Hangin with Bampa-- :)

So Monday mom had to go to Pat Moores funeral in Channing, Texas and dad came over to help me out with the kiddos and we all went to Quail Springs!  We did two laps around the mall and then went to have some lunch.  It was pretty much the usual mall outing.  then when we got home, dad played "get me" with Jace for a little bit and i helped kyndal run back and forth with them a few times.  she did REALLY good.  she is going to be walking in no time!  she thought it was so fun too! 

then we played in the chair in jaces room and rocked back and forth...thats the first time weve played that game since Kyndal fell over the side of the chair.  they loved it!!  after dad left it wasnt long before josh got home!  then he had to get cleaned up and head up to the school for parent teacher conference with Mrs. Chapman!  she said Carter is doing GREAT!!  i am so happy for him! :) 

i made some green beans for dinner and got jace chickfila and me a cookie parfait...which is the most delicious thing at chickfila, in case you werent aware! ;)  then we went on a walk and played outside til time for bed.  i cant wait for kyndal to be able to walk!  she wants to do so much and always wants to participate with jace but its hard for her to have to crawl over the ground outside.  i know she will soon though!!!

This morning we all went on another walk, which i LOVE!!!!  i love those walks early in the morning!  theyre perfect!  the weather is perfect!  we get to usually see the geese!  on fridays we get to see the trash truck!  its just all around GREAT!!  i am so happy josh goes with us! 

after that, when mom got here, we left for Sooner mall!  the mall has been a pretty go-to spot for us, because i get to get some walking in there while the kids are occupied in their strollers or playing!  mom let jace play in the play area today!  then when i got done i took kyndal over there and let her join him for a bit!  after that, we had lunch and it was the mall as usual! :) 

from there we headed to Target and picked up a few random things that we both needed!  there we decided to have dinner at mom and dads so we got stuff for spaghetti!  later when i got to mom and dads, josh wasnt there quite yet, so we (me, dad, jace and kyndal) all took a walk to go see "kissy" aka prissy, the neighbors dog!  jace was so excited that she was out and she gave him lots of kisses!  then we headed back to their house for dinner and showers! 

now were home and all the kids are in bed and ready to relax for a few short hours before bed time and then doing it all over again!!  wouldnt trade it for ANYthing!!! 

tomorrow i am going to walk at the school after drop off with denisha and then mom and i get to keep diesel for kristin so she can go to her father in laws funeral!  should be a fun day!!

Weekend Update! :)

So we never get to sleep in these days!  i have to say, i wouldnt have minded getting a few extra hours on saturday morning, but at the same time, i wouldnt trade it for anything.  Kyndal is so sweet in the mornings.  i usually bring her in to my bed around 6:00 so that she will sleep for a little while longer.  then when she wakes up for good, she will crawl back and forth from me to Josh giving us kisses and telling us hi--"iiiii-ahhhh" is how she says it.  that prolly wont make sense to anyone who hasnt heard her actually say it, but those of us that have--it makes perfect sense! :)

anywho, after we woke up (around 7ish) i went in to get Jace up and of course triston and carter were already awake too.  (where in the world do kids get their internal alarm clocks???)  but the kids all ate some breakfast while i read my Bible and did a few other "morning" things like get jace and kyndal fed and give them their drinks and random things like that.

after breakfast and a little bit of down time, josh took triston and carter out in the garage to build a shelf for their room!  they LOVED it! :)  while they were doing that i took Jace and Kyndal out back to play.  i kept Kyndal in her pen for a little bit but i eventually let her get out and mess her clothes all up by crawling all around the dirty ground!  i knew they were going to be heck to get all cleaned up, but they had a blast! :) 

so when they got tired of playing outside i took them both in for a bath.  its not the easiest thing giving a toddler and a baby a bath together, but it is doable! :)  Jace LOVED it and Kyndal just splashed her heart out like she always does.  needless to say i was fairly wet when we finally got finished in there!  Jace thought it was a good idea to pour a cup of water on to my pants...i didnt think it was such a good plan :)  but they played for a while in the bath.  when i got them out and got them all dressed again, we headed off to Chickfila to pick up some lunch for the fam!

After lunch time it was nap time for Jace!  However, he ran out of his bottle about 4-5 minutes after he had fallen asleep...which is a recipe for disaster!!  he woke up and REFUSED to go back to sleep again!  so i had him sit in there with me and be quiet (YEAH RIGHT) and just watch Mickey Mouse for a while.  He really actually did pretty well with it!  he watched almost a whole episode with me and he kept asking "are we almost done?"  i tried to doze off here and there, but seemed like anytime i did he would say somethin!  oh well!  the way it goes i guess :)
Brooke came to get Triston and Carter for a birthday party around 5ish and after that we went to dinner at lupes with mom and dad.  When we got home we went for a walk and then got the kids in bed! 
Sunday morning we got everyone up and got ready for church.  we met brooke and chris up at the northwest campus this morning beacuse we had to get the boys back!  we had fazolis for lunch, but mason was really fussy so we kinda all hurried thru our meals and headed out.  dropped jace off at judges with mom and dad so they could nap him and play with him for a while.  i came home and the boys took a nap and josh and i talked for a little while and then i sat down and watched a little of the devil wears prada....what an awful person the boss lady is in that movie.  MAN!!!  crazy! 

Josh has been making "swords" for a play for Tristons class.  he is doing there really cute.  i am going to try to put a few finishing touches on them when theyre all done! 

i have been thinking about jenni and the kufahl family alot lately.  My heart is so broken for their whole family.  Craig talked about compassion today and being able to feel it "in your bowels" which was weird, but in an odd way, i understood it.  i literally ache internally for coach kufahl and all his kids.  so many things children NEED a mother for and they will not have one.  sure, they have several people who would LOVE to fill that role for them and will try to be there for them as they grow up, but not any single person, no matter how hard they may try, can fill the role of Jenni!  Why God?  Why do they not get to have her?  there are several other people that had cancer and lived...why didnt Jenni get that opportunity???  today is mrs merrells birthday...her first birthday without jenni.  last week, brody broke his arm...without his mom there to hug him and kiss him and make it all better.  i just dont understand it.  period.  end of story.  i never will.  why God?  i want to ask Him that.  but if there is no pain or sadness in Heaven, i will never get to ask Him.  because this subject will always make me sad.  hopefully there is a reason and hopefully one day i will really know what it is.  its not that i dont have faith and KNOW that His ways are higher than mine, i just wish that loving people didnt have to bring such heartache along with it.  that is probably one of the hardest things humans have to deal with--love and loss.  death is difficult.  so hopefully Jesus will just come on back before anyone else i know dies. 

well, a bit of a debbie downer note to end this one on.  sorry about that!  but hope its a great day!!  til next time :)

Almost the Weekend!!

Today was Triston's field trip to the Sam Noble Museum then to eat lunch at Cicis!  Josh went with him and they both had lots of fun.  Turns out, Josh hung out with the kids quite a bit while the adults talked with the teachers.  But that is a good thing, Josh is kind of a big kid his own self! :)

As for mom and i and the babies, we met babaw and grandad at the mall.  We got there and got all our food and sat down to eat.  wasnt too long before babaw was telling me all the things i needed to do for Kyndal...as if i had never fed her lunch without her there to assist. #frustrating 

Then Jace was fussin over wanting to go "ride" the purple dump truck (which is one of those lame "pay $.75 to ride something that barely moves for about 30 seconds" things) so we did that and then he rode the helicopter too...and then the green race car (which actually kind of scared him)  but that was a total of $2.50 that ill never get back.  but actually only $2.25 on my part...Grandad put in a quarter, so thats somethin ;) 

Anywho, after that we went up to the play area where Jace and Kyndal had lots of fun.  I was just waiting for something to go all wrong though...  so there happened to be a little girl there about 2, maybe 2.5 in a longer dress.  she was there with her dad.  anyway, because of her dress, she couldnt play very well.  So i was kinda watchin her and feelin a little sad for her, but nothing major, just figured her dad had it under control. so as im walking over to mom, babaw is getting up walking towards her dad.#ohdear  so i ask mom what she is doing and mom said "shes going to tell that dad to tie her dress up so she can play better."#whatthehell   "who does that?" you may be asking?  BABAW, THATS WHO!!  lol! 

so then i went into the PINK store to see if they had a rubber band to help her out and come out to find jace standing up out of the play area holding grandads hand and i hear they are going to "go drive" which didnt thrill me.  Mom said she told grandad to hold jaces hand the whole way inside and outside.  #hebetter  so anyway, after that we went to the car and grandad and babaw brought jace around to where we were parked.  it seemed like there was tension in the car when i went to get Jace out though.  weird. 

but anyways, then we headed home and came to my house for a quick nap for Jace..and ME :)  when he got up josh and triston were home and so jace played around with them for a few, before he left with mom. 

a little later i met Angela at Shape Fitness for a spin class.  the instructors name was Rachael, spelled the same as mine! :)  but it was a great class and she was awesome!  She told us she would be willing to meet us up at the gym any time we wanted her to.  NICE!!  She also teaches several classes around okc so i am totally going to go to more of hers.  she does interval training, spin, and turbo kickboxing.  so i will work on going to more of those!  next wednesday we are going to try her interval training class before zumba! 

After all that i went to pick up Jace and Kyndal and came home and it was bed time!  Jace was so funny as i was putting him in bed.  he cracked me up!  He had been talking to me for a little bit while i was trying to get him to go to sleep, so i told him "okay bubba, i am going to put you in your crib if you dont close your eyes and go night night."  he said "NOOOO!!!!" and the continued chattin it up! :)  so i talked with him for a little bit longer and then i said "okay, im going to put you in your crib" and he goes "nooo!!  im closing my eyes....(as he closed his eyes)....SEE?  RIGHT THERE!"  hahaha!  i cracked up, so of course he started laughing and opened his eyes right back up too!  How can you be mad at such a little sweetheart?!?  anyway, i finally put him down and all was well!  he is fast asleep now, with his precious self! :)

thats about it from round here!  seems like alot for one day, lol!  but anyway, have a lovely evening! 

Here We Go Again!

OKAY!  So yesterday wasnt all that exciting, but Jace and Kyndal were so sweet to each other in the morning.  I was even able to snap a quick pic of Jace giving Kyndal a kiss!  LOVE!!!

But mom and I went out to Penn Square for lunch and i walked around there for 30 minutes before we ate.  After we left the mall, while the kids were napping, we went to look at the $2 million home in the Parade of Homes and WOW!!  it was quite nice!  i wouldnt mind moving in! :)  Then we went to another house in the "parade" and took the kids in at this one.  They had an upstairs, so of course going up the steps was all Jace wanted to do.  Sooooo, he and I went up of course!  It was quite nice.  There was a nice theater room that was decked out in Thunder stuff.  Jace and I got a pic in there, but you cant really tell anything about the actual room, LOL!

So after we got done there, we ran home to finish Carissa's wreath all quick and in a hurry.  I had to go to Zumba with Angela at 6 and we didnt get home until about 4:15 and i had to finish her wreath and get up to dad's office because he needed me to do something with my log on at the office.  So i left around 5 and dropped Kyndal off with mom and headed to dads office.  I got there and finally got logged on and i had abount 3,000 emails.  LOTS of junk!  So i did what dad needed me to and chatted with him for a quick second, then Angela and i took off for ZUMBA!  Its been a LONG time since we have been, but it was FUN!!  we are going to keep that up!  There is also a spin class on Fridays, so we are going to give that a go tomorrow night!  wish me luck :) 

As for today, i got up bright and early for the Homeroom Mothers meeting.  It was very informative and pretty much ALL about the Fall Festival!  So it lasted quite a while and poor mom was in the car with the kids and im sure they were fresh outta patience by the time we FINALLY finished.  After that Carissa came out to the car to get her wreath and she loved it!!  YAY!!  i was happy she liked it!  then i ran the box tops for Triston and Carter in to their classes and ran around to try to find Coach Kufahl.  he was of course on the third floor....and those stairs are just as annoying as i remembered, LOL!  But he happened to embarrass me just a smidge.  He was very nice though!  he just goes "Rachael...Muecke...Parrish.  Rachael.  Muecke.  She was in 8th grade when i started here and her and her family put on a baby shower at the Muecke home for Maddie before she was born.  she and her family have been a blessing to our family for many years...what can i do for you Rach?"  so i was kind of flustered and i just said "uhhhm so when is a good time for me to come talk with you?"  he said he is off 1st and 2nd hours and so i told him i would try to get up there early some day soon and go over some stuff with him.  i didnt even think to get his email or anything like that (sorry lindsey)  i blame him for making me uncomfortable, LOL!  but anywho, after we got outta the school, we headed up to Quail this time.  i walked again for 30 minutes before we had our lunch and then after lunch we played at the little play area for a little bit.

Jace was, as usual, FEARLESS!!  Made me crazy.  he was jumping off the bridge that was TOO HIGH, but i just let him go!  hes crazy though.  one of the other moms was like "WOW, hes not afraid is he?"  SO TRUE!

then we went down to get my drink refilled and Jace had to ride the purple dump truck, so kyndal and him rode in it.  they seemed to enjoy it, but it didnt last as long as either of them would have preferred.  They both cried when we went back to the elevator.

So then we headed for home and they napped in the car.  i dropped mom off and we came in for a few minutes.  jace played some basketball outside and i painted a few more cabinets inside and dad hung out with kyndal for a minute.   then we came home, picked up Josh and went to Cheddars for a little family dinner.  (i got a caesar salad, wooo)  and after that, we went to Dicks to look around!  Jace loved putting the hats on, Kyndal however, was not amused, haha!  when we got home, we took a walk and then came home to get the kids down and thats that!  another day, another dolla!! :)  thats a wrap!

Howdy Ho, Ranger Joe!

So yesterday was Monday and I am officially making a lifestyle change and eating better and working out on a daily basis. more on that later.  Mom and dad had to end up going to see Jeff to try to get the plans for their house finalized.  So Jace, Kyndal and I went to go see my old friends Zack and Cortney Brewers' new house.  Josh was working there and so he said we should come out there and check it out.  so we did!! :) 

Cortney showed us all around the house.  they did great!  they had built it from the ground, up and it was beautiful! :)  I also had told jace that if he acted right over there that we would get him a blue icee afterwards and HE DID GREAT!!!!  He acted so good and zack and cortney said how cute he was a few times :)  always makes me happy when he does good!!! 

Zack brought out their 4wheeler and josh took jace out for a ride on it and then josh and chris went and while they were gone, zack told me he was going to "make my husband pee his pants" and so when they got back zack went over there and told josh "one more time" and so he got in the drivers seat and josh got in!  we heard them hollerin as they went thru the track and then when josh got back he said "I'm not gonna lie, I was scared!"  hahaha!  so it sounded like they all had fun! 

so after all the fun and games, me and the kids left!  the first 7-11 I came to jace was fussin like crazy for me to turn in and get him his icee, so of course, I did! :) 

So, from there I headed up to Quail Springs to wait on mom and dad.  I had just pulled in the parking lot when dad called and asked where to go.  So we met them down in the food court and dad stayed and had some lunch with us!  then we headed back home and swung by some Parade of Homes houses on the way as the kids were napping.  Josh didn't end up getting home til pretty late, but when he got home, we took a walk.  the weather has been beautiful lately, so I am trying to take advantage of it! :) 

Now for today, Tuesday, this morning first thing when we woke up, we all 4 took a walk!  it was a little chilly but it was fun!  I hope we start doing that more often!!  I drank 4 bottles of water by the time mom got here too!  so needless to say, I had to go to the bathroom a few times after we left the house!  lol! 

so when mom got here we took off to Hobby Lobby to get a few things for Carissa's fall wreath she is wanting.  After that we went to Wal-Mart.  Time always seems to FLY in wally world.  We shopped and I got lots of healthy stuff and hopefully stuff I can snack on BESIDES oreos!!  We grabbed some lunch and then came home for nap time. 

When Jace woke up we began to work on the wreath for Carissa and Jace and Kyndal were kind of making it difficult to concentrate.  Jace was wanting to throw the ball back and forth with mom and so I just decided we could save that for tomorrow.  So we put everything up and then I followed mom and the kids to her house and I started painting the cabinets.  I am learning how to paint with that glaze better and better as I go and I hope it turns out great!  I cant wait to see it when its all done.  There are so many little ornate areas that make me nervous, but I am hoping it will turn out wonderful! :) 

Josh and the boys came over after he had his parent teacher conference with Mrs. Fowler and we all had spaghetti for dinner.  (I had the whole wheat kind, which is actually really good!!)  After dinner we went on a short little walk after the kids had played for a while!  I LOVED it!!  Jace ran with Triston and Carter and I tried to keep up with him while Josh pushed Kyndal in the stroller!  when we got back, josh took the boys on home and I stayed to bathe Jace and Kyndal real quick.  I took Jace back to shower in their big shower and mom bathed miss Kyndal!  we had it done in a flash! :)  now im home and the kids are all clean and in bed and im ready to go there myself!

So lastly, as for my new "lifestyle change" I have downloaded the app "My Fitness Pal" and it keeps a log of your food you've eaten and you enter all your info and it tells you how many calories you should be eating and it keeps track of exercise and water and all that good stuff.  I am going to REALLY try to branch out and try stuff that I have never tried before and hopefully I will like it so it will be a little easier and I will have a little more variety!  I got some quinoa (keen-wah) to try because I have heard its really good for you and I tried some green tea today and its fantastic!  I really like it!  mom wasn't crazy about it, but I was expecting it to be terrible, so I was pleasantly surprised!  but it is supposed to boost your metabolism and we all know mine could use some boostin!!  I have been having grapefruit for breakfast and planning on trying to do zumba with angela when she can and then going walking with josh or denesha or by myself as often as I can!!  I am making it a goal to work out at least 30 minutes a day and I am hoping to fit back in my jeans (where theyre not super tight) by Halloween!  yes, I know that is a ways away, but I am not going to rush this because I really want to stick with it and not fail.  so it has to be maintainable and I have to be okay if I mess up here and there.  so anyways, that's all!  hope yall had a great day!  check ya lata! :)

Update!

Well it was a little bit of a slower weekend!  It was Brookes weekend with Triston and Carter so that always makes for a little less going on around the house!  So anyhow, on Saturday, my lovely husband had to work.  So mom came over around 11 and I had the kids ready to go to Jay's wedding shower and so we messed around here for a little bit then we headed up to ChickFilA to get Jace and Kyndal and mom and I some lunch!  We sat in the Kohls parking lot to eat it real quick and as we were eating a guy pulled up next to us and motioned for me to roll the window down.  I didn't know what to do, so I just rolled it down a little bit to see what was up.  Of course, he said he had been to every church in the vicinity and his wife was pregnant and they were just needing $13.86 to add to what they had to get their hotel room for the night.  weird.  But I felt bad, so I ended up giving him $8 and telling him good luck.  Then after a little bit we saw him still driving around the area so I decided to call the Midwest City police and have them come catch up with him!  He was only asking women.  At one point he was waiting to ask a mom who was putting her stroller in the back of her car and her husband came out of Chick-fil-a and off he went.  So that's a little weird.

But after all that nonsense, we went to Jays shower deal.  I got to see alot of people I hadn't seen in quite a while!!  Mark Richards, Taylor Ortiz, Jay, and Derek Nickell were the ones who i knew there.  It was good seeing them all and kind of catching up.  We of course had Jace and Kyndal so we didn't get to stay the whole time because it was Jaces naptime and he doesn't act the greatest around then.  After the shower we didn't really do much.  Mom took Jace and then when Josh and Chris got home i went with Josh to take Chris to his house and we went to Penn Square afterwards to get my toenails fixed and then came on back and picked Jace up and headed home to get the kids in bed! 

Sunday morning came awful quick...  Jace woke up in the middle of the night a little scared again, but was fairly easy to get back down, so that was good.  As for Kyndal, she wakes up every night and I ended up bringing her in my room around 2 because she had already been up 3 times.  So I figured it'd be a much smoother night with her close by then having to get up every time!  however, when we all got up, as Josh and I were getting ready, Jace and Kyndal were playing with each other by the bed and they were being SO SWEET to each other!  it was so awesome!  i love when they do that! :)  makes me smile!

but anywho, we went to Lifechurch on the nw expressway because Brooke has the boys.  The message is still #struggles and even Chris commented at lunch how good the messages in this series have been! :)  I am so happy they have been coming so often!  Kyndal didn't do well during the service so they had to call us out and i went and got her and took her to the "Nursing Mothers Room" and watched the rest of the service in there.  After church we went to Olive Garden for lunch and it was delicious as usual!  Then we came home and took it pretty easy.  Went to mom and dads for dinner and that about wraps up today!  So there ya have it!  Pretty easy going weekend with us! :)  Thats all folks!! ;)

God is So Awesome :)

Hey kids! :)  Ill just hop right in!  So yesterday, Kyndal and I went to the State Fair with dad and the State Farm crew!  It was so fun!  Although I didn't get a whole lot to eat I still enjoyed it.  I only had a corn dog and some cookie dough! YUM!  It was all so insanely expensive!  CRAZY!  Dad, Kyndal and I went through all the buildings there and were done with lots of time to spare, so we went to a little "café" there and sat inside because it was so hot and just drank our drinks and talked!  it was a good time! :)  Afterwards, I went to moms and Babaw and Grandad were there finishing up their visit so I got to see them for a little bit then we went back to my house and I napped Jace!  After his nap all he wanted was a "blue icee from Target!!"  so off we went! :)  While we were out we grabbed some Chickfila for dinner too! 

So later, as I was laying down to go to bed I got freaked out and scared and kept hearing things making me afraid, so I prayed and prayed about God not giving me a spirit of fear, but of power and love and of a sound mind and saying greater is HE that is in me than he that is in the world and so I was able to fall asleep finally and be fine.  however, about an hour later, Jace wakes up SCREAMING and crying.  it was NOT a typical cry, it was a terrified cry, so I ran in to his room to see what was going on.  I picked him up when I got in there and held him and rocked him for a few minutes until I heard Kyndal crying too.  (Great.)  so I went to put him back in his crib and he FOUGHT ME SO HARD for all he was worth.  He pushed his feet against the edge of his crib and just said "NO!! NO!! NO!!!"  so there was NO WAY I was going to do that to him!  so I took him in the living room and had to wake josh up and told him I needed help and I needed him to get Kyndal for me because I had to handle Jace.  So Jace and I went back to his room and I sat in the chair to rock him back to sleep and I started praying for God to get the spirit of fear off of my son and pleading with God to give him a sound mind, a spirit of love, a spirit of peace and all that.  I was basically praying and begging God to give my son peace for about 5 minutes.  (I really didn't want to have to sleep in the chair with him because of him being so scared...and trust me, that's happened before!!)  So anyhow, I was praying, praying, praying and then finally I decided to give it a try and see if he would go in his crib, and.......HE DID!!!  Not only did he go down in his crib, he didn't fuss, or even whine or say a single word.  He was a completely different boy from the one from 5 minutes ago!!!  It was awesome!!!  I was so excited!!  I walked outta the room thanking God so much because I knew it was all HIM!!  I was pretty much in awe!!  That is the fastest I have ever seen God work! :)  So I was able to go lay back down instead of sleeping the whole night in the rocking chair and I was very happy about that!! :)

Friday morning Jace and I went to Sooner Mall with Denesha and Fielder Bryan!  She is the homeroom mom for Carters class and Fielder and Jace are the same age and they played and had so much fun!  

So did I!  I really like Denesha and she is hilarious!  I enjoyed it a lot and I was hoping they had fun too!  then after we left, she sent me a text saying it was really fun, which made me happy! :)  She and I are going to walk after we drop the kids off on Wednesdays, so im excited for that too!  then afterwards, jace and I went back to moms house and picked up her and Kyndal and headed to get Jace another blue icee from Target! :)  The majority of that evening I spent at mom and dads house painting, or I guess "glazing" the cabinets!  I am really liking the way it is turning out!!!  so woohoo for that!  Josh came there after he got off work and daddy brought Chequers home for dinner for us all!  it was a lovely evening had by all :)

Well, that's about all I have to report on!  This weekend we will not have Triston and Carter so I am not really sure what we are going to do!  Hopefully itll be fun though!  catch ya lata!!

Thank you, PINTEREST!

SOO I am so excited that I found out how to fix my kitchen cabinets!!!  WAHOO for sure!!!  I read about it on, none other than pinterest, and it WORKED!!!!  I used the antiquing glaze, I wiped it on with a towel and then I wiped the "excess" off with another clean towel and it looks awesome!!  it is exactly what I have been going for.  I am thrilled with how it turned out!  what do you think?

Later on, around 2:00 I remembered that I had to send cupcakes to school with Triston Wednesday (the next day) for Constitution Day.  I am nothing if not a last minute QUEEN!  Not good but judge all you want ;) so off to Buy for Less we went.  I got a white cake mix, red and blue food coloring, red and blue gel icing, and white whipped icing (which is bomb, btw)  So I got all that stuff so that I could follow my pinterest idea that I had!  They had made the icing to look kind of like a firework.  adorable, right!?  So I mixed up the cake and then dyed the cupcake batter red and blue, so it would be cute of course!  then I baked them and went to pick up the boys from school, then came back to mom and dads house to finish up!  we had pizza over there for dinner and the boys all played outside while I finished up being Betty Crocker! :)  But all that to say, I am so proud of the way they turned out.  just call me Rachael Ray!  ha!  but the fireworks on top turned out SO CUTE!!  here is proof!

Anyhow, on to a sadder story.  this morning I was playing with Kyndal and Jace rocking them back and forth in the red chair, a game they LOVE!  they always just crack up the whole time and Kyndal always falls back hard and Jace always wants to "fall off" the front edge of the chair.  so anyhow, today my phone rang and I looked down for what couldn't have been more than 2 seconds and Kyndal darted to the side of the chair and went over the arm rest and fell head first down to the floor.  I KNOW!!! AWFUL!!!!  my heart broke.  she looked so helpless.  we both cried.  hard.  I hated it and I cant imagine how she felt!!  needless to say, that game is not happening any more EVER!!  THANK THE LORD that she wasn't seriously injured.  I am so grateful that He had an angel there helping her out when I failed to.  :( 

Today when the boys got home from school Carter was so sad.  I asked him what was wrong and he said he had a bad day!  Josh has a deal going with Triston and Carter both, that if they have 30 good days in a row that he will buy them a Nerf gun that they really want which has appeared to work great because they have both had 2 solid weeks of good days!  SO good for them! :)  however, today Carter got a red dot (had a bad day) because he opened one of the other kids' friends presents.  So he got in trouble from Mrs. Chapman and had to miss some recess time.  He was the most upset about getting the red dot.  Mrs. Chapman told me he was so sad and crying at recess and just so upset about having a bad day.  So anyhow, we came in and sat down for dinner and I let him pray and he asked God to forgive him for it too!  So that was awesome!!!  so josh and I decided to give him grace on this one and let it go and if he continues having good days that this one bad day wont make him not get his Nerf gun!  he was soooo excited! :)  He has truly been doing GREAT!!  it makes me so happy that he is progressing like he is! 

so anyhow, that should have us caught up now!  have a lovely evening!  be back soon! :)

Weekend Update

well we had a lovely weekend here at the Parrish household!  it was absolutely BEAUTIFUL weather so we got to be outside quite a bit!  Carter had "Freddy the Frog" and he was supposed to take him everywhere we went thru the weekend...whiiiiich didn't work out so well.  we took him to Lifegroup on Sunday night and that's about it.  lol! 

Friday night my dear sister came to town, so we all had steak at mom and dads house that night.  Charlene came to join us.  it was pretty close to mass chaos the entire time, but it was still fun!!  I always wish I would have more time to talk to Lindsey when she comes to town, but it rarely seems to work out like that.  (and im not just sayin that bc you read my blog!!)  but after dinner, all my three boys took a shower back in mom and dads big shower, which they all think is so awesome.  then when that was done, it was time for cake and ice cream, then time to go home and go night night! 

then on Saturday there was a party for Carters class.  it was an ice cream social and it was hosted by the Bryan family.  Carters whole class was invited and they all ended up showing up and most came with their siblings as well.  it was great meeting all the parents of the kids in carters class and getting to know them better.  I want to do that same thing for the boys next year.  it is nice to know the kids in their classes and know who their parents are.  

Mrs. Chapman came too!  we love her!  she is the best.  God truly put Carter in her class this year for a great reason.  Triston was in Mrs. Garners' kindergarten class last year and she is a wonderful teacher as well.  she is very structured, which triston thrived on, HOWEVER, carter is not the same.  Mrs. Chapman is very patient and gives a few extra chances if they are needed sometimes.  she is the perfect teacher for Carter!  Anyhow, after the party we went to pick jace and kyndal up from mom and dads then we grabbed a quick bite for dinner at chilis.  afterwards, it was so nice outside that we strolled around the shopping area over on 29th.  also, I found out today that they are building an OLD NAVY over there!!!  I am so excited!!!!  cant wait! :)

now, on to sunday, we got up and got ready for church, which is always an event in itself. then we went to church and met brooke, chris, mom, Lindsey, dad and Charlene there.  it was a great message on #struggles about how we miss out on whats MOST important and that is what is RIGHT IN FRONT OF US all because we are on facebook or on instagram or just on our phones in general.  I already don't allow the use of cell phones (or any electronics) anytime we are eating a meal together. (much to the boys' dismay) but I explained it to them last night at Chilis and I showed them a family at a different table and showed them the 2 boys playing on their phones and the mom and dad just talking to each other and I told them the mom and dad will NEVER get that time back with their kids.  and I also told them that I didn't want to regret letting them be on their phones all the time and missing out on hearing about their day, or what they did at the party, or random thoughts going thru their heads.  yes, I am guilty of letting jace watch umizoomi or mickey at the lunch/dinner table sometimes, but that's only to keep him occupied and not yelling or making a scene.  when he gets a little older that is out of the question for him also.  anyhow, don't know how I got off on that rabbit trail!  but church was wonderful, as always, and afterwards we went to Ted's Café Escondido.  it was delish!  brooke, chris, mason, Charlene, linds, mom and dad all came with us.  I had a great convo with Charlene after we got done eating and she told me how I was doing great with jace and all the kids and how she knows its hard and she just complimented me and was very nice!  I loved and appreciated that more than she will know!  it always feels good to hear that you are doing good with your children.  bc I always see what I feel like is bad behavior or what I feel is wrong, so its good to know that other people aren't as hard on my kids as I am!!  then we went to lifegroup at the cordrays sunday night!  josh went for the first time and it was my second time to go.  he enjoyed it a lot, which is great and I like it a lot too!  im happy to be getting back in to a lifegroup again!! :) 

but that pretty much sums up my weekend!  now I am caught up on here and off to finish up some reading!!!  have a great night! :)

"Long Time, No See..."

So its been a while huh?  ha!  shout out to my one reader, thanks sis!! :)  but really, I am doing this more for me than anyone else, because I do not want to forget the wonderful memories that I make daily with my babies.  We just got done with a wonderful summer spent mostly at jobugs swimming with the kids.  They loved it.  Jace was absolutely fearless in the water.  he took right to it, just like he had done it forever.  kyndal was not so in to it during the beginning of the summer, but towards the end she LOVED it.  so many good memories and pictures from the pool!  Cant wait for next year!! 

we will start with updates!  

Triston started first grade this year.  He is in Mrs. Fowler's class and I get to be his homeroom mom!  I am excited and also nervous about doing that.  there will be a lot of work that goes in to it, but I think it will be fun for the most part. He has taken off on his reading and is really doing great.  He is so smart.  just the other day in the car we were listening to a Leap Frog DVD and it was saying the incorrect sounds to the vowels and I told josh "that isn't right, a says a-A-ah, e says ehh-E, I says i-I, O says o-O-uu, and u says u-U-uh" and he just looked at me with a blank stare.  lol!  then i said "Boys what sound does A make?" and they both said "a-A-ah!!!"  and then i went thru the rest of the vowels with them and they knew them all!  i loved it!  CHA is awesome! :)  triston brings home a book to read pretty close to daily, so i enjoy getting to do that with him, along with the rest of his homework.  then usually before we go to bed, we have started reading a random book, with ALL the family sitting down to listen.  jace doesn't do great at the sitting down part yet, but i am hoping he will get the hang of it soon! 

Carter has started Kindergarten this year.  

we went back and forth with him being on his medicine or not, but we finally realized that it was in his best interest for him to have it until he doesn't need it any longer.  Lord willing that day will come soon, but if he needs it forever, then so be it.  He is doing wonderful and longs to have homework like his big brother!  makes me laugh at times, because i know in a few years they will both hate all their homework!  Carter is always so excited to come tell me what he learned that day in school.  just the other day he came in the house and told me he learned a new song!  so i asked if he would sing it for me and of course he obliged.  "Leaning, leaning, leaning on the LORDS side.  leaning, leaning, leaning on the LORDS side..." that was the only words he knew.  haha!  but it was precious.  then he also told me his memory verse, which he said perfectly!  i was very impressed.  he is also extremely smart and has a love for learning, which makes me so happy!!  it doesn't come quite as fast to him as it does to Triston, but he is doing wonderful!!! 

next up is Jace!  

jace is 2 1/2 and he is ornery as ever.  he is a sweetheart for the most part, but he has his moments where he can be quite defiant.  he has his daddys stubbornness on top of my own, so you can only imagine how stubborn the boy can be.  we are in the middle of a HUGE battle with him and we are trying to get him to eat more foods other than French fries or soup or cookies.  it is much harder than i would have ever thought.  we have had to make him go hungry for a while to get him to try the 2 new things he has tried.  he will not try anything if he doesn't like the looks of it.  i get very weak most days and end up giving in here and there, but i desperately want to stay strong in it because i do not want him to be so unhealthy.  not that im a picture of health or anything, but i want BETTER for him!!  also, right now kyndal is eating great, but my dad mentioned the other day that she will eventually stop that when she sees jace getting good food while she is eating fruit or vegetables.  so i don't want that for her either.  i MUST out-stubborn jace in this.  so far, he has only tried yogurt and a granola bar.  he liked both, but still refuses to try anything more.  so pray for us that we can get thru this struggle.

lastly, we have precious baby girl Kyndal Faith, who just turned 1!  

i love her!  she has such a sweet spirit and is a wonderful addition to our 3 boys!  they all 3 love her so much and always try to make her laugh and play with her.  jace occasionally gets mad at her for taking his toys, but most of the time he is sweet to her, which i love to see!  here lately she has developed MUCH more of a personality and strong will!  she now throws pretty large fits if you don't do what she is wanting you to do.  its quite funny to watch.  she screams as high pitched as possible and from the sitting position she basically goes into the splits and puts her face on the ground and lays there for a minute and if you STILL don't pick her up she will turn over on her back and kick her legs SO HARD and continue screaming til you fix the problem!  but what can i say, the girl knows what she wants :)  she spends pretty well all her time with jace so she plays well with him and laughs at him often.  the other morning i had them both sitting in the recliner and i was rocking them back and forth and they were both laughing so hard.  i got a few pictures of it!  it was so much fun! 

i am going to try to write more often and keep up to date with the things going on in my home!  i love getting to stay at home with my babies and i am so thankful every single day that i get to do that!  i have been reading The Power of a Praying Parent here lately and it really makes me think how fleeting this time is while my kids are still young.  they will soon be grown and no longer want me to hold them or kiss their "boo boos" and i do not want to forget these times!  just today jace woke up cranky from his nap and all he wanted was ME and to sit with my in my lap and it made my heart so happy!!  he is usually the one who is ALWAYS moving and going, so for him to WANT to sit with me and be still and hug me and hold my hand just made my day!  he eventually got up of course, but it was great while it lasted!  as for Kyndal, she pretty much ALWAYS wants me!  which makes me happy too!  she is a mommas girl at the moment and if i am holding her she is pretty close to always content.  i love all my babies so much and i am excited to use this as a way to keep up with things in their lives.  i am heading to bed, so i will catch ya later!  have a lovely evening! 

LOVE,