Our Family

Here I Go Again , but NOT on my own !

2011-05-16T08:02:00.001-07:00

Well , Since all of my friends have started bloging again , I have decided to follow the crowd !

Since we last met , I have changed the name of the Blog since it no longer is appropriate for our family. My Three Sons was a special time in our life but we are now + Ms. Lucy Elizabeth ! She is the final addition to our family and we are so thankful that the Lord our God entrusted her to us!

So as the title of the post says ... Here I go again , but NOT on my own ;-)

A heavy post ...

2009-10-27T04:55:00.001-07:00

Ok , I'm sure that you are waiting for me to lower the boom with horrifying news because of the title of this post ( oh yeah and I haven't posted anything in forever , OOPS !) Well here we go ... I'm fat, hence the title " heavy post , get it ?! Well I thought it was cute ! Now before you get all bent out of shape thinking " how very un-politically correct of her " , fat is not a bad word , it's just descriptive . Now I'm willing to admit it can be hurtful when used inappropriately ... For instance " Oh my gosh , did you see how FAT she is ?!" or " DEAR LORD did you see the size of her FAT rear end ?!" . Come on people , we all think those things but we really shouldn't say them out loud :-)
Anyhoo , back to what I was saying , I'm fat ! Not morbidly obese or anything , but got a little too much junk in my trunk . It is unbelievably depressing how much more of an issue this is the closer I get to 30 , which won't be for another two years and some change !
I've got to do something about it , it is officially running my life . I wake up in the middle of the night thinking about all of my clothes that I can't wear , but refuse to get rid of because I " might" be able to wear them again. This has got to be a sickness... So , since the FDA can't seem to make a " skinny" pill , and I really do wonder why , they've got a miracle pill for EVERYTHING else ! I guess I'm going to have to quit whining about it ( Yes Grandma I know I shouldn't be whining about anything at my age ) and do something about it !
I'm afraid one day I'm going to wake up in some warped version of that movie "Shallow Hal" where the guy has a curse put on him because he only likes girls for their look and now he can only see women's inner beauty ... Yeah all that to say , I really LOVE that Brent says I look great to him , but lets not get carried away !
I'm not saying I want to look like I did when I was 18 again , plus I'm pretty sure that impossible anyway , but I would like to not avoid mirrors and cameras :-)
Sooooo, I'm not going to tell you how much I weigh , I don't think Mom could handle the truth of it :-) but I AM going to keep track of what I'm eating and how much I'm exercising so you can all bust me if I start to slack off !
All I ask is that you BE KIND !!!!

Mommy ... I didn't mean to !

2009-04-28T05:11:00.000-07:00

Last Friday I had one of those moments , you know the one I'm talking about if you have children. Do you remember Bill Cosby telling his kid " I brought you into this world and I can take you back OUT !!" ? Yeah , that's the moment ...

Friday afternoon after the kids took their nap we left to go pick up and check from Brent on one of his job sites , deposit it at the bank and beat it to Mulberry to make the car payment before 5pm . ( Insert Mission Impossible Theme Music ) While we were driving down Hwy 60 I remember thinking to myself , " Self , how nice is it that the kids are being quite and you aren't , for some strange reason , having to answer a thousand questions from Connor ?!" . Yeah , I will never take that kind of silence for granted again .

When we arrived home , having made it to the bank to make the car payment IN TIME , I jumped out of the car in a fairly good mood to get the kids out and send them in with their Happy Meals that I bought because they were SO good . Got Noah out , smiling as always , Owen unbuckled , just wanting the food as always and then came Connor... It took me a minute to realize when he jumped out that something was really wrong . Yeah , the HOT PINK ring around his mouth should have tipped me off sooner but I was still taking my crashing fall from cloud 9 :-) When I finally did grasp the fact that he looked like Bozo the clown , I also noticed that it was EVERYWHERE , and I mean everywhere. In his hair , all over his face , shirt , shorts , legs , socks and shoes . Uh oh , this is not good !
" Connor , what is all this ?!?!!?"
Him- " Uhhhh , Mommy , I love you , I'm really sorry and I didn't mean to !"

ME- " Connor , WHAT IS ALL THIS ?!?!?!!"

Him- " Um , you know that stuff you put all over me at the beach ?"

Ok , now you and I both know that sunscreen is NOT hot pink !

Me- " Connor , go in the house and get somewhere I cannot see you for a very LONG time , and take a shower while you are at it !"

Me talking to myself - " Ok , dont panic , maybe its not so bad and you can't kill him , thats illegal ! Just get in the back seat and see how bad the damage is ..."

Wow , that's all I'm saying . What in the world would posses a 5 year old little boy to take 3 tubes of lipstick , 2 lipliners and a whole bottle of sunscreen and mix them together for a lovely shade of sparkling hot pink ?!?! Yeah , I don't know either , but he did ! The leather seats , the windows , the carpet , and backs of the seats in front of him , hot pink.

Long story short , I didn't kill him , in spite of my better judgement. I think he was so terrified of what might happen to him by the time Mom and I got it all cleaned up ( yes it did all come out ! THANK GOD) that minimal punishment was needed . Besides , what is the appropriate punishment for something like that ?! Seriously , I really am at a lose !

The good news is , Sunscreen and Pine Sol make your car smell really good for a long time ...

M-Elmo

2009-03-30T14:20:00.000-07:00

We are big PBS fans in the Franklin/Wilkinson/Ellerman house , and I have decided that it is a double edged sword . On one hand it's educational and clean ( I don't consider SpongeBob Square Pants suitable for children... It's just wrong !) , but on the other ... Sid the Science Kid creeps me OUT , and if I have to hear the Dragontales into one more time I'm going to chew glass and end it all ! Anyhoo! All that to say , Owen LOVES Elmo ! What 2 year old doesn't right ?! Well , while Brent and I were on our anniversary weekend getaway ( WOOOOOOOO HOOOOOOOO!!!! more on that later ) My mom kept Noah , Brandon had Connor and Sharon ( Brent's mom) watched Owen. Of course , this meant they had to go get Owen a " happy" and they found **angelic singing** ELMO SHOES !! Better known as M-Elmo to Owen ;-)

I was told this morning that it didn't really matter what they cost ... after he saw them there was no question , he HAD to have them . Hey , everybody's got to have a Mimi ;-)! Anyway , he won't take them off without bawling and asking to " tarry" them around and I'm told that he was , in fact, allowed to sleep with them in his bed last night ... Ugh , back to reality Buddy , that's SO not happening here !

Here is another cute video of Owen going " bye bye" .

My Little Big Boy

2009-03-30T14:06:00.001-07:00

Two weeks ago Noah turned 11 months old **sigh** . Not only is he going to be a year old on the 18th but on his 11 month b-day he decided TO HECK with crawling , thats what babies do ! He turned loose of the couch and never looked back and it's been a little more steady everyday since . So, since this obviously means that my child is totally brilliant ( don't you dare write in saying " my kid walked at 9 months " !! Your comment will be deleted . He IS brillant !) I thought that you would all enjoy seeing a little video . The quality isn't super great because I took it with the video mode on my camera .... MY husband didn't buy me a digital video camera for Christmas ( *coughthatmeansyouBRENTcough*) like someone else's husband did.
( *coughGregismakingyoulookbadBRENTcough*)

6 of 6

2009-03-20T07:22:00.001-07:00

Kelly has tagged me to post the 6th picture on my computer and talk about it ... Soooooooo here we go !

This picture was taken Christmas day 2006 at Aunt Pasty and Uncle Jimmy's house. Jimmy had bouoght Connor all new cowboy " stuff" , guns , holsters and a ton of other stuff. Anyway , his girlfriend ( Jimmy's not Connor's !) Michelle had brought over her new saddle to show everyone , and Connor thought it was more stuff for him. So , while we all ate Christmas dinner and visited with all of our family , Connor was happily riding Michelles new saddle , killing all the bad guys and keeping the general peace at Chestnut Ranch that day :-) It was alot of fun and was Connor's very last holiday as an only child , I gave birth to Owen the next week . Lot's of sweet memories!

Owen's 2nd Birthday

2009-01-06T05:32:00.000-08:00

Sunday was Owen's 2nd birthday... Wow , how did that happen already?! I can't really remember what it was like to not have him around but it doesn't seem possible that he is already 2.

Our original plan was to have his birthday cake at church on Sunday and then have a few friends and family over to Mom and Dad's house for a little get together that evening. Unfortunately , at about 5 AM , Mom came down the virus that everyone is passing around , YUCK ! I had it earlier last week and I thought I was going to die , ANYWAY we moved the party to Gran Gran's house ( aka Sister Bobbie) at the last minute. We had a good time , and he was totally thrilled to have all the attention on him , imagine that :-) BONUS , since Owen can give you VERY specific directions to the Mc Donalds at FishHawk , we had a McNugget party tray YUMMO!

Here are some pictures from church and Gran's house... Note: you will notice that there are more pictures of Joshua then Owen... Sorry about that , but look at how CUTE he is !!!! Smoochies Joshie !

We are in the middle of a HUGE Elmo phase !

Now onto Gran's house ...

Now, don't these two look INCREDIBLY cute holding a baby?!?!

All those in favour of Greg and Jess having one of these instead of buying another dog raise your right hand!Yes , Grandma , I know that it's none of my business :-)

This is the Big Wheel Brent's parents bought for Owie.

Oh look, JOSHIE!

Best Buddies

" I just wanna touch him..."

All in all it was a great party ! We thank God for the 2 wonderful years that we have had with Owen Spencer and look forward to many more!

New PJ's

2008-12-09T05:08:00.001-08:00

Last weekend we went to the outlet mall to get some holiday shopping done with Brent's parents. We made out like bandits as Sharon and I always do... give us a list , coupons , cash and we can clothe a third world country for about a quarter the cost! It's a gift :-) Anyway , we got all of the boys matching Christmas pj's and thought you would like to see who incredibly cute they look in them. Parent's are soooooo obnoxious about their own kids :-D

This is the Holiday Wreath that Connor made last night ... He is going to be the next Van Gogh ... Brilliant!

Beautiful Blue Eyed Boys!

2008-11-11T15:55:00.000-08:00

I hate to brag , but they are awfully cute! we had the boys pictures taken on saturday morning by Steve Wilson. Steve also took Greg and Jessica's wedding pictures. It any of you are in the Tampa Bay area and tired of spending tons of money on pictures that are unrealistic and staged , please call Steve. He is wonderful with children and is sooooo reasonable in the $ department! www.studiotampa.com

Wii Would Like To Play

2008-11-10T10:46:00.000-08:00

Last night Greg and Jessica came over after church and brought their Wii with them. Greg thought maybe Connor would like to try at it since he bought himself a Xbox 360 last week and isn't playing it as much himself these days. As you are about to see , it was NOT just Connor that tried his hand at it... One of the better times I have seen my whole family have in quite a while ! Thanks Greg for bringing it over , and thanks for leaving it for the week. Connor has done EVERYTHING I have asked him to without question in hopes of getting to play for a little while tonight :-)

Baseball , what a Shocker huh ?;-)

Even Mom played tennis for while...and YES the competitive streak made it's appearance!

Yes , even Brent played, and that is when the fun REALLY started. Everyone likes to watch two grown men jumping around acting rediculous... don't they?!

Cute huh !

2008-10-22T08:57:00.000-07:00

Michael Phelps ... Who ?

2008-10-15T18:03:00.000-07:00

As all of you know Connor is taking swimming lessons and is LOVING them! Not only is he loving them , but is quite gifted Ms. Karen , the instructor , says. ( He must be my child :-D ... Oh wait , I can't swim at all...) He is taking a specialized swimming course called ISR or Infant Swimming Resource. We had heard on the news and from a few fiends about this " Drown Proofing" that you could take your kids to from infancy , but I never gave it much thought. Come on , they really teach babies how not to drown ? Well, am I glad we decided to try it ! Karen is AWESOME!!! There are ISR instructors all over the country , so if you have a child6 months to 6 years , sign them up! Now , after seeing it with my own two eyes, I think it should be a law especially if you live near alot of water like we do. Anyway , enough with that soap box! On with the pictures ... You will see Connor , Ms. Karen and those Magic Toes and Airplane arms I told you about! Oh yeah , and Owen and Noah... We wouldn't want to leave them out just because they aren't swimming yet :-D

Swimming with his new " Free Style" arms

Airplane Arms and Magic Toes .... Look I can Float!!!

This is Karen touching him on the back of neck to help remind him to flip over on his back and get his air. They focus alot on survival skills like this for the majority of the time . So, they learn not to panic because they know how to " Float".

Lets not forget how cute Noah is :-)

And Owen !!!

We had some serious arm and leg action going on today !

He is so proud that he can swim now and Karen says he really has caught on quick for his age . when she opens back up in April we will be starting Owen and Noah with her. Not knowing how to swim well ,myself, I am so thankful for this program and for people like Karen Wilson who dedicate their life to saving other lives ! Especially our Babies !!

I Wanna Lead Singing Just Like You , Uncle Greg!

2008-10-15T17:54:00.000-07:00

Owen has always enjoyed watching Pawpa and Uncle Greg lead the song service but last week he started singing in the service wtih them. Monday morning I thought I heard him singing and came around the corner just in time to catch this video. I hope everyone else thinks its as cute as " Mommy" does!!!

Get Fit With Owen

2008-10-15T17:46:00.000-07:00

Hey , at least someone is using th treadmill!!!!

It's Rainin.... Baby Stuff ! HALLELUJAH !!!

2008-10-09T08:32:00.000-07:00

Tuesday night we " Salem Chicks" threw a shower for our Kelly. Much planning ( and lying... more on that later) went down to get everything just right for our dear friend . I must say , it went off without a hitch and I think everyone had a blast. Well, I had a blast :-) So here are some pictures and I will comment as we go along... I promise I will get to the lie before it's all over!

The cake turned out better than I could have hoped for ! If you live in the Tampa, Lakeland, and Orlando area ... Karen is your gal for cakes! She used to work for Disney and WOW!!! Bonus , it's REALLY yummy!

Thanks to my sweetie pie hubby , I only had one baby to worry about for the evening!

Noah got in some rug time with Aunt Kelly before everyone arrived!

Abby Johnson and Noah

We were so thankful and blessed that Kelly's family could make it to the shower ! A special thanks to Sister Beverly, Kimberly , Brooke , Lindsey , Kerry , Abby and Brady for making the effort to come out and party with us !

Brady Johnson and Noah :-)

Noah and Lindsey Kickin it on the floor while Aunt Kelly opened presents!

OK , I'm not going to post EVERY picture of EVERYTHING she got , but she got some great stuff! Absolutely one of the cutest moments of the evening was when Kelly opened the diaper bag/ Backpack. Brady looks at Aunt Kelly real funny and says " Is that for Jos-u-a when he goes to school ?" SO CUTE !

The turtle hat was priceless ! It also came with a matching set of pj's!

We even had Lindsey model it for us :-D

Mommy even got some gifts for her . I HATED wearing the hospital gown when people came to see me and the boys ! My Mom always bought me some new PJ's for the hospital at my baby showers and they were some of my favorite gifts . So , Kelly HAD to have a few new pair herself. everyone needs to feel pretty after they have been through that mess!

Abby and Brady got the turtle and duck for " Wonder Pets " ! So sweet ! I'm not sure how to type out how the duck says " This is serious!" . Kerry ... HELP please :-)

All of the Miller/Spezzano family bought her highchair! Awesome gift!

I must say all of kids were very well behaved but I was soooooo impressed with Brady! I have three boys of my own that are MADE to mind at all costs but they would have bee miserable having to sit and watch quietly for that length of time! He was SO good! Here's to Brady making it through the " girlie party" with flying colors!

Now to that lie I mentioned earlier! About a month ago 8 of us went in together and bought the stroller/ car seat combo for the " shower" gift. I must confess before you all reading this that I have LIED like a rug for weeks covering our tracks! We kept having these bewildered conversations about who might have bought it and I would throw our different suggestions as to who may have made the purchase. Unfortunately we did not get a picture of the look on her face when we finally brought it out of the back room after all the other gifts were open , but it was great!

There is nobody in the world that deserves all of God's richest blessings as much my friend Kelly ( oh yeah , and Jim ! ) !! She has stood with me through good and bad ... two pregnancies in two years , there was A LOT of good and bad !
So , I publicly praise my Lord for such a wonderful friend , who I know will be a great mother . Come on Joshua we're all waiting for you !!!

Disney On Ice

2008-10-03T05:10:00.000-07:00

Last night we went to the Forum to see Disney on Ice. I wasn't that excited about it and I'm pretty sure Brent would have rather eaten cow chips but once we got there it was FABULOUS!!!! We had awesome seats on the fourth row from the ice... the excitement was building the closer we got to 7:30. So , all that being said , about fifteen minutes till show time I sent Brent and Connor to the bathroom and to get ONE snack. You realize that it is all a HUGE scam! They get you in with reasonably priced tickets an then WHAM they get you at the concession stand. When they came back all of my instructions had been totally disregarded when Connor saw Cotton Candy that came with a " Flounder" ( from the little Mermaid) hat . Well, Brent decided that if he got Connor one he HAD to get Owen one , how unfair would that be?! So here they come with two bags of pure sugar ( otherwise know to parents as CRACK) and a bottle ( a very nice Disney on ice bottle ) of lemonade. I think to myself " Self , the $10 you sent with them did NOT get all that " , and I was right ... Highway robbery! My $10 got ONE of the bags of cotton candy and super cool flounder hat. OK , get over it moving on... Owen didn't like cotton candy , so he HAD to have some popcorn. Let me pause for a moment and say , it is a good thing for the kids that Mimi and Pop aka Brent's parents came with us because I nearly stroked out at the cotton candy. So , off Brent goes ( with a large wad of Pop's money YEAH!!! ) to get Owen a bucket of Popcorn ( Super cool Disney On Ice reusable bucket ) and his own bottle of lemonade. O k , we are set ... We have spent a small fortune on snacks , but we're set.

Look how cute he is... Maybe it was worth the $10 :-D

And Photographic proof that even the most unlikely people turn into complete ding bats when they have kids!!!

Grandparents catch the " Ding Bat" bug too :-)

Now , too the show ... IT WAS AWESOME!!! I really do think I had more fun than the kids. The Lion King was first on Mickey , Minnie , Donald , Daisy and Goofy's Magical Vacation....

Next up was the Little Mermaid, and let me just say I think I would have sold my right arm when I was kid to see this one. Ok , the truth is I'm 26 and I was SOOOOOOOO excited !!!

Sebastian was awesome!!

I loved the Ursala costume!

Noah can sleep through anything !! :-D

Next was Lilo and Stitch ... Not my favorite , but still cute!!

After Stitch we had an intermission . YEAH potty break :-) During which Connor weaseled his way into a snow cone in a Stitch cup .... more sugar !

Now one of my favorite parts ... The Mary Poppins Dancers came out and sang " It's A Jolly Holiday" and "Supercalafragalisticexpialidocious"

Sorry , it was really dark in there , this was the best I could do.

Last , but not least was Peter Pan....

Hey Bekah , it's Tinkerbell!!!

At the end they all came out together and danced... it was great!

All in all , we had a great night. Full of sugar and all other kinds of bad for you food , but they ALL had a great rime. Even Noah liked all the lights. And even though he wouldn't admit it at the point of a gun , Pop had fun being with kids while the were enjoying themselves so much.

If Disney on Ice is coming to a city near you and you have kids , GO! Or if you are like me and LOVE the Little Mermaid , no matter what age you are and how ridiculous it looks, GO!!!

New Pictures Of The Boys

2008-10-01T06:47:00.000-07:00

I realized yesterday while talking to G.ma ( actually she told me ,I didn't have to realize!) that I haven't posted new pictures of the boys in a while .

This is Connor's " leave me alone I'm watching Sid The Science Kid" smile. He doesn't look like a " little" boy anymore!

Noah sitting with Connor on the couch. Notice the look on Connor's face ...

Noah having floor time , otherwise known as " OWEN leave Noah alone!!!" time:-D
Also notice his " Wilkinson Eyebrows" !

Owen ( stinker) doesn't like to look at the camera right now... Sorry this is the best I could do!

All three of them watching PBS... even Owen will sit still for " Super Why". PRAISE GOD!!!

Swimming Lessons

2008-09-26T04:56:00.000-07:00

This week has been extremely busy for everyone in the Wilkinson/Franklin/Ellerman household. As most of you know , Troy, our working partner had a heart episode last Friday on the job. He is doing well , resting at home , but that means a lot more work to go around. Oh yeah , bonus, Mom and Dad left for an association in Georgia and after that North Carolina , so we have been shorthanded this week big time. Poor Brent is totally exhausted , thank God , Jimmy could help out with our biggest property this morning !

While Brent has been running around in circles , I have been taking Connor to swimming lessons. We had a horrible time getting ready for his first lesson Tuesday morning. He had every excuse in the book for why he didn't need or want to go . Finally it came down to " It's not your choice , you ARE going , and don't you dare embarrass me." So, down the road we went ( with a serious case of the pooch mouth ) , I left Owen with Gran Gran ( Sister Bobbie) for the first lesson. I could just see myself in uncharted territory holding Noah and trying to make sure Owen didn't end up in the pool with all of his clothes on. No thank you ! So in we walked ( after threatening him within an inch of his life) to Ms. Karen's pool area, and it was like a light went on. He LOVES it! I'm soooooooo glad , for those of you who have kids this age you know that sometimes it can go either way. Now he tells everyone he sees about his magic toes and airplane arms that help him float. Confidence booster , BIG TIME! Now he wants to do everything he has liked but been afraid to try. Which reminds me , I have to look up golf lessons for a 4 years old :-D Who knows ... maybe we have the next Michael Phelps or Tiger Woods! Either way...

Where is Owen ?! Again....

2008-09-23T05:00:00.000-07:00

Do you as Mothers ever feel like nothing is sacred? I know that we give up "self" to become wives and mothers , but I'm talking about personal things. Every single day if Owen Spencer Franklin is alive , and awake , he will climb whatever he can to get to my makeup bag. This , for some reason , is the only thing that I can punish time and again over and it does NO good. I'm not sure what the attraction is , but he is willing to take whatever I have to dish out for one minute alone with the precious bag of unspeakable goodies! Well, this past week , Mom and I ( more Mom than I because of someone... Owen aka beast aka eyelash curler bandit) were deep cleaning the house. There I was happily dusting away ,and it hit me... Where is he? PANIC! After looking in the first most obvious place , the kitchen ( food duh ! He has to keep up his 36 lbs girlish figure!) , nope not there, STINKER! I ran to bathroom , there he was , for untold , countless minutes he had been sitting in the bathroom floor with my makeup bag wide open. After seeing that he had been digging out every single square of eyeshadow that Bekah brought me this spring ,I had one of those moments. The kind of moment where you realize that nothing you do at that moment could possibly been sane. So , I wiped his hands and face off , they were all shades of lovely shimmering colors, and sent him out to Grandmommy. UGH! Oh well , I guess at least this time he wasn't fully clothed in the bathtub , or greased up with hair gel or any of the other many things it has been before ! So this is a warning to all of you that will be seeing me in public anytime soon , it may not be pretty! Mom's also need at least 5 lbs of make up on before they leave the house to avoid looking like the walking dead:-D

P.S. Bakah , will you be with Urban Decay again this year ? If so, take a massive duffel bag with you:-D

Silence is Golden

2008-09-18T03:18:00.000-07:00

This morning as I was driving across town to pick Connor up from his Dad's house I realized one of the great blessings of living back at home with Mom and Dad... Mom offered to watch this little guys while I took my 45 minute jaunt across town ( they were both still sleeping - No fair!) . Ahhhhhh What is this strange phenomenon ?! Quiet?! You mean I get to listen to whatever I want , and BONUS I don't have to answer a thousand questions or try to quite Noah by singing " There's a hole in the bottom of the sea" ?! I must confess I drove slower than usual on the way there :-D

Notes On A Scandal

2008-09-16T12:20:00.000-07:00

I know that all of you reading my blog out there are aware of the "scandal" that surrounded Brent and I getting married. You know ... They were having an affair , or my personal least favorite , they got married so fast because she was pregnant. If anyone wishes to speculate on Brent and I , fine. You are entitled to be wrong, God knows, but lets get one thing perfectly clear. March 24th and January 18th do not equal illegitimate child. Owen was taken two weeks early ( January 4th) due to complications by c-section. He and I were in serious danger of hemorrhage due to low lying placenta. I realize that there are a myriad of differences in opinion about my divorce and remarriage , but let us all be comforted knowing the God knows the truth. Please if anyone feels the need to " talk" about what happened , fine, but lets leave Owen out of it. I have no wish to discuss or defend what happened 3 years ago , and I don't think that it is any longer appropriate conversation material. Whatever our differences may be , surely we can look past them for the sake of peace in the church. I'm sure everyone will agree that the church should be more worried about Satan than tending others gardens . Let us all take a long look at our own backyards:-D

A smurf in the house

2008-08-31T18:02:00.000-07:00

Fridays' are always crazy around our house, especially when I know that Connor is going to his dad's house for the weekend. We have to eat lunch and take our nap early so I can " try" to get it all together to head toward our meeting place in town. Ok , this Friday was going pretty well, it had not occurred to me yet that this was 5th weekend and Connor wasn't going until Saturday night , so I was busily getting the kids fed and ready for nap. As usual I sent Connor to the bathroom before he went to lay down while I changed the little boys diapers. Hmmm usually I get nervous when I don't hear Owen for a while , but he sure was in there for a while ! OK , little boys are down , I'll go check and see what is taking so long right... UGH ! I swing open the door and see the " deer in the headlights" look as he slammed his self against the bathroom wall. Then I see why, Brent's deodorant is twisted all the way out and oozing all over everything, GREAT!

Me- " Wow, look at that! I wonder who might have done something like that , it's sooo wasteful. It wasn't you was it?"

Connor-" Nope , I didn't do it , I promise!"

Me- " Well if you didn't do it I wonder who did? Did you see what happened?"

Connor- " Yes , I did. You see , a smurf came up out of that toilet , walked across the room and did it. I was so scared that I was just waiting for him to go away. You scared him Mom , thanks, I could have been in here for a while."

Me ( In true disbelief that Connor , the truthful one, has finally learned how to lie) - " Are you kidding me ?! Well what is that blue stuff on your hands ? It sure does smell good . Are you sure that it wasn't you?"

Connor- " Nope, that stuff is just smurf juice ."

Warning to all parents - Please check all of your toilets for smurfs ! Apparently there are millions of the little guys popping up out of bathrooms and committing mayhem everywhere. You deodorant is no longer safe!

The mind of a 4 year old ... enough said:-D

Homeless in Pinecrest

2008-08-26T12:14:00.000-07:00

Last year after Brent's Nana died we decided to renovate her house ( nice word for run down trailer) and live there while saving for a house. Well , as soon as it was all done and the money was " saved" by doing the work ourselves with the help of Daddy , Brent lost his job ... again. It is no secret that these are hard times for a lot of people and there are plenty of others that have lost their jobs over the past two years, but OYE! So , what I'm getting at is there hasn't been a whole lot of "saving" for the new house going on. Well, last week , just as Mom and I were finally getting things really organized the way I wanted them , it happened. The floor started to sink in all over different parts of the house.You have GOT to be kidding me! OK , so we called the insurance company and the sent a inspector and adjuster out to check things out. Well , the verdict is that the house is worth pushing over and that's about it. There has been a leak in the roof pouring water down the center wall and ruining the floors. We couldn't see any evidence of this leak because we put dropped ceilings in to cover up old water damage. Even better news... there is mold everywhere. Brent and I lost a whole clothes closet worth of clothes( thank God he has enough to cloth himself and a third world country:-D ) .So here we are... at my parents house again! There really must be a limit as to how many times you have to move back in with your parents . Almost 30, 26 and three kids , living with good ole Mom and Dad. Does it sound pitiful yet? The good news is think Brent found us somewhere to go that might allow us to eat and pay rent! We will know in the next few days the details . PRAY! This is me , depressed , tired and homeless in Pinecrest.

Teeth!

2008-08-16T07:00:00.000-07:00

After having the two older boys you would think that I would know what to expect with Mr. Noah. I think it must be because his body type is so much different ( Mama's nice way of saying he isn't as porky as the other two!) . Now don't get me wrong , he is getting on up there in size , he is just shaped totally different. Taller and more able to handle the weight :-) Anyhoo , moving on... He has been acting really agitated for the past few day and wasn't sure why until, OUCH! He bit me !! Now normally at this point it shouldn't hurt that bad except he has TEETH. What?! How in the world did I not notice this was happening ? Oh yeah , I have two other kids , but still it's a little sad. The worst part about it is , I don't remember when Owen got his ! It must have been early because at the ripe old age of 19 months old he has almost as many teeth as I do.

He is growing up already! Before long he will be eating solids , and drinking out of a sippy cup. I don't know if I should be sad or excited . The question still continues... will there be Franklin # 6 or is our quiver full? I'm not sure .

Daddy's Home

2008-08-13T05:26:00.000-07:00

Sunday morning is usually our only down day with Daddy. So , imagine my surprise during nap time on Saturday , in walks Daddy! Apparently it was raining so hard they could work past noon , but who cares why , Daddy was home at 1 o'clock! You would have thought someone had handed me a brick of gold. It was the perfect Saturday afternoon , all five Franklin's taking a rainy day nap and when the kids woke up... " Daddy!!!! " Dog pile in the middle of the bed , where they played for just about the rest of the afternoon until it was time for church. These really are the days . A lot of frustration can come from having three boys 4 years and under , but days like this make it all worth while! To see them love their Daddy and the joy on his face to hear the running feet down the hallway when the saw his truck in the driveway... I've truly never been more satisfied and thankful with my life then I am right now . A wonderful church life , good family and friends , healthy kids and bar none the best hubbie I could have ever asked for.

The Boxcar Franklins

2008-08-11T04:50:00.000-07:00

For a while now we have made the habit of reading to Connor and Own at night. They love it , and I think it is great for Connor's , sometimes overactive, imagination. Right now we are reading The Boxcar Children series that I had when I was growing up. He loves it and it brings back great memories of Mom reading the same books to us until we learned to read by ourselves. Last night we finished the first book and in the end of the last chapter there is a picture of the boxcar that Henry , Jessie , Violet and Benny have been living in . Most of you know that we live in a double wide right now so it's really wasn't such a stretch when Connor looks up at me and says " Hey we are the Boxcar Franklin's , we live in a boxcar! "The things that go through a child mind are amazing to me . Wouldn't you know he has had the best time this morning already playing boxcar children in his bedroom. Maybe we will be able to afford a house before he gets old enough to be mortified at our " Boxcar" :-D

How Much Is That Doggie In The Window?

2008-08-09T05:52:00.000-07:00

Connor wants a dog. Not just any dog, of course, a bulldog. This all got started last fall during football season when Brent said " Connor, look at that cool dog!" We were watch the UGA game and there was a cute shot of the team mascot "uga". That was the end of it for Connor .We have tried to show him pictures of other breads but no he likes "the uga dog". Do you know what those things cost ?! I found out this week that $1000 is getting a "deal" on an English bulldog. Most of the time it's more like $2000. Are you serious , it's a DOG! ( sorry Aunt Devrun , no offense to Belle)

" Connor" I said." Uga dogs cost a lot of money , I don't know if Daddy will want to pay that much for a dog. Maybe we can find another kind of dog."

Connor , looking very pitiful says " Mom , you don't understand, I Neeeeeeeeed this dog! I've named him Brutus and everything! Please tell Daddy I've been a good boy today and he can have all the money in my piggy bank!"

I say " I'll tell him , but maybe we better look at other kinds of dogs just in case he says no."

Now , I really don't want a dog in the house , but Brent keeps telling me he has had too many dog come up with some kind of skin disease from living outside here. Sure, like I believe that ! He wants the dog in the house just as bad as the kids do. So we are limited to smaller dogs, you know , like that gold plated bulldog . I have always wanted a German Shepherd , but that's not coming in the house , so that's out. Brent doesn't want any " yip yip" dogs that bark like crazy over everything . Otherwise known as " a girl dog". So , that's out. I don't want anything that is going to shed white hair all over my house . So , that's a whole bunch more that are out.

After all of the looking petfinder.com we finally found something that I think we can all live with.I'm not thrilled at the dog being in the house , but if I'm going to have to give in ( I have decided that I would have let any dog in the house after Brent and Connor worked on me for awhile) This is a pretty good compromise . The best part about it is they don't cost anything like $1000!

It looks like the Basset Hound is the winner! It meets most of my requirements for having a dog in the house , and Brent has always wanted one. I'm thinking that was his plan from the beginning! Anyway , we are going to try to get one for Christmas , so any name submissions are welcome. Connor swears it has to be a boy , but we need some name choices for a girl just in case :-D

Lucy Elizabeth

2008-08-04T12:16:00.000-07:00

" Mama" says Connor" We haven't had a baby in your belly in a long time. Can we have Lucy now??"WHAT?!?!! Is it like dog years for kids or something ?!?! Noah is not 4 months old yet , and here we go again !! I looked at him very calmly and said " It might be another boy you know. It's up to God what kind of baby we have not Mommy". Surely he will accept this and move on because he has already made it clear he doesn't want another brother . He " has too many of those " already. Nope, instead he says " Um God told me that we would have Lucy this time. So could you just go get her and put her in your belly please?". Me- " Connor , where do you think babies come from ? I can't just go get one!". Connor- " Whats the matter ? Are they too expensive? I think you can get them at Wal-mart for less money". Me- " Yes they are too expensive and no you cannot get them at Wal-mart. Mommy doesn't want to get another baby in her belly right now." Connor - " Grandmommy says we don't always get what we want." Ok , so here comes the question, When do you draw the line and punish them for having something to say to EVERYTHING or laugh because of how smart they are and they are just thinking like a child. I don't know the answer to that either. All I do know is NO MORE BABIES! Not right now anyway.

I Thought Connor Was The King?

2008-07-31T07:52:00.000-07:00

As you all know , Connor's last name is King. Well , move over Connor, Owen has assumed the throne! He has been following me to the bathroom for weeks now saying" pee pee" and pulling at his diaper. So, I decided that we might just try and see if he would go on the little potty. Success! He has gone "pee pee" three times and I am just waiting to see " the look" to rush him to the potty. I am SO tired of poo! Not to mention , I hate to scare all you parents-to-be , but I spent $86 on diapers for both little boys this month. Let us all focus positive thoughts toward Owie and the " throne"!

New Pictures Of The Boys

2008-07-30T11:59:00.000-07:00

Connor got his new Nike T-shirt and says" Do I look like Michael Jordan?"

Owen and his " I NEVER doanything wrong" Look!

Noah can sit up in the Bumbo seat now! What are we going to do if he gets any cuter?!

Falling Down On The Job

2008-07-30T08:17:00.000-07:00

I know that I have been falling down on the blogging job this week. My last post on the " Blues" has more than a little affected my will to blog or do just about anything else.Thankfully , I seem to have kicked the desire to cry at the drop of a hat ! Lets all join my family and friends( Kelly!) in a big Hallelujah!!!

Connor FINALLY came home yesterday! I thought the long weekend would never end, but he did have a good time with his Granny and Pa-paw. They went to the beach and the parks ,Brandon said they really did have wonderful time. I am thankful they were able to come ! After i picked him up we went to see Brent at the town home project he and my parents were working at. Mom was in her personal heaven , digging in the dirt and weeding plant beds. I missed that gene COMPLETELY! We are so thankful she and Daddy have been able to help us on this project, it was so out of control. Brent walks up to me when we got there and said" Man, your Mom is worth her weight in gold as far as those plant beds go! I don't know what I would have done if they couldn't both be helping us today". Connor looking very confused says " Grandmommy isn't gold! She isn't black either , but I really like people that have dark skin ! She is brown like me, not gold, but God says that we should like dark skinned people right?" OYE VEY!! " Yes , we like people with dark skin Connor and no Grandmommy is not gold , Daddy was just talking about something else. Do you know anyone with Gold skin?" Shouldn't have asked !!! ( Daniel is you are offended I'm sorry in advance!) " Yes Mama , Daniel has gold skin , its really pretty , but Aunt Bekah is kind of... white . Are they getting married? Can I be in their wedding? " If I'm lying I'm dying !!!

Today, I am at Mom and Dad's house spending some time with Aunt Devrun while she is still out of school. Connor is going on a date with Gran Gran later to see " Space Chimps" , so we have decided to watch " Pride and Prejudice" the A&E version. (SIGH) I love this movie, it is the greatest book ever written turned into one of the greatest movies of all time. I have to wait for Aunt Dev to be out of school to watch it because everyone else acts like they are having bamboo shoots shoved up their fingernails. So, we are happily drinking coffee and dreaming of the great wonders that live in Elizabeth Bennett and Mr. Darcy. ( bigger sigh) After the movie I plan on knocking Owen out and sleeping for as long as possible. Noah , has decided that he doesn't want to sleep all night right now. For the past two night I have ended up giving in after hours of trying to get him back to sleep and letting him on the bed with me. Last night, however, Brent got up at about 3 am and said " I'm awake Baby, you go to sleep and I take him in the living room with me for a while". It is possible that I have the BEST hubbie ever, and the cutest! Which brings me to my next funny! ( This is all starting to run together! Sorry for the lack of structure in this blog) Mom told me last night that Brent as a following at the job they were at yesterday! Two little girls that live there are totally smitten with him. How CUTE!!! I mean , I think that he is a hottie , but now he's that cool older guy that little teenie boppers are swooning over! Mom said she laughed all day, everytime he would walk by the pool they would say " Hiiiiiii". She said he wold just duck his head and throw his hand up in the air , how humiliating ! For some stange reason I feel unbelievably proud :-)

Ham Anyone ?

2008-07-30T07:45:00.000-07:00

Am I Blue?

2008-07-25T05:29:00.000-07:00

Do you ever wake up in the morning and just want to cry? Connor went to his Dad's house last night and will be gone till Monday. His Granny and Pa Paw came to see him for a few days , he was SO excited. Yesterday morning he says" Um , Mom I don't want to be getting in a lot of trouble today. Granny will save me". Ahh , the old trying to play one parent against the other trick! When do you think he might realize that doesn't work?I just want to cry for some reason. Maybe it's because no matter how well you get along with your Ex it's hard to let your child go. So , I have cried this morning , Owen has been looking at me like I'm completely crazy.

As I look around our little house this morning all I see is stuff . Last night we went and cleaned out our storage room, and wow do we have a lot of junk! It will take me days to go through it all and decide what stays and what goes. I feel the tears coming on again !!! I can't quit , I have cried over everything this morning. On to the next box of goodness knows what that I'm sure we can live without because it's already been stored for two years. Baby clothes to go through and share with Kelly . Ok , that is actually kind of fun , but look how little and cute ! ( TEARS!!!)

Did I mention that I tripped over the trailer hitch hooked up to our truck last night and I can barely but my right foot down? Oh yeah, there was that too . So, if I move it just right , you guessed it , tears ! What is wrong with me ?! Ewww I hope I'm not pregnant .

My Name Is Fred...Baby

2008-07-23T07:11:00.000-07:00

You all may know that my sister-in-law Jamie was my friend first, but did you know that my name is Fred?

Jamie , this is for you!

When I was younger I had a really hard time making friends and really connecting with them. I was different, I liked to read and watch old TV shows. I just can't imagine why I wasn't the center of every one's universe ( note the dripping disdain!) . Then one day there was a new family attending Oak Hill PBC in Austin , right down the way from good ole San Antonio where I am from. Good news , they have 4 girls and they aren't allowed to act like total rejects either. YEAH!!! As best I can remember , I met Jamie in the summer and that was the end of it. We were friends. She didn't have quite the hard time meeting people and making friends as I did and I really have NO idea why we hit it off so well, but we did. We both were home schooled and loved to read and she introduced me to something that I will forever be grateful for. Old movies , I had watched a few before and liked them for the clothes and the dialogue , and P.S. nothing gets blown up in old movies! Anyway , she turned me on to the late , great Audrey Hepburn. My first Audrey movie was " Breakfast At Tiffany's" Aaahhhhh. Sure it's about a New York call girl and a philandering writer, but come on it's a classic!!! Then is started ,I always called her "James" and she always called me " Fred" . In Breakfast at Tiffany's , Audrey's character calls George Peppard's character whose name is " Paul Var Jak" , Fred , after her brother. OK , too much info , but you needed to know there was a reason for the Fred thing. Anyway, we were friends and she was the first real girlfriend I ever had. We wrote letters ( pre-email days , OMG we are old!!) and made a few phone calls. When we got old enough to drive we would visit back and forth as much as we could and watched old movies for hours on end.

It was early on in our friendship that I realized she was oodles more talented then I . I mean , HELLO , she plays the harp. Enough said , right? Wrong, she can do all kinds of other things too.

She MADE This outfit!!! I can't do that, or just about anything else she can do for that matter. Anyway , this went on all through high school , and I still don't know why she liked me so much, but I made out like a bandit! I had a very cool friend , that didn't make me feel like I should be something else . She has been with me through everything in my life that has meant anything. I don't know what I would do without her and I'm so glad that she is really my sister. Even though we don't get to see each other very much and don't talk as much as I would like... James Darling, you are my hero! I still don't know why you picked the dork that everyone made fun of for your friend , but I'm awfully thankful you did. " One Fine Day" we will stand in front of Tiffany's drinking coffee , eating danish , while singing " Moon River".

Love and adoring kisses always , Fred Baby

Bad Boys, Bad Boys, Whatcha Gonna Do...

2008-07-22T05:04:00.000-07:00

Last night we all took Aunt Joyce out for her B-day. It has become the custom in our ladies group to take each other out for dinner on our b-days. Plus it gives some of us a night to say " Only the baby can go , girls only, can you watch the kids tonight?" YEAH!! A whole meal that I won't have to share with anyone if I don't want to! Anyway, we always get started telling all of our stories that have happened since the last b-day. Unfortunately , Aunt Devrun always seems to be completely humiliated by the time we leave, or so she would have us think! My Mother is always the one leading the charge to see how red we can get Aunt Dev to turn. It is the litmus test of how much fun we had! ( Love and Kisses Aunt Dev!)
One of the ladies is our group has two kids about as close together as my two youngest. So, we always have a lot to talk about, and her mother still has a nine year old boy at home too. We always get to giggling about what our kids have said or done , it truly is comforting to know you aren't the only one out there !
All this to say I forgot to post a very important happening that I remembered last night as I was sharing it with the " girls".
One morning I had put Noah down on the bed in my room so I could blow dry my hair and keep an eye on him and what was going on in the boys room at the same time. Everyone knows how slippery Owen is ... He went in my room , OK no big deal, he is probably just looking at what I've got on the TV right? Wrong, he ran in the room and shut the door and LOCKED it. UGH!!!! I ran around the house for it seemed like hours , trying to find the little key thing that will unlock the door. I couldn't find it anywhere , and was starting to get a little panicked. Connor was totally panicked by this time because I try really hard not to let them see me get to worried about anything , but I was nearing tears pretty quick and he knew it. OK , I can't find the key thingy, what else can I use? A bobby pin? Nah , that didn't work. A knife? Nope! The whole thing didn't last very long , but it felt like hours and all I could think was Owen was in there alone with baby and he can climb up on the bed with him ! Well, finally just as I was about to call Brent and see what he thought I should do, Noah started screaming. I went , cold , then hot , then cold again. I had to get in the room , what if Owen was about to pull him off the bed or was covering him up with the blanket?! So here is where the title comes it ... I felt like one of those officers on "COPS" with the theme music running in my head. I put both hands on either side of the door jam, reared back and kicked as hard as I could. The door went flying open , along with the kick plate and door jam on the inside of the room. OH MY GOSH! Are you kidding me ? I just kicked my bedroom door in! There stood Owen at the end of the bed with his fat little hand around Noah's ankle getting ready to pull... I was totally sick to my stomach ,but laughed when I looked at Connor. He looked like he was going to pass out he was so shocked! " Moooom , look what you did!! You broke the whole thing! ".
That's right , don't mess with me ! I'm all about kicking down doors and taking numbers! I'm Super Mom

The Sock Monster

2008-07-21T06:44:00.000-07:00

Why is it that no matter what I seem to do I NEVER have all of the socks at the end of laundry day?! I am convinced that there is a monster that lives in the closet that lives to steal my socks. Maybe Mom read " Boris and The Monsters" to us too much when we were kids but in my mind I see all those monsters sneaking out trying to find all of the " buddies" to my unpaired socks. One of theses days I'm going to search the closet just to make sure!

Lissa and Brent plus 3 ?

2008-07-16T07:29:00.000-07:00

There are some days that I feel totally defeated as a parent. Brent works six days a week and doesn't get home till after bed time most of the time because of job number 2. Yuck! I am NOT complaining , well I'm trying not to complain. I am thankful for all of the WONDERFUL help that my hubbie gives when he is around. How is that , better? OK, moving on.
One day while I was feeling particularly sorry for myself and my semi-single parent existence I was flipping through the channels and came across " Jon and Kate Plus 8". Shame and Disgrace for even thinking I have a hard time with my three boys. Have you ever seen that show? Jon and Kate have twin girls first then try for "one more" and get 6. Three boys and three more girls. This is not a fictional series, it is reality TV, again I say SHAME on me ! If you are a parent struggling with the In's and out's of everyday parenting I suggest you go to TLC.com and watch one episode of this show. If is doesn't make you feel better about your situation, then you must have experience potty training 6 three year old's at one time! May I just say " OYE"!

Where Is Owen Part Duex...

2008-07-15T07:15:00.000-07:00

Have you ever seen Whinnie The Pooh and The Honey Tree ? Pooh eats too much honey at rabbit's house and gets stuck in the rabbit hole trying to get out . Today I was washing the dishes and heard Owen calling my name. As you know I get extremely nervous when I can't readily find him. Well, he kicked his ball under the bed in his room and went in to try to get it and there you go, Pooh in the rabbit hole ! All I could see was his chubby little feet sticking out , kicking like crazy trying to get loose. Hehehe I know it probably makes me a bad mother but I couldn't help myself .

How do I Love Thee? No, Really I forgot!

2008-07-14T09:34:00.000-07:00

Ahhh romance! Wait a minute, what is that? The romance in our life right now consists of passing in the hallway every morning " Love you Babe." He says " Love you too, see you tonight."

" Wait , don't forget to take out the garbage! Oh, and don't forget to pay the phone bill!"

Does this sound familiar to anyone else? Any good suggestions on how to pep it up a little while raising three kids and owning your own business would be greatly appreciated!

( Note to self: Stop getting pregnant every year and maybe you could go out alone every once in a while ! Duly noted . )

Sunday Morning Circus

2008-07-13T18:22:00.000-07:00

Every Sunday morning I feel like that clown with the horn you see at the circus that just runs around blowing his horn looking like he has no idea what he is doing. If you have more than one child you know what I'm talking about. Unless , of course you are one of these parents that actually gets it all planned out the night before. May I just say, nobody really likes a perfectionist:-) Anyway, here I am running around with my horn ... Iron the kids clothes, OK check. Iron Daddy's clothes, OK, check. "Has everyone had breakfast?" I ask innocently. Connor comes running down the hallway " mommy, I don't think daddy knows what he is doing , he is just standing in kitchen looking around." OK go help daddy get breakfast. In his defense, Brent works six days a week and doesn't have to deal with all three of them at the same time very often. It can be a little overwhelming! Connor ..." Daddy , daddy , daddy I think I want some frosted flakes !" . See earlier post about frosted flakes, we can't do without a supply that would feed Paton's army. Owen..." Da, Da, Da , nana, nana , nana". Owen-speak for banana.Last but not least Noah ... screaming at the top of his lungs because he doesn't see any reason why he should EVER have to be put down. Ahhhh what a way to try to start off trying to spiritual for church.OK! we have them all fed , now on to bath time . Oh joy , more spiritual preparation. Note to all reading this post: Don't pray for patience unless you really want to be tested in EVERY part of your life. OK, the little guy gets his bath first so he doesn't get drowned by the other two. Now onto the big boys, we are running out of time so they get the quick once over and out they go . Underwear for one and diaper for the other and we are in business. Mommy gets her five minutes of peace in the shower , Yeah ! To be immediately followed by ten minutes of a game I like to call " Keep Owen out of my makeup bag while trying to a least look like I care enough to put some on". During all of this Brent is kindly getting the other two dressed and ready to walk out the door so we can grab them and go. I get Owen ready because it really is easier to keep him where I can see him. As you might have guessed from earlier posts. Blow dry my hair and thank God for a good haircut. OK if you aren't tired by just reading this you must not have kids yet. For those of you who do have kids you totally get the clown blowing the horn thing!

A Desperate Plea

2008-07-12T13:38:00.000-07:00

All of us use our blogs to document our family lives and the cute things that our kids do and say, but lets take a serious turn for a moment. Most of us who read each others blogs are PB and have known each other for years. It is time for us to start asking ourselves and each other what we as the church in this country and age are doing. When did we all become cannibals? Instead of us focusing on what we should be doing or shall I say fighting who we should be fighting.We are so focused on each other and what we think the other might be doing or saying. I have been guilty of this in the past and hope that you and God will forgive me for it. We are forgetting that " all judgement is given to the Son" . It's not our job to be dissecting each other's lives and or more particularly each other's "sin". When did we get the idea that one person's sin is worse than our own? I know that people will read this article and think that I am defending myself against some of the outrageous rumors that are going on about me and my family. I urge you to look past that. I say again I am guilty of judging other to harshly without all of the information and I know that I am simply reaping what I've sown. On this note, if I have ever done anything in my life that has hurt you in anyway I beg your forgiveness now . Back to what I was saying... when did we get the idea that one person's sin was worse than our own? Do we honestly believe that it took anymore blood to cover certain sins than others? What happened to Romans 3:12 " They are all gone out of the way, they are together become unprofitable; there is none that doeth good, no, not one." ? For some reason we have forgotten that it took the same blood to cover what we may consider to be our "minor" sins that it did all the "major" ones. I'm not saying lets all go out and sin , we're going to heaven anyway. No, but can we quit trying to run each other's lives and focus on the fact that we are in an all out war with Satan. Do we realize that one by one Satan is winning the victory over our ministry? Look around you , there is an epidemic of preachers either leaving the pb's or dying or even worse. We are not on the offensive anymore. Not toward what we should be focused on.Matthew 16:18 " And I say also unto thee, That thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it." Do we really have our foundations on Christ? Why are the gates of hell prevailing so heavily against us? Are these questions we should all be asking ourselves. Please I beg you all to join me in stopping the war we have against each other and get the focus back where it should be . Our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. If we don't stop now a realize what we are doing to each other, and ourselves, there won't be a church for our children to go to. I'm afraid that my kids won't want to be in church if this is how they grow up seeing us act. We can't afford to lose another generation to the world because they were tired of the fighting in the church's. Lets train up our children to be lovers of God in a peaceful church environment.

When Brother Is Away...

2008-07-12T07:59:00.000-07:00

My boys are generally required to share all of their toys with a few exceptions. I think everyone should have at least one or two things that are " Just for me" to play with. The problem with that is I spend my days as a referee trying to keep them out of each other's things. So, most of the time everyone is required to share everything. That being said... Aunt Devrun who is a absolute staple of our everyday life, went to Disney a few weeks ago and totally fulfilled all of Connor's deepest dreams with a full Captain Hook costume. This is immediately established as one of our
" Just for me " toys. Owen , of course, wants it worse than anything else in the whole world . So, it stays either on Connor , or put up where little hands can't get it.
This picture was taken last weekend while Connor was at his Dad's house. Mommy forgot to put it up where Owen couldn't get to it! What would one time hurt? As you can see , Owen had the most wonderful time . He totally knew that he was getting to do something that he was normally allowed to do while Connor was home. No harm done right? Wrong! Connor comes home that Monday and sees this picture and bursts into tears sobbing " Aunt Devrun is going to have to get me a new Captain Hook suit, Owen has made is not special anymore!". Oh Brother! Just remember everyone, if you have more than one kid just go ahead and start buying more than one of everything. It makes life so much easier!

2008-07-12T07:48:00.000-07:00

Connor David 4
Owen Spencer 18 Months
Noah Riley 2 Months

Where is Owen ?

2008-07-10T04:56:00.000-07:00

As you have read before our son Owen is the trouble maker. He's not bad , he is just your typical 18 month old BOY. He's slippery! He can get away from you faster than ... well I don't know what but you get the point.
So, here I sit feeding the baby again. Owen has picked up on this being the best time to commit mayhem. OK call out the search party, and lets get find him. Always start in the bathroom, it is his favorite room in the house. Good motivation to keep the toilet clean! Anyway, there he is sitting in the middle of the bathroom floor with Brent's $20 jar of hair gel. What a way to find our he can unscrew lids. The biggest smile on his face and a bright blue head. The stuff is bright blue before you rub it in and you are only supposed to use a tiny bit . Not Owen, he used the whole jar, and was happily rubbing it all over his head saying " Piddy!!!". Owen speak for "pretty".
It took 5 shampoos before the water stopped beading up and rolling off. Yuck! Needless to say we will buy the bargain shelf gel from now on.

My name is Mom

2008-07-10T04:45:00.000-07:00

Have any of your kids called you by name yet? We have a special situation in our family. I was married before and Connor has a Dad and a Step-dad. He calls both Dad most of the time , but if he calls Brent by name we never make a big deal about it. So imagine my surprise when he looks at me yesterday and says " Melissa, I think it's time I grow up and get my own apartment. God told me that I needed to have my own rules now. So, I'm getting a job like Daddy". What?!! I very calmly look at him and say " My name is Mom , let me know when you find a job.". To which he replies " Maybe I'll ask my Dad for a new Mom at his house... I love you but your rules are too hard". If this is him at 4 years old I shiver to think of where we will be in another 4 years. Suddenly I feel the need for a stronger prayer life.

Frosted Flakes, a bath and debit cards!

2008-07-08T11:16:00.000-07:00

What do all of these things have in common? Owen, or as we call him " Thing 2"!

I don't know why any mother with three little boys would think for a minute that they could do something silly like go to the bathroom by themselves.You can't ! Thursday morning I hear feet running down the hallway... " Mommy, you better come here and see what Owen did!" says Connor( Thing 1 ). Oh boy, here we go! I get myself together quickly and run down the hallway to find Owen covered in frosted flakes. Just in case you didn't know , toddlers have superpowers. It took him less than a minute to realize that I wasn't watching , pull a chair into the kitchen , climb tha pantry shelves and dump a brand new box of frosted flakes onto the floor. Thank goodness I cleaned the day before! I found him happily sitting in the middle of a huge pile of cereal, cramming it down as fast as he could. It was only a matter of time before the evil monster Mommy would catch him and removed his sugar filled mountain... Better get as much down as possible. I round the corner and he looks up at me with the sweetest look on his face and says" Uh Oh Mama".

The next day after Things 1 and 2 are fed breakfast ( frosted flakes always keep a back up box!) I was sitting drinking a cup of coffee while feeding the baby waiting to go to town for the day. Things are going great ! I am up , dressed and so are ally three boys. I will be on time for sure , but is that running water I hear ? No, it's raining outside you are hearing things... wait! Where is Thing 2 ? He is playing in his room with Connor. Ok you can relax, after all , Connor is a huge tattle tale . Ok, don't ever trust your snitching 4 year old to tattle when you need him to.

Yes, it is running water! Oh no , here comes the sinking sick feeling . Where is Owen?

Ok, pause for a sec. In my defense Connor was NEVER a climber.

I'll tell you where he is ! Fully clothed , shoes on in the bath tub water running everywhere having the time of his life.I have a headache.

Tuesday morning things are going pretty well. Uneventful, nothing major so far, just laundry and school work. Wait, I thought I put my debit card on the dryer. Why is it when things go missing you always think of one kid?

"Mooooooooooooom ,Owen did something bad again !" says Connor in his very important " THANK GOD he is in trouble , not me!" voice .Ok, not too bad , the dvd player is open but nothing like the usual crime scene. Maybe not! Why won't the thing close ?!! Maybe if I turn it off and then on again. Hmmm that didn't work, lets see if something is caught inside. Bingo, found my debit card. Caught sideways right behind the sliding door thingy.