One of those days...UPDATED

Well, today has just been one of those days. And "yes" these are pictures of the kids vegetating in front of the TV. I'll give you a recap of our morning so far and you'll understand why I've just decided today can be a TV day! I'm sure all of you mommies can relate.
1. It's raining outside.
2. Christian has a fever (not sure why).
3. While trying to have "book time" on the couch with the three kids, Christian decided to pour my entire diet coke (that I had just opened) onto the living room carpet. Poor Nathan was so upset about this that even he started to tell me "sorry oody." Oody is how he says Judy...very cute.
4. Abby got tired of the boys so she locked herself in her room. She usually does this about once a day and usually I'm fine with it. She's the kind of kid who need alone time and usually she goes in her room and plays with her Polly Pockets. Well, not today. Today she took a nap....ahhh...that totally messes up nap time.
5. It's almost one o'clock and I'm still wearing my pjs. At least the kids are dressed.
6. A binkie ended up in the toilet.
7. When I mentioned to Abby that Christian wouldn't eat anything she suggested that I give him marshmallows as a snack. Of course he overheard this and decided that sounded good to him too...so all he's eaten all day is marshmallows. Very healthy!
8. Abby usually waits until the very last second to go potty. Therefore she never seems to have time to shut the door, so the boys usually end up joining her. Do you know what kind of problems this causes??? Toilet paper everywhere. I fight over who gets to flush. And then everyone wants to wash their hands and of course their hands aren't the only things that get wet.

So anyway, I hope our afternoon is totally uneventful. I did get one thing accomplished this morning. We have this very, very annoying Wiggles Guitar. It plays eight different songs, just incase the first three don't drive you crazy. I usually try to hide it under the couch or in a closet. Well, today I posted it to sell on Ebay! I decided it would be better appreciated in someone elses home who has a very patient mommy. I'll be happy if I even get a dollar for it!

It's about 5:30 and I thought I would give a little update. We had a good afternoon. Everyone took a small nap (including me-a rare treat). Amy ended up coming home early from work because I got a doctor's appointment for Christian and I didn't want to haul all four kids with me. Christian was great at the doctor, but is now on an antibiotic. He has a "booboo roat." Translation= A sore throat. It could be strep, but we didn't do the test. That would have been extremely traumatic, so he got the meds. because of the combination of symptoms; sore throat, runny nose, fever. Christian is the WORST at taking medicine and the doctor always wants to give him amoxicillin which you give three times a day for 10 days. It's always so terrible, so I finally got a doc. who would listen and the med. he's on is only 1 time a day for 5 days. YIPEE..the small joys of life.

Surprise visitor...

Sorry to keep everyone in suspense!! I was Emma's surprise visitor at lunch (Yup, only me!! That's probably a little anti-climatic). My friend Mandy watched the boys and Abby and I went to Emma's school for lunch. We also brought along Emma's friend Ellie who is in Kindergarten at Em's school. It was a great experience for Ellie to see how the whole lunch thing works (she is in half day kindergarten, so she doesn't eat lunch yet) and Abby loved it too. Abby finally got to meet Julia. Whenever Emma talks about her school friends Abby always wants to hear about Julia because she loves her name. I think Abby wishes she was named Julia. We all got Happy Meals from McDonalds and had a great time. I don't know if I'll do the Happy Meal thing again because I felt bad eating McDonalds in front of kids with school lunches, but we will go have lunch with Emma again. It was great to meet some of her friends and to be able to see her teacher again. I think Uncle Ryan might be Emmas next surprise guest...we'll have to see. It's a very noisy experience filled with lots of six year olds (this school has 13 first grade classes), so I hope he's up for it.

Emmanuel

I've been thinking about something for the past few days that I thought I would share, since it's been such an encouragement to me. It is such a priveledge to be a stay-at-home mom/aunt, but it is also one of the most frustrating and exhausting jobs there is!!! I'm sure all of you mommies out there will agree. On Wednesday morning we had "one of those mornings." No one liked what they were supposed to wear (why is the Lightning McQueen shirt always dirty when I need it). No one liked their breakfast. We spent 20 minutes looking for a missing shoe that ended up being in the toy box (thanks to a helpful 2 year old who was cleaning up). We were supposed to be at our playgroup at 9:30am and we got there sometime around 10am. As I was speeding down the road, handing sippy cups to the passengers in the backseat, trying to get there on time (I was in charge of story time) the word Emmanuel kept coming to my mind.

Emmanuel means God With Us and I know that it was God who was bringing that word to my mind. Why else would I think of a word that I usually associate with Christmas? God was reminding me that he's not this far away being who is completely unreachable. He's not this authoritative ruler who expects me to obey a bunch of rules and then leaves me on my own to figure it out. Nope...He's the one who made me. He made my personality...the same personality that hates to be late. He knew that I was going to be a "mom" to three (soon to be four) kids under that age of five and for some reason He thought I could handle it. After all, He's promised me that he won't give me anything that I can't handle. Over the past two days I've begun to notice so many ways that He is Emmanuel....He's with me!

1. When I'm reminding a four year old to stop yelling and have a kind heart: God is reminding me that I need to listen to what I'm saying too!

2. When I'm crawling under the kitchen table with my pregnant belly, trying to wipe up whatever we had for lunch: God is reminding me that I'm serving him by loving these kids.

3. When Emma gets home from school and rattles on for the next 40 minutes about her day: God is reminding me that I'm His child and he would love it if I would take the time to talk to him like Emma talks to me. He reminds me that these are moments with her to cherish because they won't last forever.

4. When Christian wants me to lay with him in bed until he falls asleep: God is reminding me that this isn't a waste of time (when I could be doing laundry or preparing morning sippy cups) that really this is a good time to pray for my precious boy.

5. When I got a bill from the insurance company saying they won't pay for the $600 ultrasound I just had: God is reminding me to be thankful for the healthy baby He's given me. He will provide!

6. When Nate falls asleep in the car and it's not nap time yet (knowing this will probably ruin nap time): God is reminding me to be thankful for the peace that little boy has in his life...despite it all.

7. When Ryan tells me he has to travel for work, for an entire week AGAIN: God is reminding me...I am with you!

Over and over again I can hear that still small voice whispering in my ear and I know that God is with me. He cares about all of this. He cares about what I care about; the crayon on the kitchen table, the Polly Pockets that are everywhere, the price of gas, the Sunday School lesson that I haven't planned yet,

Emma was so excited....

Emma came home from school today so excited because she got to pray for the snack for her class today. Apparently, a boy in her class asked if he could pray for the snack. Emma's teacher said "yes," so Emma piped up and asked if she could pray too! I'm so proud of her for being brave and setting such a good example for everyone. Who knows if the trend will continue, but I think it's great! Emma is also excited because she has surprise visitors coming to have lunch with her tomorrow.

Hiking in the Shenandoah Mountains!

On Saturday we headed down to Virginia to hike in the Shenandoah Mountains. We met my brother Tim and his family there and my parents and Amy and her children traveled down with us. It was quite an eventful day!

Nathan is checking out a few specimens at the visitor's center.
Christian doing his own scientific investigation. Christian and Nate warming up in front of the fire at the visitor's center!
We all hiked to a waterfall called Dark Hollow Falls. To get to the falls you basically had to go down the side of a mountain. That of course means you also have to go straight back up the side of the mountain. Going down was no problem!! The kids were running most of the way. Getting back up was a different story. Christian loved getting a boost from his daddy and Nathan was perfectly content to be carried the entire way by PopPop (my dad).
Amy and Abby in front of Dark Hollow Falls. What a beautiful sight...it was worth the hike!
Emma was the only kid who hiked the entire trail on her own two feet! She loved seeing the waterfall and later in the evening she got to see some deer up close.
Aunt Erin and Amy on the trail.
Taking a little break in the middle of the hike. It was a very chilly day. The high was in the low 40's, but with the wind chill it felt like it was below freezing. However, we warmed up quickly on the trail.
Adam and Hannah got to head down the trail in style. Hannah had injured her foot a few days before so she didn't do much walking. Tim somehow managed to get them back up the mountain before I even arrived at the top.

Abby getting a boost from Uncle Ryan. Look at the incline behind them.
I may be six months pregnant, but I still hiked down the mountain. I got lots of comments from other people passing me on the trail about how they hoped I didn't have the baby on the way back up. I was actually a little worried about that myself, so I really took my time. Christian kept crying because he wanted me to carry him up the mountain. I would still be on that trail if I had to carry him!!! That's what Daddy's are for!!!
PopPop and Adam after the hike!

Ryan enjoying a cup of coffee and some fun company. Look at the beautiful mountains in the background.

Amy and Mom (Grandmom Brinkley)

Uncle Ryan and Emma having a little rest in the leaves after a big picnic lunch.

It took Christian about 3 minutes to fall asleep on the car ride home.

Christian wasn't the only one sleeping. Nathan and Amy were sound asleep too. Look at the two of them. I've always thought Nate looked a lot like his daddy, but I can see a strong resemblance to Amy here too!

Family Fun Night with Our Church Friends

Tonight was the Fall Family Fun Night at our church!! The kids all dressed up and got to go to a place called Funcastle! Christian did not want to wear his costume!! It started out being quite a sad time.
This is Christian saying "No Pooh, No Pooh." He thinks Tigger and Pooh are the same things. It was a rather cold night and we were going to be outside, so I made Christian wear it, despite the tears (am I a tough mom or what?? poor kid). I knew he would quickly get over it, and he did!!
Christian and Jeb hanging out on a turtle! As soon as Christian saw Jeb tonight he ran over to him and gave him a big hug!
Jeb is such a cool friend! He's in third grade but is still gracious enough to hang out and play with Christian. Christian loves the attention. I think Christian especially likes having Jeb as a friend because he can be rough with him and Jeb doesn't cry about it (like Nathan usually does).

Christian and Abby playing in the ball pit!!
It's the bunny and Tigger again!
I just had to include this picture because I just love that little bunny tail of Abby's!

Our little Tigger with his dad.
Christian took Daddy for a "ride" in this truck.
Emma is in the red car and her friend Anessa is in the pink car. Emma and Anessa go to the same school and they are both in the same Sunday School classes. They also go to Good New Club together at school. It's a joy to see their friendship grow.

Emma loves driving her own go kart. She had been looking forward to this for an entire week!
You can hardly see her, but Abby is driving this car. Abby really didn't meet the height requirement, but the staff let her drive anyway. She had to scoot down to be able to reach the pedals. I wasn't actually sure if she was going to be able to steer the car or not, but she did an awesome job and kept up with everyone else!! She didn't even have any major crashes! I guess you just grow up when you turn four.

P.S. Nate came to Funcastle too, I just didn't end up with any pictures of him. Sorry buddy...I'm sure your mommy got some!! Maybe she can email them to me and I'll add them later to this post.

A Fall Party!

Tonight was trick or treat night in our town. Since we don't celebrate Halloween we decided to have a very fun party to celebrate fall instead!! This ended up being such a fun night!! I think this party could become a new tradition.

This party included:

Creating pumpkin magnets

Making brownies and decorating them with candy corn and candy pumpkins.

Eating Pizza

A candy scavenger hunt in the dark with flashlights.

Inviting our special friend Jeb over for all the fun.

Watching a movie!

Abby's colorful pumpkin magnet! Don't you just love those beautiful blue eyes!
Emma and our friend Jeb making their magnets.
Christian arranging the magnets on the fridge.
Everyone getting excited about decorating their brownies!
Nathan decorating his brownie. Notice - no candy actually made it onto the brownie. It's all in his mouth!

Jeb's masterpiece!! (Just a note to all you other bloggers out there....does anyone know how to turn a picture once you've inserted it into your post??) Sorry this is sideways. I don't know how to fix it!

Emma's masterpiece!

The whole gang with their flashlights, just waiting for me to finish hiding the candy.
Everyone got at least one bag of loot! Of course, Emma and Jeb ended up with the most and they were quite proud of it!!

Nathan and Christian with their flashlights in the dark. They're checking out all the candy and being quite selective about what they choose!!

The boys loved their lollipops!! It's the only candy they cared about!

Updates...

I just realized that there are a few things I've blogged about that I should give all of you updates about!

PINK EYE: It looks like all of my insanity yesterday with the Clorox Wipes and antibacterial soap has paid off!!! No one else has gotten pink eye. Emma actually enjoyed having the day to herself. She didn't complain once. She thought it was so cool to eat her meals in my bed (although I did end up with Ketchup and crumbs in my bed...but I was going to change those sheets anyway). Emma watched a ton of TV, a luxury she never gets anymore. Emma also did some school work and read an American Girl book.

BIG BOY BED: Christian has successfully slept in his big boy bed every night since I moved him into it. I think it's been over a week now. He hasn't gotten out of bed once (at night). Nap time is a different story. Christian doesn't cry his head off when I put him down for a nap anymore because he gets up and plays once I've left the room. He has no toys in his room (I've taken them all away), but he still manages to use his imagine. I've found him lining his books up like a train and saying "choo choo." I love it that he's creative - I hate it that he won't nap well!!

BABY CHATTERTON: Our little girl is now almost 24 weeks old. That means I've got 16 weeks until her arrival. She is 11 inches long and I can tell!!! She is so active. I don't think Christian was ever this active! She constantly reminds me that I have five kids to take care of, not just four! There for awhile I didn't have much time to think about being pregnant or her arrival, but now that things have slowed down a little I'm starting to think about getting her room ready and all the things we still need to do before she comes.