Few of My Favorite, and not so favorite

I was thinking today about how lucky I am, and everything that I enjoy during my day. I thought it would be fun to take pictures of everything that I found exciting and also the things that I don't like so much. I was so happy when I realized that my good things were much more than my not so good things.

Oh these things were heaven. They were not regular oranges, when I opened up my first one I was a little scared seeing as they are more on the red side than orange. It taste like a mix between an orange and a grapefruit and I don't know if I will ever really know what I actually bought but I love them. They are so much sweeter and easier to peel. I finished my last one this morning.
My first hate of the day, my boys socks. The sock life of my boys is around two weeks if we are lucky. I am so tired of throwing a pair away at every laundry day and then replacing them every time I go to the store. I will be so happy when flip-flop weather rolls around.

Oh how I used to love getting the beaters when my mom made cookies. Now it is my kids turn to fight. Although today Lexie was lucky because the boys were in school so she hit the jackpot with two. I love cookie dough and sometimes I eat way too much. I was good today and didn't have a single taste. Now I have two whole bags of chocolate chip cookies. Usually I only have one and that tells you how much cookie dough and baked cookies I eat while cooking them.

Although she is a cutie, this is a dislike for me. I have her hanging on my shirt all day long. Tugging and trying to get me to pick her up. This is hard to deal with when you have chores to do. She has even been known to grab onto my legs and I get all tripped up. I won't be surprised if all my shirts end up super long before too long.

This is actually a like for me. I used to hate the kids playing in the dishwasher because it disrupted my order of dishes. Yes I have slight OCD, but it is getting better the older I get. This will keep Hailey busy forever. She plays with the silverware and the plastic plates. She will drum everything inside with the silverware. And when I am done loading up she will assist me in closing the door which I find adorable every single time.

Yucky!!! I HATE fish, and I try to eat it knowing it is so good for you. But I just can't do it. But I love my hubby so much that I will make it just for him. He LOVES fish and seafood and I don't want him to be deprived of something he really enjoys. Look at all that butter on there.

This is a like, I LOVE this shirt. One of my many cheap buys at Walmart and Corey makes fun of me every time I wear it. So am I British now? I have no idea but I do love the fit and the material. So he can pick on me all he wants but I still like it.

And the best thing about today....after I cooked basically three separate meals (Corey's fish, my high protein dinner and chicken nuggets/mac n cheese for the kids) I got the kitchen looking so nice and clean. There is nothing better for me than a clean kitchen. It just feels so nice walking in and everything is in it's place and shiny.

So as you can see my good were great and my bad were not that bad after all. What about everyone else? What do you find great about your day?

Fun sunny day at the park

It was a gorgeous day today...70's and warm. No wind and the best part is my parents are in town. Yesterday their flight was delayed because of snow in OK and so they didn't even get here till late last night. On top of that their luggage did not make it with them, so they are here with no luggage. So unfortunately we didn't get to go to church. It was such a nice day we just went to the park to enjoy the sun and each other. The kids had a blast playing with Grandpa and dad. Mom and Grandma just laid on the blanket and of course you can't go and not feed the ducks some bread. I realized today how much I have missed the warm weather and I am so excited for spring and summer now that it is officially here.

Hailey the bag lady, she just carried around the empty bread sacks.
Still got those sacks, she was just so cute.

Digging in my diaper bad

She was so tired and grumpy, she would not go to sleep.

Mom and I beside the pond. It was so nice to see her again.

Feeding the ducks.

Hailey looking at the fish

Throw that bread Lexie.

Eating rocks.

Sisters holding hands.

So I just realized I have no pictures of the boys. I guess they were so busy throwing footballs and baseballs I didn't really think about it. I do love them the same. I will have to get some pictures later tonight.

The other night Corey came home with just because flowers. I love these kind of flowers. He does it when he is thinking of me. Makes me feel so great that I have a husband who loves me and wants to see me happy. Plus how can you go wrong with tulips. They are so springy. They are my favorite flower and Corey knows this. He got some points for these!!

Lexie's 5 year pictures

Lexie had her five year pictures taken today. She did such a great job. How someone knows just how to tilt their head and pose is beyond me. But she was a natural. I loved how easy it was and quick. We were in and out in no time. The worst part was picking just a couple of favorites and not getting carried away. I posted all of them so you can see just how cute my Lexie is.

I have been told that I spoil her. And in looking back I guess I do. She has so many clothes that her drawers are not closing, but we actually do get along really well. We love all your children in their own ways, and with Lexie we just click. We are close if just for the fact we still spend all day together. It doesn't help that she acts more like a 16 year old than 4. Sometimes we have pretty normal conversations that I forget how young she is. I love my Lexie girl and I can't believe she is already 5.

Catch Up

Oh boy do I have a lot to answer for right? Where have I been, well I did post some but realized that they had some unwanted labels in them so I just deleted them. Long story short it was actually my hubbies computer with the bug not my page, so I did it for nothing. Things have been going pretty well here. The weather is heating up and I am loving every second of it. I even went and bought some cute summer clothes at that consignment shop I had mentioned before. I love that place. Too bad they don't have the size I need for the boys. I figure most boys wear their clothes out around that age anyways. So we went to the park today in the 70 degree weather and loved it. I went with my really good friend Cynthia whom I pretty much hang out with everyday. She has been such a great friend and is always there for me. We even workout together which is great. What is even more great is she does enough talking for the both of us so it makes me more relaxed knowing I don't have to come up with a lot of conversation pieces.

Lexie loves this tree at the park. Easy to climb and so I decided to brave it with her.
What a cutie, she did the posing by herself.

Cynthia and I chillin in the sun

Hailey and I

Trying to walk on uneven surfaces are still a challenge. She just stood there.

Or when she walked this is the stance, stay low to the ground.

I also didn't post a page for Hailey's birthday. Since we had no family around we just did a small celebration. She is getting so big. She still is not saying much. I hear of other babies her age saying words and I freak out because I only get No and mama on occasion. Other than that we get raspberries. Which usually ends up going right in my eyes. She is pretty clingy and sometimes I love it, other times not so much. But I am enjoying my last little miracle.

Right before church, check out her piggy tails.

We were not sure why, but she cried toward the end of her cake. It's her party and she will cry if she wants to.

Taste pretty good, it's chocolate after all.

Celebration

Mom and Hailey. My baby is one.

I have been so blessed as of lately. My mom and dad are coming on Saturday and I should have more pictures to post then.

Hailey One Year Pictures

What a joy Hailey has been for me. I have no idea if she seems sweeter just for the fact that I have learned patience or maybe I realize this is my last baby and I am eating up every moment of it. The one year mark seems to change everything, and I am really sad to be leaving the baby stage with her. No more bottles, try to get rid of the pacifier and no more rear facing car seats. Hailey is my girl, and she wants me all of the time. She has grown so fast and I love that she is so happy and willing to smile. The pictures were a breeze with her. She did great. I think I might actually cry when we have her party.

She is saying more words now and she is walking most of the time. She is even perfecting squatting down to get toys and standing back up. She loves her food and is eating everything. She has been my first baby to actually like whole milk. I am glad it will make the transition easier for me. So here are the pictures, enjoy.

Snowed In

Awww, the joy of snow. I have to say I am pretty much sick of it by now. School has been out for a week and of course we broke the 100 year record for snowfall. It would choose to do this on our first winter in MD. I have been hibernating as of late, which is why my post are far and few between. I am locked in the house with my books and the kids are going stir crazy. It snowed so much that Corey couldn't go to work for two days due to a state of emergency in the county his work is located in. It was nice having him home for two days, but now he has to work extra to catch up with all the orders.

I took pictures, but for some reason they don't do much justice. I am sure people will look and think that it is not a lot of snow, but for two days it is tons believe me. I am so grateful we have our 4 wheel drive vehicle. There were a couple of mornings where we couldn't get out of the driveway without it. Hopefully now we can get back to some normalcy here. This is one of the first times that I am looking forward to the start of a new week. Get these crazy boys back in school.

Looking down our driveway.
Before we shoveled out, wind was blowing notice all the drifting.

That is our trash can and the snow is taller than it. All that snow is just from our driveway.

Out of Office Due to Flu

Can you say virus? I can times four. I have not been very good about updating with pictures, but I can say I have a great excuse this time. We have all basically gotten the flu. Only two have survived with no symptoms and that is Lexie and Gabe. It all started with me as I blogged about in my last post. So I was thrilled when I was starting to get my energy back, only to have Corey contract the same bug.

Corey does not do well with flu's. He doesn't eat, lays in bed for 48 consecutive hours and then proceeds to demolish my clean toilet. Yes the one I just cleaned on Friday. But he got a blessing yesterday night and he is back to his kidding self today. Although he is still not 100 percent. Then of course little Hailey had to get it. I tried really hard, but when you are the sole comforter and tender of your little one it is hard to not be exposed. She of course got bad enough I took her to the Urgent Care on Saturday and she had Croup (which she got some steroids for) and also a double ear infections which she got antibiotics for. She is feeling better and on the mend faster than any of us. I guess it pays to actually go see a Dr.

Then yesterday Logan started complaining that his head was hot. I took his temperature and sure enough, sickly again. But he has really no other symptoms than the temperature and a little bit of a sore throat. So I sent him to school this morning after he and Gabe polished off a whole (yes I said whole) box of Cocoa Pebbles. He goes to the nurse and she takes his temperature and calls me to come and get him. When does 100.5 constitute a temperature? My Dr. always said under 101 don't even bother medicating. So I had to deal with Logan, who was running and jumping all day long. Asking me to play catch with him and doing wrestle mania with his sister all day long. I told him vacation is over, he is going back to school tomorrow. Wish I had felt well enough to have a wrestling contest.

So hopefully we are done with this nasty bug that has invaded our home and lives. I am so looking forward to Spring and warmer temperatures.