RIP shimmer & shiny

RIP Shimmer & Shiny

Well I killed Paityn's fish :(

Their water had not been changed since we bought the darn fish, and for some reason I thought yesterday would be the day to do it.
So I prepped for this moment for 3 days in advance.
I saved big Gatorade jugs (we go through a lot of Gatorade in this house).
I filled them with water and set them aside so the water would all be the same temperature.
I used the drops to clear the water of whatever the freak those drops clean the water of. (Clean water? Really?)
I put the fish in a small bowl of their own water.
Cleaned the tank, cleaned the rocks, changed the filter, everything I knew to do I did it.
Put the fish back in their tank and with in 2 hours they were both belly up!
For some reason the sucker fish is still alive and doing fine but Shimmer and Shiny both had to be flushed to the BIG SEA!!

YUMMMMMMMMM

I owed a good friend a THANK YOU for forgiving me/Merideth is a dumb ass/APOLOGY!!!

I knew she loved Banana Pudding!!

I also knew I had never made Banana Pudding before!!
So I turned to my fb peeps,
got some recipes,
printed out the recipe,
went to store bought everything,
came home and started making it!!

YUM!!
It turned out AWESOME!!
It is delicious!!

I ended up making two batches, one as a gift, and one for my hubby and children. Looks like I will have to make it more often! I had no idea everyone liked banana pudding!

"Ma Ma Ma Ma Ma"

I got it!!
I got it on video tonight!!!
We all went out to Chic Fil A for dinner before going grocery shopping. While we were there Abbi decided to start saying Ma Ma over and over. Then she was not only saying it but she started screaming it!! I could not have cared less about any one in the restaurant eating dinner, I was so darn excited about Abbi saying MA MA MA!!!

Moving on up!!!

Abbi is Moving on UP!!!
Literally!!!
Abbi can now stand up on her own without holding on to anything!!
She gets in a squat position, then just lifts her body with her leg muscles!
It is so fun to watch!! I remember Katrina doing it the same exact way!!
I don't think I could stand up like this if my life depended on it.
Check her out!!



I also got her to say "Ma-Ma" yesterday!! It was very exciting for me!!
But I do not understand why she is in such a hurry to grow up.

Clay Vacay!!!

Clay decided to take a week off this month!! He had built up vacation days and his boss said this month was their slowest month so if he was going to take a vacay now would be a good time. Kids tracked out Friday and Clay took the whole first week of track out off!!
It has been so much fun!!
Half day of school on Friday, and Carly came home sick.
Saturday I went to U.S. National White Water in Charlotte. Came home to Clay and Abbi sick!!

Monday we went to the Museum of Life and Science in Durham.
(I have to share the "Paityn-ism" from this trip! We were in the Butterfly house checking out all the insects and butterflies. When we walked out of the actual room where the butterflies were Paityn found a door that was all fogged so people couldnt see in. Paityn started messing with the lock and trying to get in. Clay said "Paityn you can not go in there." Paityn of course answered with "Why?" Clay says "Well, thats where they keep dead people." Paityn then shrugged her shoulders and in total Paityn brilliance said "Oh" and kept walking, like every building has dead people in it. Oh it still makes me laugh out loud!)
Tuesday we went to Ritter Park in Cary. (funny "Paityn-ism" from this trip; a group of kids were playing Hide & Seek, when it was Paityn's turn to hide the seeker walked right by her and Paityn chimes in with "I'm right here ya'know!") After a fun trip to the park we decided to hit the new yogurt bar in Holly Springs called Yogurt Fushion. It was alright.
Wednesday we hung out here and cleaned out the whole garage then took a trip to the dump. I have many hopes and dreams regarding what I want to do with this garage. It is a one car garage. You can totally fit a car in there but good luck trying to open your door!! So we never park in here. We just store all our junk in here. My dream is to build it in. Turn it into Jacob's room and then separate the girls into the 2 bedrooms upstairs. Its just a matter of getting our money tree to sprout!!
Thursday morning we went into Cary and hit Michaels to get crafts for Saturday. We also went by my favorite frozen yogurt dive in Cary called "Skinny Dip". You serve yourself from a variety of different flavors of frozen yogurt, then you head over to the toppings bar and load up on all sorts of toppings to choose from, place it on the scale and its .39 cents per ounce! YUM!! After yogurt we headed over to "The Meat House" to get some steaks for dinner. After all that we hung out and played outside in the sprinkler and swimming pool.
Friday we went to the NC Zoo in Asheboro. It was so much fun! We got to see so many different animals. This zoo is so different then the zoo in DC that I grew up going to. The animals at the zoo in Ashboro have ACRES to roam around in. The National Zoo in DC all the animals are in little pens and it is so depressing seeing the Tigers just walk back and forth out of boredom! The food was SUPER expensive (sorta figured that when the sign out front said "no outside coolers allowed", but the tram was FREE so that was a bonus) We did exactly what the zoo web site said to do and parked at the N. America side, took the tram to Africa and do that whole side first. Had some lunch then jumped back on the free tram and headed to N. America. When you get to N America side there is a small but really fun play ground that the kids really enjoyed! We visited as many animals as we could before Katrina (ready for nap) and Mom (woke up sick) had had enough.
Saturday was Dillard craft day due to Hurricane Irene. Jacob picked out some wood model kits to put together and paint, Carly picked out 2 clay horses to paint, Paityn got a variety box of crafts and Katrina got paint. The fun was never ending!!
We have had so much fun with Clay home this week! He really is a hands on Daddy! He loves getting into whatever the kids are getting into! He loves being a Daddy more than anything else in life! He has really put work on the back burner this week which has been absolutely AMAZING!! and a little SHOCKING to be honest!!
Having him go back to work on Monday is going to be tough on all of us. I don't know what I am going to do for the rest of track out with all these kids all to myself!?!?
Maybe we will go visit him every day and take him for walks around Regency Lake and bring him lunch etc.......
I feel so blessed to have Clay as my husband and Father of our gifts from God!!

End of the Moo-Moo Cow

So ends another chapter in my life.
I called this chapter "Moo-Moo Cow"
All 5 of my babies have been breast fed babies. I must say it is my absolute favorite part of the whole experience. There is something about it I just cant explain. It is a closeness that no words could really describe. My therapist called it my "high". Gotta say he is/was right. It is a "high" for me.
Each child cut me off on their own. My plan was always for at least 1 year, but none of them have made it that long. Jacob cut me off at 7 months but I had so much frozen and stored that I think he actually did get breast milk for his whole first year. Carly cut me off at 7 months. Paityn 9 months, Katrina 10 months and well looks like Abbi has cut me off and she will be 9 months in a week.
The "Moo-Moo Cow" Chapter of my life has come to an end.
Since Abbi is my last baby there will be no more.
I have enjoyed this chapter the most so far! I loved pregnancy but I hated pregnancy as well. There is not a single thing about breast feeding that I hated. I even got mastitis with Abbi and let me tell you that HURTS!! Worse then any pain I have ever felt before!! But even suffering through that. there is nothing about this chapter that I hated. Mastitis was no fun, getting bit hurts A LOT, especially once teeth are present, but nothing I hated.
In fact I love it so much I begged Clay to find the breast feeding channel in the delivery room during Abbi's birth. He never found it, but it did keep him busy and out of my face ;) !! I love my husband I really do. The only time I have ever wanted him on another planet was during delivery!

Good-Bye Moo-Moo Cow!! Thank you God for giving me the ability to do this for each of my children. It has been a true gift!

Some of Gods greatest gifts

"Some of God's greatest gifts are unanswered prayers."
This is a line in a country song. So very true!
I would also have to say that some of God's greatest gifts beside my husband and children of course would be my SIBLINGS!! I love my siblings! There was a time when I wouldnt have dared say that. If you knew my siblings you would know why!! HA HA HA HA HA
No but seriously I just spent yesterday with 2 of my siblings, Karen & Garet at a White Water Rafting place in Charlotte, NC and let me tell you it was the most fun I have had in quite some time!! Garet went to this place for his birthday and posted some pictures of it! I commented on his pictures about how I wanted to go, he commented back that he was going again next month and I invited myself in a heartbeat!! He said OK!! BONUS!! Then I asked if I could ask our other siblings if maybe they wanted to go. Karen said YES!! BONUS!! Two of my favorite people!! We had SO MUCH FUN!! We got there at 10am, our raft time was 12 so we went and got in line to do the Mega Zip Line. The line was LONG to say the least and not really moving at all. Garet did not want to wait in line, so he took me on a tour while Karen waited in line for us. Garet walked me down to the lazy river where they do Kayaking and Paddle boarding, then we went back to Karen. She said a guy had just walked by and said it would be 2 hours so we got out of line and grabbed some cheese burgers in the cafe and chatted about life. It was NICE!! I guess that is what growing up does to sibling relationships! After we ate we walked around a bit more then waited for our 12 o'clock rafting call. Once we got in the raft Garet put Karen and I up front! He really wanted us to get popped/bounced out. The instructor got on and started giving us a quick lesson and I was nick named "Squirt"!! Anyways we got to going on the first easiest course and guess who fell out!!! NOT ME!!! BONUS!! It was KAREN!! My older sister!! BONUS!! What younger sister doesnt want to see her older sister get thrown from the raft! I mean honestly!!
We went down the rapids 5 times and had an absolute ball!! It was so much fun. Then we went and waited to get kayaks down at the river. Kayak was no where near as exciting as the rafting but at least now I can say that I have done it. After that we went back and waited in line to do the Mega Zip Line. While waiting in line Garet says he is going to go check something out and he disappears. Next thing you know he is back and stating that the Mega Jump had "No line"! Only a little brother can make an older sister eat her words so well! Earlier in the day I had made fun of a lady that had the whole line cheering for her so she would go ahead and jump. She never did and turned around and went back like a sucker! So I stupidly made the comment "That doesnt seem so high. I would jump it. I mean come on, you are securely attached." As a matter of fact after kayaking we saw this woman walk by and Karen even made a comment and we all chuckled. So when Garet came back with "There's no line" I couldn't NOT jump! No way am I letting my LITTLE brother 1 up me like that. So I go back there and get the harness on and head up the steps. The whole time uttering profanity towards my little brother under my breath!! I get up there and if Garet had not been standing down there I so would have said FUDGE THIS and walked back down, but there was Garet with a smile from ear to ear laughing his butt off and yelling something at me!! When that guy told me to step up to the red dots I really wished I could do an Adriane Famous Spit surprise right on Garets face!! Here is a picture of me jumping!! Notice the mouth wide open the WHOLE way down!! I honestly can not believe I did it!! The dude told me to bend my knees for my landing but my legs were jello by the time I got to the bottom I feel right down! Laid on my back! And just laughed while letting out a huge sigh of relief that was over! Now looking back I wish I had gone back up and done it one more time just to totally conquer that fear but there will be a next time. After I jumped Karen jumped! Watching her jump was so much fun! The cry she let out as she was free falling was priceless!! God I love my siblings! Finally it was our turn to zipline!! I must say it was fun but honestly not worth the 2 hour wait in line. The zip only lasted maybe 45 seconds at that! It was neat and a little scary and I am totally glad I did it while there but we could have spent that 2 hours doing the ropes course. So next time it will be a week day so we can do EVERYTHING there to do!!

The day was awesome!! Absolutely AWESOME!! We all had a lot of fun! I am so blessed to have the siblings I have! God has truly blessed me!!