Preparing for baby Abbie

The girls have been helping me prepare for baby Abbie's arrival. They have helped arrange her room, wash clothes, fold baby clothes, blankets, sheets etc. and even did a little art project. They painted some foam wall hangings for her door. Excellent job, girls!

PlayDoh Dinner

The girls wanted me to display their recent Play-Doh dinner creations. They look quite yummy, don't they?

Melissa made mile-high pizza:

Kayla made delicious Beef Stroganoff:

AMAZING Deal...

My husband has developed some amazing couponing skills. He noticed that Kroger AND Martin's had "Sweet Baby Ray's" BBQ sauce on sale for $1.00 last week. He also noticed that we had 23 coupons for $1.00 off said BBQ sauce. It just happens to be our favorite BBQ sauce so he jumped on the opportunity to buy so many. He went to Kroger and did the self-checkout. Evidently, the computer didn't know what to do when it rang up FREE and didn't add the tax. Ray called for a cashier and between her and the manager neither one could figure out how to charge tax for these 23 bottles of sauce. Soooooo, they gave them to him for FREE. No taxes paid. Free. He was SO pleased with himself and now we have enough "Sweet Baby Ray's" to last us a year... or more.

You may be wondering what we are going to do with all of those bottles of sauce while we wait to use them... We use them for bowling, of course!

KILLER!!

For the past 4 years we have had a stalking, unwanted, visitor come to our home each Spring. He hangs around all of Spring and well into Summer. We affectionately named him "KILLER!!" His picture is below. Yes, he is a turtle. The first year he came he literally chased Mommy onto the porch! You may be wondering how a turtle can CHASE someone... we wonder the same thing! This horrid guy is FAST! For the past 3 years he hung out under our pool deck and Mommy was hoping that our taking down the pool and deck would deter him from returning... no such luck. Daddy found him Monday afternoon under the fallen tree. Ahhhhhh!!!! Mommy is convinced he is out to get her and refuses to go into the backyard until Daddy mows the lawn really, really short so that Mommy can see ALL movement. Daddy moved Killer onto the other side of the fence, far, far away from the house, but that won't stop this dangerous fella. It is just a matter of time before he returns to terrorize our family... well, mostly Mommy.

Doesn't he look ferocious???

Update on Melissa

We ended up taking Melissa back to the ER on Monday morning. We were having a hard time keeping her temperature under 100* and she was screaming that her tummy was hurting. She was very brave and did not kick and scream this time when the nurses tried to put in an IV. They were not successful, however, and didn't try a second time, stating that they would do it again if her blood work came back showing that she was dehydrated. She was VERY relieved when the Dr. told her she did not have to have another IV!! We finally found out that she has walking pneumonia and it can be treated with antibiotics. Around 1:30am last night she spiked a fever of 102.9* that lasted about 2 hours. It seems that it may have been her last. She hasn't had one since (though I am keeping her on Tylenol and Motrin throughout today) and she requested and kept down some mac and cheese. I am so relieved! I am continuously seeing the small miracles that the Lord is performing in our lives. I am so thankful to know Him and know that He loves and watches over us. We have been blessed.

Our Sick Baby Girl

We had a bit of a scare yesterday. Friday night Melissa started feeling sick and by 10pm spiked a fever. She was sick all night with fever, vomiting and feeling really horrible. By Saturday afternoon she had lost all energy and was going downhill fast. We took her to the ER where she had heaps of tests run and found that she was dehydrated and, thankfully, only has a viral infection. She received fluids through an IV and the process of actually having it put in will probably be one of those traumatic experiences that she remembers for the rest of her life. I think the entire hospital heard her using very articulate words explaining what she did not want to happen. "I want you to stop!" "I don't want you to do this!" "Daddy, stop holding down my legs!" Etc. Mommy was also very traumatized and very relieved to have it over. Melissa did not hold a grudge against Daddy and snuggled with him while they watched a Barbie movie. Finally it was determined that we could handle her fever at home and were soon on our way with prescription in hand for anti-nausea medicine.

Melissa and Daddy-O snuggling after the IV went in:

Her poor little hand. The first nurse couldn't get the tube in her vein, so a second, more competent nurse came and got it in her left hand. We are thankful for the second nurse!

She crashed in the car on the way home. (Don't worry, this is in the driveway... she really did wear her seat belt home.)

Our dear friends David and Terry were kind enough to take care of Kayla for us so that she would not have to hang out with us in the hospital. She played hard and quickly fell asleep in the car. It doesn't look comfortable, but she didn't seem to mind.

Thank you for all of the prayers for our family! We wouldn't make it through any of this without the Lord's help.

T-Ball Picnic

This past Friday Grandma took us girls to Melissa's T-ball picnic. We had a great time visiting with her teammates and coaches. The best part was watching Melissa get her very first trophy! She was so pleased with herself. Homeschooling has truly been a blessing to our family and provided us with opportunities we wouldn't otherwise have, like Christian T-Ball teams!

Our MVP

Melissa with some of her teammates: Getting her trophy from Coach Theresa:

Melissa's BIGGEST fan, Kayla!

Gettin' all Prettied Up

Kayla and Grandma had a lovely afternoon of toenail painting and make-up. Kayla LOVED the attention and thoroughly enjoyed getting Grandma "all prettied up."

An afternoon talent show:

Last Sunday afternoon the girls decided to take advantage of the storm's damage and put on an impromptu talent show. They walked the "tight rope" climbed to daring heights and showed us wonderful poses. They were GREAT!

Our Beautiful Ballerinas

We had the wonderful experience of watching our beautiful ballerinas and tap dancer perform in their annual dance recital last weekend. They were GREAT! Both of them danced with confidence and grace. We couldn't be more proud.

Melissa and Kayla on rehearsal night:

Daddy gave the girls beautiful roses! Kayla requested the roses, but seemed completely surprised when Daddy gave her her first one! Silly thing.

Kayla's beautiful hair:

Kayla danced to "Cuddly Ducks" Our cute little ducky:

Kayla waiting backstage:

The 3 Musketeers: Emma, Melissa and Ava:

They tapped to "Peppermint Twist"

Melissa's beautiful hair:

Melissa danced to "Caribbean Amphibian" Melissa's ballet costume:

Another one of Kayla backstage. Check out the little girl beside her! I have no idea why she was doing that!

Sisters:

Grandma and Grandpa came to watch the girls perform on Friday.

Grandma stayed with us all 3 nights backstage to help get the girls ready and enjoy time with them. Poppa and CiCi came up to watch the girls perform on Saturday night. I have NO idea why I don't have a picture with CiCi and the girls... or me!

Grandma and Poppa:

Daddy-O with his beautiful, talented girls:

Great job Ladies!

Grandma's Birthday

We were blessed to have Grandma at our house for Mother's Day AND her Birthday this year!!! The girls were SO excited and decided to make her a chocolate cake with chocolate frosting. They worked hard and made her pictures that they put in frames that they also decorated for her. We LOVED having her here!

Happy Birthday Grandma!!

On Skype with Poppa:

Melissa and Kayla helping Grandma blow out the candles:

Teaching "Life Skills"

Ray decided that it was time to teach the girls a few "life skills" to help them through their little lives. At least, that is how I am wording it. I would really like to say, "My husband bumped his head and taught our girls how to start fires!! He has completely lost it. I mean, he used to be a Firefighter... he KNOWS what happens when children learn to start fires!' ~But, I'm not going to say that and stick with he taught them "life skills."

Ray taught the girls how to burn holes in leaves and bark with a magnifying glass. They thought he was a magician and asked for marshmallows on a stick so that he could cook those too! They did not have enough patience for that though and ate the "raw" marshmallows. Nice.

Washing the Van

A couple days ago it occurred to Ray that they girls have never had the experience of washing a car or van or truck or bike. I have always just driven through an automatic car wash, which they love, but it "just isn't right" that they had never actually gotten dirty and washed a car. We decided to remedy that. They seemed to enjoy it.

Melissa really got into the washing part:

Kayla was willing to wash the car... for a bit. Helping Daddy make more "soap" for the van:

Melissa making more bubbles:

She was the BEST tire washer!

Kayla decided she was tired of washing the van and took a "long break" as she put it: