what Troy likes in a woman...

I have never seen a little boy who had such an opinion about fashion as my little Troy. I guess it's not really fashion but appearance...I have one opinionated little boy. I guess he knows what he is looking for in a woman, you better have your hair looking nice, your nails manicured, you better smell good, and have smoky eyes... oh baby!
I was getting ready the other morning, my hair in a frizzy bun on top of my head, I needed to shower and get ready. Troy walks in my bathroom and says, "Oh mommy you look like McPhee." Well if any of you have seen Nanny McPhee, you know this is not a compliment, but for those of you who haven't seen Nanny McPhee here is a photo...

Yes, not a compliment from my 3 year old son.
So I politely kicked him out of my bathroom, got a shower, washed my hair, brushed my teeth. Then, in an attempt to impress the little man in my life, I blew my hair dry and put on a bit of makeup (for those of you who know me personally, you know I have never been big on makeup).
I presented myself to the little man and in the most astonishing and surprised voice he said, "oh Mommy, you don't look like McPhee anymore, you not ugly anymore mommy, you are beautiful."
Perfect response, sort of.
I recently got my nails done (Christmas present that I got from my Daddy)... I haven't had my nails done (other than a quick polish on my short nails) since Troy was an infant. Troy has no idea what mommy would look like with nice manicured nails, I honestly didn't think he would notice... oh but he did. He says, "Oh mommy, your nails are beautiful, you do this all the time now ok?" I assured him I would always have nice nails, but with no thought that I would really keep this up.. acrylic nails are not cheap and rather time consuming... not something I gave another thought too. Well, my nails did eventually flick off, or I ripped them off.. and Troy was the first to notice, "you don't have pretty nails anymore!" So- tonight, once Tony got home from work I went and got "pretty nails" once again- he likes the pink and white acrylic the best.
OH- and he also notices how I smell... I love love love Warm Vanilla Sugar from Bath and Body, it is my favorite scent! Tony bought me a gift set with the shower gel, lotion, and body spray for Valentines Day. I had been out for about a month. The first night I bathed with my favorite scent. I went to Troy's room to check on him and he says, "oh you smell beautiful again!" And what exactly did I smell like before?
Oh- and might I mention that when we headed out for the grocery store yesterday he said, "you should put that black on you eyes, make you look so pretty mommy, you my beautiful girl." So- yes, I was Troy's beautiful girl with a smoky eye while grocery shopping.
Gotta keep my little man happy right?

etsy

So, yes, I love etsy...
I love buying things, looking at things, and now.... selling things. :)Putting that crafting corner to work.
I have a very small store on etsy. I'm working in my free time to add inventory but I'm having a great time with it none the less...
www.craftycountrychick.etsy.com
I just got made some cute St. Patrick's Day hair bows... love these. :)

strong one

My girl went through another bout of seizures Monday.
I'd say there were around three grand mal seizures, from 1pm till around 5ish. She was "out of it" for about 4 hours. It was very difficult to see her struggling. Her senses were so heightened I was holding her and rubbing her back and she cried saying I was punching her. Troy came in to check on her and asked if she was ok, he touched her leg and she screamed that he hit her. It was hard to see her acting so out of control. She would scream that she smelled gold and her tummy hurt. She had a headache. She had trouble walking, coordinating her movements. I had to stay right by her side because I didn't want her to hurt herself, by falling. She did trip, trying to get out of her bed when I was turning on a movie for Troy. If the lights were on she would grab her eyes and cry. This was how she acted between her seizures, when she wasn't sleeping. Her dog never left her side... Jazzy-Bell even came and got me once when Sophia was trying to get out of bed.

Troy said, "Sissy is sick, God knows Momma, He's trying to make her better" Oh- it gives me goosebumps to think about it. He was so brave and so patient during these few hours. Eventually she did sleep and I was able to take him outside to play in the backyard. He said, "I'm worried about Sophi, she's not sick, like sick, but she's sick." Sweet boy.
When she did finally get up, around 5:40, she didn't really remember any of what we had just been through. She said she knew she was not feeling good, but didn't remember anything else. I just told her "you had a rough day" and she agreed that she had a rough day.
I called the doctor and they decided to raise her daily medication from 75mg a day to 100mg per day. He said any hopes we had to wean her off of medication in September were going to be delayed. He said, "her brain is not well." I really like the new doctor he sounded disappointed that she had a day like that, it was nice to feel that he shared our disappointments but acknowledged our hope. He stressed the importance of allowing her brain down time (nap time) and keeping her on a sleep schedule. The doctor was very calming.
God gave us peace that day. It was a bummer but I think we have all accepted that this is part of her life. We pray for God to intervene and have faith that He can, but we also accept that this maybe His plan and He is in control.
Doesn't change the fact that it is very difficult to see her going through things like this... I am just soo glad that she doesn't remember how terrified and combative she was, it was a different part of her brain in control, very scary.
We are very blessed two days later she is sassy as ever,

laughing,

jumping on the trampoline,

and loving her brother.

Even Jazzy-Bell is resting easy, now that her girl is feeling better.

Thanks for your thoughts and prayers!! We are so blessed to be surrounded by people who love and support us.

Tony's Gun Safe

For Valentines Day Tony got another gun... yes, another.. actually two of them. He was supposed to pick up one gun that we agreed on getting him for Valentines Day and the stinker picked up two... just as Tony says, "I can't send my wife into a shoe store and expect her to come out with just one pair." Well, I can't send Tony in a gun shop and expect him to come out with just one.
So- now that he has another gun, or two... it is time to invest in a gun safe. We keep the guns out of reach of the children, of course, ammo and guns in separate places, but the time has come to invest a pretty penny in a lovely gun safe, here's to our tax return!
Now to just figure out how I will make it look pretty, since it will be making it's home in our already cramped bedroom... I think I may put some pillar candles on top of it. I'll be sure to take pictures of it once it arrives.. he did get a good deal, free shipping on a 182lb safe. Ai- yi- yi

so thankful...

.... that nothing is a surprise to God.
I don't like the unexpected... I don't mind surprises, you know, birthday parties, presents, kisses... the good stuff. But I am a planner, I like to know, should this situation arise, this is what I will do about it.
Life is not always that way, in fact my life in hardly ever that way. Maybe God is trying to teach me to put my faith in Him... because He is the only constant thing that we can count on in this life.
Of course, I can count on my husband, my children, my family, my friends.... but those crazy fools don't have a clue what is going on, God does though.
I have moments when I wonder, God what are you doing? What in heavens are you thinking? This cannot be your plan?
But I am reassured in knowing that with God there is never a Plan B, God is never surprised, He is always in control.
Since that is the case... I want ride with Him.

Isn't he cute?

My baby got his first pair of wranglers... well, he did have a wrangler diaper cover when he was a baby... but now, he is a little man. He asks to wear his 'cowboy' pants all the time now. Oh Lordy!

Valentines Day Shirts

I totally forgot to post pictures of the kids Valentines Day shirts.
I wanted to make Troy and RV shirt in honor of his RV selling daddy :)
This shirt was a lot of work but Troy really loves it.

And Sassy-Frass Sophia got an 'I <3 U' shirt. She is getting so grown up. She insisted on the blue headband and wearing her hair down! ok- missy! STOP GROWING!

These pictures were taken in the morning before going to a Valentines Day party with some homeschooling buddies of ours. :) We had a fun day with friends and I was very glad that my two homeschoolers didn't miss out on handing out Valentines with their friends.

I finally have a crafting space

There was a time when I had an entire room in our other home that was dedicated to my crafts. I had two long tables, scrapbooks, computer, printer, paints, everything my little heart desired and then more. The room was so big that I didn't know what to do with it, I never got time to play in it either because it was upstairs and away from where the kids would play, not very functional. We moved from that house to a much smaller home and I don't have a crafting room anymore. I am so thankful for the little space in our little home that is now My Crafting Corner!
I love it.
Perfect spot for my sewing machine and projects. It is right in the great room next to the sliding glass door that leads to our backyard, where Sophia and Troy spend most of there time so it is just perfect!
So if you don't have an entire room to dedicate to your creativity... designate a small piece of your home for yourself and make it you!
And here are some pictures of my crafting space.
The dinosaur in the bottom right corner is Troy's touch to my space. The basket underneath stores the fabrics that I am working on. I have a book shelf in my closet that I use for storage but this little desk offers a place that is not the dining room table for me to work. The desk is a cheapy that I picked up from Target for $30 and I am VERY happy with it. The shelves were two for $20 at Target as well and I filled mason jars with buttons and metal hair clips for decoration and storage. Oh and I didn't take a close up but the green frame on the wall has a piece of fabric in it... simple, but super cute.

I bought a 'media basket' for ribbons, scissors, and extras that I need at arms reach. I suggest buying the 'media baskets' because they were more inexpensive than the 'storage baskets' ($4 difference) but are just the same!

This is an old vase that I filled with potpourri for decorations... simple and pretty!

Blue Springs State Park

We went on a field trip this week to Blue Springs State Park to see the manatees with some friends. This was a really fun trip. We studied about manatees during the week and on Thursday we got to go see some. It was fun but Sophia was a bit disappointed that we didn't get to swim with them. Last year we went to Sebastian Inlet (maybe it was Ponce Inlet, I can't remember) and we ended up swimming with one very friendly manatee.. but it was still neat to see them. That is one busy state park- I hear it is a very popular campground as well. It seemed like a great spot, but LOTS of people. There is a small playground and picnic area. I really wanted to rent a canoe but Sophia refused to go with me, she said, "You're not putting us in there, not without Daddy." I guess we will have to go back, with Daddy.

When we got home my wild children were roaring and ready to play on their slip and slide, my little bugg-a-boos.

Eat it up you Northerners... yes- that is swimsuits and sunshine in February. :)

colors

So, If you haven't noticed from my last two posts... I got a new cell phone and it takes video! :)

Troy has been slowly progressing with homeschooling. We have always worked out counting, colors, singing songs, lots and lots of playing. I really believe that children learn through play, so we play LOTS. We count race cars and group them by color, which ones are bigger, etc.
Sophia likes to color so discussing the difference in colors has been easy, let's color with red today, painting, markers, etc. Troy on the other hand has very little interest in coloring so I have to get creative and talk about colors in other ways.
Now- I know at 3 years old he knows his colors, when I say get the red car, blue car, green car, etc. He will always get the right one.
But when I hold up a color and ask him to tell me....
Red is Ironman, or Spiderman

Green is Hulk

Yellow is "Marine" AKA: Wolverine

Blue is blue, black is black, so I guess we are making process.. but come on Troy!

PARTY FOOLS

We have been some birthday party fools the past two weeks. We have been to 6 birthday parties in the last two weekends. Lots and lots of fun!

And here a quick video of Sophia and Troy on the top of one of the slides at Jungle Zone. This was Sophia's friend, Riley's 6th bday. His birthday last year my mom brought Sophia because I was working... so enjoying the time with my kids and their friends.

King of the Road

Troy got an awesome Spiderman bike for Christmas. Yet he LOVES the pink 'Road Princess' bike that my mom picked up at a yard sale for $5 like 4 years ago. HAHA!!!



He loves riding his bike and watch out he is King of the Road, on a pink girly bike :)

Bedtime Balloon Buddies

So the kids are always asking tony and I to lay down with them at bedtime... when we insist that they lay down alone they yell from one room to the other at one another, they ask to go potty, for a drink, Troy is always 'starving' at bedtime... chaos!
Not to mention the brushing teeth, taking medicines, and going potty before bed drama...
so- I got creative and came up with a brilliant idea... bedtime balloon buddies!
I told the kids that if they took their medicines, brushed their teeth and got in bed without a fight I would share with them a small surprise-
Once they were quiet in their rooms, I went in to Sophia's room first, I tucked her in after prayers, and a few moments talking I asked her, "do you want something special to sleep with because mommy is not going to sleep with you tonight?" Of course she said "yes" and did not seem at all upset that I just told her I was not going to lay with her. I asked her if she wanted a big surprise or a little one, she said big one. I pulled out a pink balloon and began to blow it up really big. She squealed, "little one!" So I shrunk it down small. Then I asked her if she wanted her surprise to be a boy or a girl... "girl" so I pulled out a permanent marker and drew big eyes, with long eyelashes, a small nose, and a little smile with lips. I asked her if she wanted her surprise to have hair, long or short... I gave the balloon long hair and drew a bow on the top of her "head". I explained to her that this was her bedtime buddy, so she won't be lonely in her bed at night. If she was quiet and good she could keep her bedtime balloon buddy, but if she got up or was not laying quietly that I would have to come take the buddy away. I told her every night when she went was cooperative and obedient while getting ready for bed we could make a new bedtime balloon buddy every night. She was thrilled and has been quiet in her bed ever since.
I did the same for Troy. He got a yellow balloon and wanted it big, and designed a "boy" with curly hair, and sharp teeth, but friendly, with a tie like daddy. So far so good... I'll let you know how the rest of the night goes. :)

"Karate School"

Troy started karate about two weeks ago... and he LOVES it!
Troy has been asking for sometime now to go to "karate school". I contacted a local program and we went to a 'trial class' and my little wild man became an instant karate student! For the first time in his life someone called him "a good listener." I couldn't believe it.. but I was thrilled for him and for me!
Only two weeks and I have already noticed a difference in his behavior at home and in public. He is getting more comfortable at karate and starting to be a little bit of wiggle worm but he is doing so good. He listens to his Sensei and wants to follow his instructions.
Here are a few pictures of my little karate man-



The kids spar and with Troy being such a little guy he always spars with the older guys who kneel down to fight with him.. it's really cute.


And here is one of my two rugrats.. today was bring a friend day and Troy brought his sister and his friend Paul... Paul was a little shy so I didn't get a picture of him but Sophia enjoyed it, but she was thrilled to know that cheerleading starts again this Thursday.. oh we are going to be some busy people.