as his daddy ever played since they didn't do two a year then. I thought it was so cool that his uniform color this year was the same maroon his daddy wore as Franklin High's MVP. (Jon was really excited they were the River Cats because he thought that meant catfish but was disappointed to find out it was some kind of cat.)

It was like deja vu watching him on the mound in his Little Jon outfit. Man I love those two! I love snapping pictures of him pitching:
A few times he would stand there and shake his head like he was shaking off the catcher's pitch call. The only problem is they don't call pitches at this age! Apparently he was just imitating what he's seen MLB pitchers do.
Look at the determination on this face:

He's had a great season with a great team and Daddy has enjoyed being the pitching coach. I love baseball which is a good thing since it's only a year or two before I'll have two games a day to watch.

Biggest Mistake of My Life...

2010-10-25T11:51:00.000-07:00

Since Will was continually climbing out of his bunk bed, we thought it was time for big boy beds. Then we found some good ones at a great price and took the plunge. Biggest.mistake.ever... Now neither of them stay in their bed E.V.E.R.

On the upside, when we took down his baby bed he found one of his old pacies that had been under there for oh, about 2 and a half years and promptly popped it in his mouth:

The boys were so excited about their bunk beds:

In fact, all 4 kids decided they needed to sleep in them. It was like a free for all in there when the lights went out!

So now every night we put the boys back in the bed for an hour at which point Wesley falls asleep. Then we hand out spankings, fuss, bribe and cry (Jon and I) and about 11 or 12 Will finally falls asleep:

In conclusion, ignore the pediatricians who say when your kid can climb out it's time to get rid of the baby bed. Keep them in their until their feet are sticking out the slats. If only we could get a do over, if only...

Before and After...

2010-10-23T11:32:00.000-07:00

Before Wesley's hair cut:

After, but still handsome:

This boy's hair has been a journey, and oh how far we've come:

Favorite Foto Friday...

2010-10-15T10:34:00.000-07:00

Does everyone have a guitar playing Roman in their living room or is it just me?

Thankful Thursday...

2010-10-13T21:49:00.000-07:00

God is teaching me all about having an attitude of gratitude for all things big and small, good and bad. Here's is one of God's "sweet kisses" as my friend Alicia would say. This definitely falls in the small category but means a lot to me.

I am thankful for the slight incline that my sidewalk and driveway have. Yes, I just said I am grateful to God for a little hill. You see rolling down the sidewalk, turning to roll down the driveway then crashing in the yard right before they hit the road is the one thing all 4 of my children play together without fighting. They all chose their vehicle of choice out of the ride on toy car lot that is our yard, and the races begin. They take turns riding together, pushing each other and race over and over. They will literally play here for hours which means I get to take a break from my full time job of referee. I on blessed days can even be found sitting down in a rocking chair or on the front step reading (although it's usually books for homeschool- it's still counted as me time). Those of you who were blessed with children complete with halos who turn to each other daily and say, "you complete me" as opposed to "can't you leave?" probably don't understand how precious a few non-WWF minutes can be to this mommy of 4, but the rest of you with less than perfect children who have given the "God chose you to be siblings so you need to learn to appreciate His gift" speech are sighing right along with me.

So, laugh if you want, but I am absolutely serious that today I am thanking God for an incline. If you want to join me, ask God to give you an attitude of thankfulness. He is faithful, and you will really be amazed at all the things He will bring to your mind, can't be much smaller than my little yet big one.

Wordless Wednesday...

2010-10-13T21:30:00.000-07:00

Yeah, I'm proud- especially when Jon's genes start kicking on (hee hee)!

Mother's Day Out or As I Like to Call It "Hallelujah"...

2010-10-11T08:29:00.000-07:00

Last year I would've sold a kidney to get these two in Mother's Day Out, but it was full. This year I didn't think we'd made it in either and was trying to make my peace with it when in August we got this blessed phone call that sent me running in the yard to share the good news with Jon (and anyone withing a block of us!). We were in!

Of course, that meant the fun part of shopping for new backpacks and lunchboxes. I lucked up and got two Cars lunch boxes at a friend's yard sale. I don't know why she had two except that it was meant to be :) So, I splurged and got them new McQueen backpacks and a theme was born. Then by miraculous coincidence Donnie just happened to show up at our door that morning with new Lightning McQueen shirts she had made them that just happened to match the shorts I had just put on them. Pretty amazing, huh?

These two were so excited about being big boys and going to school that they actually both smiled for my pictures- the biggest miracle of all!

How big does he look holding his lunch box? Wow!

I found the site of them carrying backpacks that were as big as them hilarious and stinking cute with an added bonus that they slowed them down enough that I could keep up with them!

They sat right down and got to business (notice big sister in the background who asks every day when she can stay and be the assistant teacher). Again, I was overwhelmed at how big they looked:

God especially blessed us with a wonderful teacher in Mrs. Kim who was also Ashton's teacher at this age. I'm afraid she was a little scared of them after reading my blog posts about the mischief they get into. (I never thought about people reading my blog and thinking they were like that all the time. They are sweet boys but that doesn't make for funny blog posts so...)

Since I haven't left them many times, it made me feel so much better knowing they were with such a sweet teacher who would truly love them.

They have done really great and absolutely love, love, love school. It's been really nice to have the time to focus on the other two while they are in school.

My favorite part is picking them up and having them tell me what they did. I love trying to puzzle out what they are telling me. Wesley really loves singing the ABC song, and Will is excited to know the number 2. So, hallelujah...

Why I Shouldn't Leave My Camera Unattended...

2010-10-10T19:15:00.000-07:00

because you might download pictures and find some that you didn't know were on there...

Oh, this goofy boy!

Our New Pet...

2010-09-29T10:16:00.000-07:00

Will has this awful raspy voice and cold right now. At Jackson's ballgame Monday apparently someone said, "He's getting a little hoarse." Well, these boys don't miss a thing.

Wesley and Will got so excited.

Wesley asked Will, "Will you gettin' a little horse?"

Will excitedly replied, "Yeah!!!"

Great, how do I get out of this one because, trust me, they won't forget!

Will was watching TV the other day and saw a commercial for a Mickey Mouse train. He's so cute now when he sees a toy he like on TV he says, "Mommy, dat fun!!!"

He told me we needed to go to the store to get him the train. When I told him we had to save some money first, he went and found the $2 bills my dad gave them for their birthday, held them in his hand and said, "I ready."

Santa, get ready to bring a Mickey Mouse train and a horse???

And Then There Were Three...

2010-09-21T21:26:00.000-07:00

A few weeks ago there happened a thing called dove season. Then a certain little excited girl found out she was old enough to go. She wore camo for the next 4 days!

I love these pictures because she took them herself.

Sadly, Daddy is the only one who bagged a bird (only because I wasn't there to shoot it first- seriously, there's been precedent. Ask him about the last time we went dove hunting :)

Look how happy my sweet girl is:

She's actually now old enough to also deer and turkey hunt, but Daddy won't let her because she can't be quiet!!!

We didn't get her a lifetime license like we did the boys (not a sexist decision just a mommy who quit work when she was born). Now I'm wishing we had.

I always dread hunting season because it means I'll be a "hunting widow" and stuck with a snoozing man when he is home. Then I realized if the kids start going with him I'll be home alone! Thus the title "and then there were three" and me counting down the days until the boys are old enough to go! I am 34 months away from loving hunting season!

At Least I Tried...

2010-09-21T13:33:00.001-07:00

Me: (while making a wish list on Amazon) I think for this year we are only going to get three gifts from Santa because Jesus only got three gifts.

Jackson: How about we get lots of gifts because God has given us many gifts...

Outsmarted by a 9 year old. Won't be the last time I'm afraid!

Pancho's After Church Conversation...

2010-09-06T21:18:00.000-07:00

Me: Ashton, did you have a Bible story about Moses today and learn one of the names of God.

Ashton: We talked about Moses, bu they didn't teach me about the name of God. I know it though.

Me: You do know it?

Ashton: Yeah, it's Yahoo.

Me: (giggling hysterically) I think you mean Yahweh!

Love her, and it was fairly close for a 7 year old :)

Been Peeing Long...

2010-09-02T12:53:00.000-07:00

You know that old poster "been farming long?"? I thought this shot of my two potty training boys looked like a really bad version of that:

So cute, but probably wrong. Sorry new college student neighbors across the street!

Extreme Torquois Makeover...

2010-09-02T12:14:00.000-07:00

Since the boys have a new room we couldn't leave our girl out. She's been begging for a room redo to reflect her new devotion to turquoise. Since I'm not ready to redo her beautiful as is room, we decided to add a few turquoise touches (and cross our fingers that would appease her).

So, what do Jon and I do on a very rare night when all four of our children are spending the night with Gram? We go to Target and spend a lot of money on new furniture and turquoise accessories then stay up half the night redoing her room. Crazy huh? But well worth it for this:

Poor middle child really does get the shaft a lot so it does my heart good to do something special for her. Besides, she's very appreciative:

Didn't it come out beautiful? The best addition was her own desk since she's always doing art when she's supposed to be sleeping :)

Everyone loves her new room. Some people even sneak out of their own beds giving their moms who can't find them a heart attack while they sleep peacefully in new turquoise sheets :)

Tea Party Fit For My Princess...

2010-09-01T21:02:00.000-07:00

I've always wanted to have tea party at my Grandmother's house for my baby girl. Now that she's 7 I figured they are old enough to trust with my china :)

When I pitched the idea to her she was so excited. So we began some fun planning. The colors obviously had to be pink and turquoise since that's what she's all about these days.

Mommy even splurged and found the perfect turquoise outfit. Donnie came through with a rocking flower bow complete with feather- perfect.

I think everything came out absolutely beautiful:

I even got to pull my Old Country Rose wedding china out of hiding:

I bought the tulle and the centerpiece, but everything else my Grandmother had in her never ending collection of antiques. It was fun going through all her stuff and planning everything.

This was the most fun part. While digging through Grandmother's china hutch I found all these old flowers Donnie made for my wedding. They actually held bird seed that people flung at us :)

I put them in her vases and they looked great. It was neat to put such a sentimental decoration out at my girl's party :)

At their place each girl found water with floating flowers and a goodie bag. Donnie made them each a Coke top necklace with their initials in them. They were so cute. I wish I had taken a picture, but you can see them daily on Ashton!

My girl and I waiting for the guests to arrive. We met them at the front door to make it a little more formal. Ashton was excited to greet them all.

Donnie sweetly agreed to be our fancy waitress for the day.

Ashton decided the week before that this needed to be a bring your doll party, so everyone showed up with a little friend. Ashton was accompanying her newest American Girl Molly.

First there was sweet Abi who Ashton calls sister since they both only have brothers!

Miss Maggie was next wearing the color of the day which she got Ashton obsessed with (not to mention Taylor Swift- thanks Mags):
Mia hitched a ride because it wouldn't be the perfect party without her:

Chloe was also sporting our featured color and even decked out her doll in some rocking high heels:

Our newest friends arrived last, but this sweet Hannah adds a lot of sweetness and laughter to the party:

I was afraid Heidi might think she was too old for a 7 year old birthday, but her sweet spirit never thought so. She was fun to have there:

I hadn't planned on the boys being a part of the day, but they had other ideas:
I heart this shot of all these beauties. I thank God for these lovely inside and out girls who are such a blessing to my girl's life. My fervent prayer is that she will always have such godly, sweet friends who lift her up- hopefully, she'll still have these exact same ones!

Oh, and Wesley who obviously wanted to be a beauty as well:

It was soon tea time. They were all so sweet trying to use their best manners (except for that one girl who shall remain anonymous who shares her mothers need for milk while eating sweets and ended up drinking it out of the creamer. I'm not telling, but it was hilarious.).

Of course, they had to toast the birthday girl. (I exhaled when despite all the clinking, all glasses remained whole.)

Ashton and Jackson had a plan for entertainment. Jackson showed up dressed as Mrs. Nesbit (just like Buzz Lightyear in Toy Story). Ashton and her peeps thought he was funny, and my son will do anything for a laugh (wonder where he gets that from).

Unfortunately, he's corrupting the next generation, i.e. Wesley:

Grandmother allowed the girls to play in her antique hat collection. It started the giggling all over again:

There was lots of hat swapping:

I was teaching them about how old the hats were. Heidi had me giggling saying, "I have a 100 year old feather in my mouth."

At this point Jackson had fully joined the festivities with some napkin tricks he learned

at Disney World:

The Cake Man (wonderful daddy) had a new trick in his repertoire this time- fondant. After much trial and a very helpful You Tube tutorial, we figured it out and made each girl their own cake in alternating colors:

She was one happy girl although it was funny watching them figure out how to eat fondant and still use their best manners :)

Next up was a craft because you know Mommy is all about a themed craft. I was a little worried about what craft I could find that matched the theme when Ashton and I struck gold at Hobby Lobby. We found miniature tea sets for dolls that can be painted. It was perfect and these girls made some beautiful creations although I was so scared they were going to get the ceramic paint on their best dresses!

Fondant wears a man out. He slept soundly through craft and play time which the girls thought was funny.

What a fun day. I wish Girl's birthday came along more than once a year! Anyone notice besides throwing an awesome tea party I also dodged the sleepover bullet? Yeah, I rock!

Wordless Wednesday...

2010-09-01T12:08:00.000-07:00

Father's Day Silliness...

2010-08-31T12:45:00.000-07:00

We showed up to wish Pop a happy Father's Day and found this cool new pool to play in:

It's only fair that the guest of honor take a dip although he surprised us all by jumping in!

Will thought Pop was funny:

We all think Pop is funny too, and a pretty great dad and grandfather too!

Father's Day...

2010-08-31T12:43:00.000-07:00

Ashton helped Wesley paint a card for Daddy. He was really proud of it:

I thought Ashton's card was very beautiful and it was trees which went along with the theme of our gift (leave it to my little gift giver love language to think to do that!):

Will hadn't participated in the painting the day before so sweet Ashton brought him downstairs early and gave him a crayon and paper so he could make his own card:

Jon mentioned a month ago that he always wanted a book to tell the different types of trees so that's just what he got:

There aren't enough gifts in the world to thank him for being the awesome husband and father he is, but this was a nice start :)

My Little Art Teacher...

2010-08-31T12:40:00.000-07:00

I'm not sure any child's gifting has been as clear as my sweet girl's is. She has been given the gift of teaching. I can't tell you how many times I find her teaching her brothers. She reads to them, sounds out letters for them and often makes them tot school games and activities. While Jackson is good at playing with them it is usually loud and always potentially dangerous :) Yet, when Ashton is in charge I can actually get a little peace because she is so great about involving them in her play. Since we've started our new tutorial on Fridays complete with new lunch boxes and backpacks, the game of the day is going to school. These days I find the boys with their Lightning McQueen backpacks traipsing along after her. I also frequently find one of them tied to a "leash" being her puppy.

On this day of yard work, I came to the garage to find an art lesson going on:

She's so patient and sweet with them:

She even prepared the materials and made sure he made Father's Day cards for everyone!

I love seeing her sweet spirit. She often stresses out and asks me if it's possible for her to be a kindergarten teacher, nurse, art teacher and Sunday School teacher. I tell her I'm sure she can be. I should just tell her she can be all that and many more- it's called being a mom :)

Why Do These Amuse Me So...

2010-08-31T11:05:00.000-07:00

Why do I find spaghetti pictures so funny? I have several scrapbook pages devoted to them and even more blog posts, but here's one more:

Looking at these the question should probably be: why do I ever cook spaghetti???

Crazy Day...

2010-08-30T17:10:00.000-07:00

For crazy day at VBS I gelled the boys hair. It was too cute. I also had them wear each other's shirts with names on them backwards- pretty crazy huh??? I'm sure their teachers were thrilled!

Wouldn't you love to be their teacher when you were just thinking you knew who was who?

Will was not happy with the craziness, but I spiked his hair and it was darling. I'm so sad he wouldn't let me take his picture. I need to do it again.

This is the best shot I could get. Doesn't he look thrilled?

What totally freaked Will out was him wearing a sock on one foot and Wesley wearing the other one. He was not happy. We had shoe troubles at VBS period because having two identical shoes in two different sizes yet each boy will only wear a certain kind gets very confusing and frustrating. Add to that fact that we have lost 1 shoe from 3 different pairs (and by we I think we all know who I mean!) and my boys ended up at church one day with Will barefoot and Wesley in two left shoes. Incidentally, I won the 'mom of the year' award on that day- yeah, probably not! I'm going to channel a little Kate Gosslin and just say, "It might be a crazy life, but it's our life."

My Little Acrobat...

2010-08-30T11:29:00.000-07:00

Will learned how to climb out of his crib much earlier than I was ready! He thinks he's so clever, see:

Wesley's climbed out a time or two but isn't quite as brave, thank goodness! He does like to do acrobatics by using his feet to climb up the rails:

The bad part of a child climbing out of their crib is that when you think they are napping and you go up to check on them you start to panic when you can't find them! Then you notice Ashton's door is closed and locked. You break in to find little Mr. Mischief:

In this boys' life sheer meanness = sheer happiness:

That's what I get for naming him after another man who was just as bad!

TWO Cute...

2010-08-29T12:25:00.000-07:00

I always take pictures of the kids the night before their birthday a.k.a. their last night of being that age. Here are my sweet two on their last night of being 2:

It was a lot trickier than I imagined getting boys to hold up just two fingers:

Wesley always closes his eyes when I take a picture. Then he realizes how annoyed that makes me and he begins doing it on purpose like here:

Little stinkers, love em'.

There's a Hot Dog in There...

2010-08-28T12:05:00.000-07:00

The twins have been really into corn dogs lately (and I've been really into not cooking). Every single time they eat one after the first bite Will gets all excited and runs around telling everyone, "There's a hot dog in there!" He is amazed every time. He laughs hysterically and think it's the best thing ever:

I am ecstatic that I got these pictures of him showing us the hot dog in there because this will always be one of our favorite memories of him!

He goes and shows every person in the room. Look how excited Wesley is! These poor boys need to get out more :)

After everyone has seen it, it's go time:

I a.d.o.r.e. this boy. He makes me laugh and on corn dog night he has us rolling. Sounds like a good excuse to not cook dinner to me!

Favorite Foto Friday...

2010-08-27T10:18:00.000-07:00

Wesley said, "Look, I a Granpa!" Too funy!!!

Favorite Foto Friday...

2010-08-27T00:22:00.000-07:00

Now that the twins are in bunk beds and able to move around you might think they are resting quietly and come upstairs to find this:

Nothing like finding a naughty boy, a pirate ship and a DS in your bed!

What a Way to Get the Summer Started...

2010-08-25T21:54:00.000-07:00

At our very first summer play date swimming a friend's little boy accidentally hit Jackson with a dive stick. It hit him in just the right spot on his cheek bone and sliced it right open. So, I am a friend's pool with all 4 kids in my bathing suit and cover up- no other clothes with me! Jon came and picked us up so we could head to the ER. Sweet Jennifer bravely kept the twin along with her other 5 kids! We decided to stop by and see out pediatrician first. She came out to the waiting room prepared to tell us to go get stitches, but decided she could glue it together. We were very glad to be avoiding the ER! Jackson wasn't upset at all. He said, "Granda says girls think scars are cool!" Heaven.help.me!!!

She did a great job gluing it, but his eye just kept getting blacker and blacker. He now has a scar, but I'm sure my future daughter-in-law will dig it, right?

Deer Run...

2010-08-25T20:34:00.000-07:00

The kids got to attend Deer Run day camp this year, and they were in love. I wish parents could go because I so wanted to try the zip line into the pond! All the awesome outdoor activities, crazy songs, wrapped up with a christian message-perfect! These are our homeschool peeps who were also there- all making goofy faces of course :)

I have been telling everyone how great it is and hope we can convince even more friends to join us next year, but for now at least Ashton had Dan the Man!

Next Party...

2010-08-25T15:57:00.000-07:00

We left Gram's and stopped by Nana's so they could see the boys on their birthday. She surprised us with an ice cream cake for them. They were excited:

I've decided that I think it's only fair that they each get their own birthday song (Kate does it 6 times for all hers!). Though he's younger, we let Wesley go first for a change:

Will tried hard to blow out those candles (especially before Wesley did!).

The cake was yummy and we quickly cleaned it up :)

Thanks Nana for yummy cake!

A Cars Kind of Party...

2010-08-25T15:52:00.000-07:00

We headed to Gram's house to have a family party for the boys' big day. Of course, we had to celebrate Cars style since they are Cars obsessed.

My sweet daughter whose love language is gift giving went around the house wrapping up things to give them. This is Wesley unwrapping his monster truck from home. We were laughing about her regifting, but he was so excited over it that I've decided she's on to something. I should've just saved my money and given them something they already had!

Mawmaw and Aunt Joan decided they needed some big boy boxers. We put them on later and their little booties in boxers was priceless!

We made them each their own cake with a Cars figurine on top. McQueen for Will and Mater for Wesley, or as he calls him, "Dadgum".

I made a ridiculous, amateur decision to buy them different gifts instead of buying two of the same thing. Big mistake, huge. They have fought over this Mac daily then and every day since.

We had a great day hanging out with family and celebrating my asweome twosome!

2010-08-25T13:05:00.000-07:00

I can't believe I'm about to say this, but the twins just celebrated their third birthday! As always we started with cinnamon rolls in their number:

The big kids are so sweet and get so excited to do things for them. They even made sure the night before that I had cinnamon rolls at the ready!

How sweet is this big boy?

Of course, I think this one's pretty stinkin' cute as well!

Every birthday for the twins is another milestone that we've survived! This one was a hard one too, but we made it and have some great memories to show for it. We love our double blessings!

Wordless Wednesday...

2010-08-25T12:16:00.000-07:00

Update: Wesley is DEFINATELY Jon's Favorite Now...

2010-08-14T21:30:00.000-07:00

If you'll remember this post, I told you Will was Jon's favorite because Wesley said Daddy caught a baby fish and he caught a whale. Well, today Will slipped so far down that list I'm not sure he's going to be able to climb back up.

You see, there's something that's been happening for the last few years that we aren't really allowed to talk about. Well, actually Ashton talks about it all the time, but she somehow gets it away with it. It's something that's been happening, or not happening considering how you look at it, on top of my sweet husband's head... Let's just say he now wears a baseball cap out of necessity and not choice these days :)

Today we were moving some furniture that hadn't been moved in a while, and apparently the last time Ashton cleaned out the hairbrush the clump of hair hid under the furniture. So, when Jon and I moved it Will saw the clump of hair and came running, yelling excitedly and picked up the hair. He said, "Here's Daddy's hair!"

Oh yes he did! It was one of the funniest things I've ever seen because he was so very proud of himself and so genuinely happy for Jon!

You can imagine Jon himself wasn't exactly happy although even he had to admit it was hilarious.

I thought about having Jon put it on like a toupee so I could take a picture for my blog but realized that might have been a tad bit gross. Funny though, right?

My sweet Will might need speech therapy, but he can sure get his point across when he wants to, and I'm so glad we heard this one :)

Oh, Relaxing Saturday- Not in This House...

2010-08-14T21:10:00.000-07:00

I just love a good cleaning on Saturday morning, except when it isn't me or Jon cleaning but two two year olds. There's nothing like hearing Jackson yell for us to come quick. Wesley had the spray bottle of vinegar going to town spraying my table. While Will, sweet Will, was spraying the kitchen floor with cooking spray. Then when he saw me coming for him he took off running, slipped and pretty much basted himself!

You know, the twins get a bad rap here on the blog so let this post be called "what-I-can't-believe-my-stinking-9-year-old-did-who-ought-to-know-better".

You see I scrubbed and mopped and got up all the cooking spray I could, but it still remained a little slick. A few hours later Jon and I were working upstairs rearranging our bedroom, and Jackson kept wanting Jon to come see his "free style area" he had set up for his remote control car. Jon finally came down to see to his horror that Jackson had noticed how his car spun on the slick part Will had sprayed. So he decided to take the cooking spray and spray a track around the entire kitchen!!!!!!!!!!!

I am mad, dumbfounded, and mad again just typing that. I mean seriously!

He spent the afternoon scrubbing the floor on his hands and knees. It is still like a skating rink in our kitchen. Jon and I keep slipping every which way. I'm 99% sure I won't be at church in the morning because I will go tearing in there to make sippy cups since we're late and probably break a leg. Isn't that all I need?

If You Let a Will Over a Gate...

2010-08-13T13:37:00.000-07:00

I hope you know the books "If You Give A Mouse a Cookie" because they are my inspiration for this post (I'm late or it would probably be another post of terrible twos)

If you let a Will over the kitchen gate and then forget where he was, you will come back a minute later and find him like this:

The chocolate milk loving Will will have opened the fridge and got out the gallon of milk all on his own then went into the pantry and got his own straw. You will later learn he had already done this twice and dropped his straw down in the milk when you pour a cup and two straws come falling out! Then he will look adorable sipping from hi straw like this:

You will admire his cuteness, take pictures for your blog the decide to return the milk to the fridge. The Will will then begin doing this on your kitchen floor:

What feels like hours later he will stop and you will smile thinking of the cute pictures you got for your blog.

But then the next day, you will again forget to put the fridge lock on and walk in just in time to divert a cup pouring disaster to find this under your table:

If you let him, the Will's smile will steal your heart and get him out of a lot of trouble!

You Know You're in the Terrible Twos with Two If..." #36

2010-08-08T01:16:00.000-07:00

I saved my favorite one for last. This actually happened a few months ago, but I've been waiting to blog it to make sure I had the words to make you appreciate the deviousness of this action. This will be our final terrible twos with two post since today is the boys' third birthday!!! Just think I thought I might run out of material for these posts and I am writing my 36th! Unfortunately, I have enough material for even more than that, but that's all I had time to blog about in between cleaning up "accidents" and installing door latches to keep them from going outside alone, again.

So, when we finally took down the gate at the bottom of the stairs since they figured out how to climb over it anyway we realized we had to figure out how to keep them from getting into too much trouble upstairs (i.e. playing in the potty, dumping water out of the sink, destroying Jackson's Lego creations, using Ashton's art supplies, etc.). We decided to lock all the doors upstairs except their bedroom. It actually worked really well until one of us would need to get into, let's say the bathroom, quickly. Jon put the little metal key that you stick in the hole on the door to unlock it at the top of the door where the kids couldn't reach it. One day I was in a hurry and just set the key down instead of putting it back up. By the time I realized what I had done it was gone. We all looked and looked for it put couldn't find it anywhere.

Weeks went by without us finding it so we had to figure another way to unlock the doors. I started using a credit card. I tried not to let any of the kids see what I was doing because it didn't seem prudent to teach the kids how to break into locked doors. I thought I was being sneaky but apparently I wasn't.

One day I was locked in a certain room when I heard the twins banging for me to let them in. When I didn't they ran off, and I heard them come back just seconds later and the lock started rattling. Almost immediately the door opened and they came in showing off their lock picking tools:

Will had the metal key which meant that he took it weeks ago and knew where he had hidden it weeks ago! I believe in a court of law that would easily qualify as premeditation. Just pause and think about the ramifications of a two year old stealing something, listening to his mom asking about it, watching the entire family search for it, remaining quiet then remembering where it was and knowing how to use it at just the right time in less than a minute! It's kept me up at nights :)

Wesley had run and grabbed the credit card I was using which means all those times I thought I was secretly using it to open doors he knew exactly what I was doing. He also knew where I kept it and was able to grab it where I thought I had it hidden in just a few seconds. At least they're both industrious???

Now take a moment to consider the two together. They found a locked door, somehow communicated the need for a key, went separately and both managed to quickly find and use different lock picking techniques! Then of course there was how incredibly proud of themselves they were! All scary stuff, right?!

So, there is photographic evidence of how in trouble and outnumbered I am around here.

Even though this is the last terrible twos with two post, I am under no false illusion that these posts, and more dangerously, the mischievousness behind them is going to stop just because August 8th has arrived. Today we will celebrate surviving to 3 and the amazing gifts these little stinkers are. Tomorrow the terrible threes with two will begin. You are still praying for me, right???

You Know You're in the Terrible Twos with Two If..." #35

2010-08-05T20:11:00.000-07:00

you are at Bunco trying to relax with your friends because you've had a trying day home alone with said two year olds as one wrote on walls and the other told you he was going to pee on your couch and then did it! when your phone rings and your husband says, "I'm sorry to bother you but Will has stuck a Cheerio up his nose and is coughing and sputtering. What do you think I should do?" I obviously told him to squeeze his nose and squish the Cheerio and if that didn't work, at least they have holes in them he could breathe through then I went back to playing :)

Are you getting tired of these posts because I'm getting tired of living them!

And I left out the rest of Jon's story where he was in the kitchen fixing dinner when he heard the car horn honking and realized they weren't in the living room watching a movie but outside in my car!

So to recap today alone: both peed in their pants while we were trying to run to Sonic to get mommy Coke to make it through the day, got up at naptime until Mommy was ready to run away, colored on walls, peed on school table, spilled said Coke on my couch, threatened to pee on couch, peed on couch, got spanked for peeing on couch, went outside and got in car alone, spilled entire bag of Cheerios in the living room, stuck said Cheerios up nose, smeared ketchup on bookshelf, got up at bedtime until Daddy was ready to run away, are still getting out of bed as I'm writing this at 10:18.

I think we're at intervention time in this household. I need to stop blogging and start reading a few parenting books obviously.

You Know You're in the Terrible Twos with Two If..." #34

2010-08-05T19:38:00.000-07:00

You get to unexpectantly teach a mini lesson on the difference between chalk and crayons when Wesley comes walking out of his toy closet holding his chalkboard eraser saying, "It not workin'. It no comin' off." You peak in the closet with much trepidation to see where he colored in crayon on the wall (Hey, at least it was inside the closet this time unlike last time!). So, lucky me got to explain why crayon doesn't come off like chalk. The good times and teachable moments never end around here!

A Big First...

2010-08-05T13:27:00.000-07:00

We, like the rest of the free world, went to see Toy Story 3. We'd been planning for months for this to be Will and Wesley's first movie. I was a little unsure how they would do but shouldn't have been. They did awesome. They sat perfectly still until the furnace part and then sat in our laps, but I don't blame them that part was pretty scary!

(Do you notice their perfectly planned attire- one Woody shirt and one Buzz shirt made by Donnie for Jackson back when the last Toy Story movie came out. It's amazing how many hand me downs I have 2 of that work for the twins, and some of you made fun of me with Jackson when I'd buy things in every color. I think I must have had a twin premonition!)

Of course, the kids all sat between Jon and I. Right when the movie got started Jon and I turned and looked at each other (because we were both pretty excited ourselves). Though we didn't say a word we absolutely knew what the other one just thought at the exact same time! It was another of those "We have 4 kids?????!!!!!" moments as we noticed how far away we were from each other with 4 seats between us! It was so funny and still a little scary! I wonder if it will ever sink in or will we always have those moments? We probably will when 4 college tuition bills hit our mailbox :)

You Know You're in the Terrible Twos with Two If..." #33

2010-08-05T12:13:00.000-07:00

this is how you entertain your self when your are forced to make another lunch:

Will seemed to enjoy it :)

Anything to get them to eat.

A Math Question...

2010-08-05T11:47:00.000-07:00

If I have trained twin #1 to do #2 in the potty and twin #2 to do #1 in the potty, do those two halves add up to me being able to say I've trained one twin? Throw me a bone here, it's been all summer doing this potty training thing and not much to show for it (if you don't count stained carpets and shocked neighbors)! And yes, I know they will kill me for this post one day, a little pay back-heehee!

You Know You're in the Terrible Twos with Two If..." #32

2010-08-02T20:16:00.000-07:00

you have so many of these posts you worry your friends are starting to think you are making these up!

This is going to be one of those posts, but unfortunately it is too true!

You know you are in the terrible twos with two when they wreck both your cars in one day!

No, really...

We started our day at Granda Day. The twins were playing in the shop while the rest of us were all standing inside the house talking to Grandmother. Granda looked outside just in time to see the twins go rolling by in the go cart- alone! Granda and Jackson rolled the go cart back into the shop, and we asked them how they did that. Wesley got in the driver's seat, and Will began pushing the go cart. He stopped it just at the edge of the the hill then jumped in and they went flying down the hill. When you watch them at work you start to really admire their ingenuity and team work then you suddenly, terrifyingly realize all the dangers it will allow them to get into! For some reason, we continued to let them roll down the hill over and over. Again I was talking to Grandmother when Granda told me I should probably come outside. I found Wesley driving and Will co-piloting the go cart that was stuck under my bumper. When we pulled it back I saw my car was dented and scratched in several places. Needless to say I moved my car well away from these little destructors, and this was all with the motor of the go cart off! I shudder to think what they will do when they are old enough to have the motor on!

After a fun afternoon at the creek, I had forgotten about my bumper. We were home. I was "doing laundry" (hiding in my bedroom checking Faceb**k and reading blogs) when Jon came in furious. He then told me Will had spray painted HIS TRUCK!!! Will found red and yellow spray paint and had a little art time on the door of Jon's truck and our driveway! Jon was not a happy camper to say the least. I kind of thought it was funny (shhh don't tell him!) until I walked in the kitchen door and smelled the unmistakable fumes of spray paint! I was terrified to look in the kitchen. I looked everywhere and found no spray paint, but with as strong as those fumes were I'm still expecting something to show up :)

Jon did amazingly manage to get the spray paint off with car wax although he has yet to try to help my bumper! Halfway through dinner I remembered the bumper incident and realized they had wrecked BOTH our cars in one day! Then I realized what a great blog past this would make :) Then I realized Jon was so upset he didn't take pictures so this great post would be pictureless. Then I was the mad one!

You Know You're in the Terrible Twos with Two If..." #31

2010-07-31T13:38:00.000-07:00

they get out of taking a nap because they got into Sissy's MANY colors of fingernail polish and painted the carpet and walls in their room so much that the fumes are too strong to make them nap in there- grrrrr!

Does anyone know how to get fingernail polish out of carpet? Anyone?

You Know You're in the Terrible Twos with Two If..." #30

2010-07-28T19:38:00.000-07:00

you have a favorite, at least tonight Jon does. His favorite is Will. What did Will do to deserve his father's devotion? Nothing. It's more about what Wesley did. You see their brave Daddy decided to take all 3 boys catfishing tonight while I worked at church. When I went to get them out of the car Wesley wanted to tell me all about it. Our conversation went something like this:

W: Mommy I go fishin'.

Me: You did? Did you catch anything?

W: Yeah, I catch big fish in the mouth.

Me: What did Daddy catch?

W: Daddy catch a baby fish.

Me: Daddy caught a baby? What did you catch?

W: I caught a whale!

Jon's face at that moment- priceless! Apparently Wesley is a born fisherman as he's already telling tales about how big his fish are! Jon swears the word whale was never mentioned so that comment was all Wesley. I love that kid.

You Know You're in the Terrible Twos with Two If..." #29

2010-07-28T12:21:00.000-07:00

you have to make a mad dash across the room to stop one potty training boy from sneaking up behind the other one and peeing on him. Yeah, true story. I mean seriously?

Happy Birthday Ash...

2010-07-27T12:30:00.000-07:00

I am having a really hard time believing Ashton is 7. That just sounds so old. Like it or not her 7th birthday rolled around and you know we had to celebrate big as usual.

We started celebrating my now big girl's birthday in our traditional way with cinnamon rolls shaped in their new number: We met up with our best buds at the Jump Zone to start off our fun day:

I got no good pictures because they all never stopped moving and because I was having way too much fun exhausting myself going down the slide myself! This is about as clear as they got:

Ashton was having so much fun which included Dodd versus Parrish obstacle course. The Dodds won, but only because we snuck Wesley in on their side and he slowed them down :)

We were both crazy excited when our other besties just happened by a streak of fate happened to be there- what a great birthday surprise:

If only Jackson had had fun:

Will loved riding a dinosaur and doing everything else. I don't think he sat down once.

After cooling down with some our favorite fast food place we spent the afternoon at Grandmother's setting up for Ashton's tea party the next day. Then we met Nana and Pop downtown for Ashton's favorite pizza:

Instead of a birthday cake she wanted ice cream at her favorite new ice cream spot. We love hanging out in downtown Franklin. We can't cruise any more, but it's still fun :)We went to Nana's to open gifts. As you can tell by the picture, Ashton was a little bit excited about getting Molly:Will was also excited about Molly. He held her up so she could see the TV really well. I guess since she wears glasses (or did before Wesley broke them) he felt she needed to be closer. It was so cute. After that he introduced her to Nana's stuffed rabbits and kept talking to her!Nana and Pop bought Molly and Ashton matching pj's (which Ashton has worn nonstop since):

Overall, it was a great birthday though exhausting since Jon and I went home and stayed up until 2 making birthday cakes for her party. Stay tuned for adorable pics of that :)

You Know You're in the Terrible Twos with Two If..." #28

2010-07-27T11:55:00.000-07:00

you are dressing one of them (Wesley) and are planning on him wearing one of those great one piece summer appliqued outfits that only mommies love. It was Jackson's and it brings back so many memories. I was so happy he was going to be wearing it. When I held it up he said, "I not wear that." Then he thought for a minute and said, "Will want to wear that."

I thought it was so funny that he figured out the best way to get out of doing something was to volunteer his brother!

Ahh, they learn so young.

You Know You're in the Terrible Twos with Two If..." #27

2010-07-22T10:45:00.000-07:00

you are able to absolutely thrill your two-year-old-who-doesn't-get-out-much-because-his-mommy-knows-he-and-his-brother-will-probably-run-in-opposite-directions simply by letting him ride in Daddy's truck. You will also get to hear over and over, "I ride in Daddy's truck!"

My excited boy:

You Know You're in the Terrible Twos with Two If..." #26

2010-07-21T14:05:00.000-07:00

your summer has revolved around this:

As in everything, it is times two which somehow makes it 4 times as hard. I know the math doesn't add up- but trust me!

Wesley was very reluctant and would go find his own diapers and pants and beg me to put them on him :)

Of course, a good book always helps!

We've been at this way longer that I want to admit. After the first few days where I was literally in the bathroom with one or the other all day, I caved and bought the portable potty I used to be against. Now they potty in the living room- good times! Of course, you know they have to do everything opposite so 1 always does number 1 in the potty while the other prefers off the front porch or on the floor :( yet he's completely potty trained for the other number while his peeing brother waits for his naptime diaper, sigh.............

I keep repeating the "It will happen. No one goes to kindergarten in diapers." Then I remember I homeschool so no one would even know if they did go to kindergarten in diapers- talk about removing a time frame!

You Know You're in the Terrible Twos with Two If..." #25

2010-07-11T07:09:00.000-07:00

you have your own baseball team.

Finally, having a twin comes in handy as you have a pitcher and a batter. Wesley is rocking Girl's pink glove isn't he?

Look at this concentration. He is trying to intimidate the pitcher, but what else is new between those two.

A good action photo. Will has a future as designated runner. Little Dude is little, but he is lightning fast. He spends his days running and pretending to be Lightning McQueen which is probably why he can't put on any weight!

I love that these boys love baseball as much as the rest of the Dodds!

A Chip Off the Ole' Pop...

2010-07-09T12:15:00.000-07:00

I'm afraid Girl has gotten the ole' shaft when it comes to teaching her to ride her bike. She still had her training wheels on and none of us had really thought much about it. One afternoon she told Jon she wanted him to take them off. We were busy doing something, and the next thing we knew we looked up and she had a wrench out and was working on her wheels.

She did it too all by herself.

Then she got on and rode off down the hill and into the road with Jackson. There was no wobbling or Daddy following her with his hand on her back. I was a little sad at that missed moment but mostly just totally impressed by her!

As you can see by her face she was fairly pleased with herself as well:

We told her she was "a chip off the ole' Pop" with Pop being Jon's dad who can fix anything with a motor (not that you're old George- it's just a figure of speech!). Although I have to say that I believe she has one upped Pop in the wardrobe department. I mean it's been ages since I've seen him wear his pink sequin dance recital costume to work on cars!

Hoe Down at Our House...

2010-07-09T12:02:00.000-07:00

On those amazingly wonderful but sadly rare days that my 2 oldest are actually getting along, I never know what they are going to come up with. One day they came down cowboyed up:

Cute little dorks aren't they, I mean cowboys!

I think Jack Jack even helped her fix her hair:

She looks ready for some ropin' here:

It was a fun day and cute photo opportunity! Of course, these days I'd probably even be happy if they came down dressed all goth if it meant they weren't fighting for 5 minutes!

You Know You're in the Terrible Twos with Two If..." #26

2010-07-02T11:05:00.000-07:00

you have an accident involving opening pancake batter (you being Daddy) and because there is always a child under your feet he keeps a lot of it from hitting the floor:

You're also too busy to clean up your mess (again with "you" being Daddy).

Big.Sigh...

2010-06-30T12:44:00.000-07:00

Sighing is all I can do over these recital pictures. My baby girl was beautiful as always but she was so (sniff, sniff) b.i.g. For some reason this year she just seemed like such a young lady. After her first dance a certain handsome daddy I know (I'm not naming names because I'm sure he'd be embarrassed if this info got out!) leaned over and whispered to me, "Did you tear up too?" I said I did because she looked so beautiful. At certain moments of the dance you could begin to glimpse the grown up ballerina she will become and reminded me of the older dancers. The unnamed dad said he was crying because she looked so happy. She was nonstop smiles.

That was a funny story because at rehearsal she was concentrating so hard she constantly had her tongue stuck out:

I've never seen her do that before and it was darling. I explained to her that if she would smile no one notice if she messed up at all. For once she took my advice and smiled throughout every dance which obviously worked on her daddy!
You look at her and see if you think she looks big!

So much of the joy of ballet comes from being with these sweet girls for Ashton and me getting to visit with the mommies!
Their tap dance was "Diamonds are a Girls' Best Friend". They wore huge diamonds on their fingers and waved them at the crowd at the end of their dance. It was precious. Of course, they rocked it with a little attitude.

We were digging the jazz outfits. I wish I could show you their dance. It involved some finger and hip shaking and was sassy.

As always, she had a lot of support including Granda.

You can imagine how happy I was that Jon allowed Jackson to wear his dirty baseball hat to a recital, backwards no less!

Nana gave her the sweetest Tinker Belle figurine which she loves. Pop got to attend his other granddaughter's recital a week ago. I'm pretty sure he'd never imagined watching any much less two ballet recitals :) I told him just to imagine if all 7 of his grandkids were girls. He'd probably have left the country by now (and I'd have gone with him if I had 4 girls under one roof!).

Donnie came bearing gifts of finger nail polish. On a related note, I'm hoping she'll give me a carpet cleaning for my birthday :<

This girl loves her some trophies and keeps count of how many she has which is going to make it really hard for me to secretly throw them away.

Not pictured are Gram and GranBobby who graciously volunteered to watch the twins and about 8:30 were wishing they were at a recital instead of being surrounded by screaming children- thanks mom!

Another year and it looks like many more to come. She's definitely lasted in ballet longer than I did. There's a very good reason for that. So, here's to my almost 7 year old girl- thanks for making Daddy and I so happy and proud!

Wordless Wednesday...

2010-06-30T11:07:00.000-07:00

You Know You're in the Terrible Twos with Two If..." #24

2010-06-25T11:20:00.000-07:00

there are times when you are able to step over toys and dirty clothes and skid through the puddle of water on your floor and tune out the screaming thoughts in your head that all that water is going to leak downstairs- you're able to stop, appreciate the moment for all the cuteness it holds and marvel again how awesome is your God that created and blessed you with these:

You Know You're in the Terrible Twos with Two If..." #23

2010-06-24T11:24:00.000-07:00

you are often so busy taking care of 4 kids that some kids sometimes have to wait to have their needs met while I'm taking care of the others. It's so nice when one takes initiative and does something for another like wiping their nose:

Wordless Wednesday...

2010-06-23T12:11:00.000-07:00