So Thankful...

It's Wednesday night, and I am just now sitting down to post about Mother's Day. Does that tell you anything about our week?

We had a really special day. The celebration started on Saturday evening when the girls (and Rus) gave me 2 new crosses to add to my collection. I already have them hung on the wall and I LOVE them! Rus gave me a pedicure and tanning minutes so that I can start preparing for our BEACH VACATION that we will be taking in 5 1/2 weeks!!! I am beyond excited and so ready to be there.



Sunday morning we had to get up very early because we had to be at church by 8:15. Why? The girls and I were part of a special Mother/Daughter dance performance in both services. We practiced quite a bit over the weeks leading up to Sunday. The scheduling of the practices added some stress to our already packed days, and my nerves seemed to grow in increasing number as we got closer and closer to Sunday morning. Well, the big day finally came, and all I have to say is that I am beyond blessed for this experience. I will never again get to dance with my 5 year old and 15 month old daughter (probably never again, period). Looking into their sweet faces as we were praising the God that gave them to me...wow...Thank you, Lord, for these precious miracles. Karson was so brave and did such an amazing job, and Campbell brought tears to everyone's eyes when she toddled out on the stage.The song we danced to was called, "Find Your Wings". The chorus is so perfect for how I feel about my girls.



"I pray that God will fill your heart with dreams
And that faith gives you the courage to dare to do great things.
I'm here for you whatever this life brings
So let my love give you roots and help you find your wings."



After we performed in the second service, I took the girls with me into the bathroom so we could change our clothes. I was busy getting Karson dressed, changing my own clothes, and telling Campbell not to touch anything, when all of a sudden I heard a splashing sound. I turned ar0und to find my precious baby girl splashing in the toilet water. GROSS!!!!! I quickly finished up and took her to the sink to SCRUB her hands and arms. Oh my word. This child is definitely different from her sister.



I was very sad that I did not get to see my own mom on Mother's Day. She got sick in the night on Saturday night and was unable to come watch our performance. I think she might be sadder than I was. I've told her many times since Karson was born that I am only now able to understand how much she loves me. She is so special to me and I am so grateful to have such an incredible Christ-like role model to follow. She is my mentor, my closest ally, my most trusted adviser, and my best friend. Thank you, Mom, for being such a blessing in my life.



After we got home on Sunday, Rus went out to mow the yard which was approximately 4 feet tall due to all the rain we've been getting. The girls and I took a delightful nap. After our nap, we were playing in the living room. Campbell kept going into the kitchen, opening the cabinet, and bringing "snacks" for me to open. After about the 4th time I took back whatever box/bag she had brought me, I heard her in the kitchen again. This time, I heard a bag being opened and something being spilled all over the kitchen floor. I went into the kitchen to see what was going on, and this is what I found...

Girlfriend is gonna get her snack one way or the other. Sis is helping out too! :)

Bless you, sweet child. You indeed keep me on my toes. Even on days when you splash in the potty and spill stuff on the kitchen floor...I'm so thankful to be your mommy (and Karson's too).

Breakdown on Aisle 9

Yesterday was a day of many fits for Campbell. The fits started in the morning, and continued throughout the afternoon. Campbell's fits consist of her not getting her way about something, and then throwing herself backwards while screaming at the top of her lungs. It is joy. Pure joy. I wish.

After we dropped Karson off at school, we had to go to Wal-Mart. I should have seen it coming by the fact that the 1st fit was thrown as I was putting her chubby legs through the holes in the basket. Naively optimistic however, I proceeded with my shopping. As we made our way through the store...

Side note: If you live in Owasso, then you know that Wal-Mart is the most frustrating place in the world right now due to the remodel. I cannot find ANYTHING because NOTHING is where it used to be. This makes for the world's most irritating shopping experience.

Ahem. As we made our way through the store, more fits occurred. Loud fits. Crying fits. Fits that make people stare at you with the look on their face that says, "Take your baby out of here. No one wants to listen to that screaming." I just kept walking and gritting my teeth and sweetly saying, "Cams, that's enough."

As we walked into the check out line, fit number 55 began. (Okay, maybe that's a slight exaggeration) The lady in front of me was just finishing getting her groceries onto the conveyor belt, so I knew I had a few minutes to get the screaming baby out of the cart and calm her down a bit. That's when it happened.

Am I the only one that gets stressed in the check out line? I feel this tremendous pressure to get my groceries out as fast as possible so that I can get to the other end and get the bags off the twirly thing and into my cart. Never mind the added stress of trying to put your heavy things on first so that they go in the cart first. Or trying to keep all of your cold items together. And you can forget worrying about keeping your eggs and bread for last so that they can go on top. What happened to those nice young kids that used to help my mom get her grocery bags into the cart and even out to the car? Where has service gone????

I digress.... So, I'm holding Campbell (aka "Fit-thrower), trying to get my groceries on the belt (in order and QUICKLY), the checker is asking me if I have any heavy items I would like for her to scan, and the woman behind me is giving me "the look". I wanted to throw my own fit at that point, but I managed to hold it together. By the time we left, I was sweating and worn out.

I'm telling you. Wal-Mart ain't for sissies.

Closet Cleanout '09 - continued...

Okay, Miss Jennifer, you are right. What is so great about cleaning out closets? NOTHING! I have officially taken that word out of the title!

Today's project was Karson's closet. I had intended on getting started shortly after breakfast, but we had a change of plans. Rus called and said we needed to take something over to a friend's house, so we decided to walk it over! They don't live far, and the girls and I had a DELIGHTFUL walk! The weather was beautiful, the birds were chirping, and we got some fresh air! When we returned to the house, we played outside for a few more minutes. Such a fun way to start the day...we should do this more often.

Once we came inside, it was time for Campbell to take her nap and time for Mommy to tackle the closet... Karson's closet is a bit tricky. It goes way back on either side, so you have to crawl back there to put things on the shelves or hang things up...good times!

Before I show you the pictures, you must know that all of the clothes hanging in the girl's closets in the "before" pictures, are NOT the same clothes hanging up in the "after" pictures. I just want to paint a clear picture of how much work this was. Heaven forbid anyone think that I didn't do enough work! :)

BEFORE...

AFTER!!!

The Great Closet Clean-Out of '09

The closets in my house are beyond messy. They are disastrous! Embarrassingly so. I decided that this week I would tackle getting them all changed over to spring clothing and CLEANED OUT! I started this morning. In an effort to stay focused, motivated, and dedicated to the end, I decided to take before and after pictures.

Campbell's closet was the "closet of the day"! In only a little under 2 hours...the project was complete. Now, don't even ask how her room looks because of the clean closet. That's a post for another day!

Feel free to leave me a comment about how awesome I am and how proud you are of my accomplishment! Yes, I know, I'm completely shameless and prideful. Forgive me, Lord.

BEFORE...

AFTER!!!

Easter...almost a week later!

We had a fabulous Easter. How can you not? Celebrating the Risen Lord???? What isn't exciting about that? I truly intended to post about this long before now, but somehow it is already Thursday night, and it hasn't gotten accomplished...oh life, it does fly by...

Karson was VERY sick last week. We ended up in the doctor's office getting IV fluids on Friday. She was still a little weak on Sunday, but she was able to go to church! You'll notice in the pictures that she's a bit pale! We're just glad she's better!

I'm mad that I didn't take any pictures of the girls looking in their Easter baskets. All we did was video. They were quite excited to find yummy snacks, cute Summer flip flops/crocks, new bathing suits, and books. Karson thinks it's very neat that the Easter Bunny can make flip flops from the Gap...hmmmmm, am I warping my child??????

Here are the girls before church! Campbell WILL NOT stand still for a picture. She got so mad that she finally just sat down. I asked Karson to bend down by her...and this is the best we got. Oh well, we have many years of the traditional, "stand in front of the fireplace" pose!

After church, we met my parents and my sister's family for lunch at Charleston's. We then headed over to Nana's for the afternoon! Here are the cousins in their Easter outfits. Are those boys not PRECIOUS??? Can you tell that Kars is about to choke Cams? I'm telling you, the girl will NOT be still!

Here's the fam! Can you tell our color theme for the year? We were so proud of Rus...he even picked out his own pink tie to coordinate with us! He's such a great "girl" daddy!

"Miss Thang" sporting her bunny ears from Nana!

It was a yucky, rainy day, so we had to do the egg hunt inside. Kars was a bit irritated with the Easter Bunny for hiding the eggs too high for her!

Here, There, and Everywhere

Prepare yourself for some random thoughts...

***Tonight, when I got out of the shower, I found Karson playing with my bra. She was wearing it (upside down, mind you), and talking about how "they" were sooooo big. This promptly made me crack up, because, if you know me at all, you know that there is no way that a bra of mine could make anything "sooooo big". She saw me laughing and started laughing with me. I then asked her if she would like for me to take her picture. She responded, "NO. Do not put this on the blog."

Wow. How was she able to read my mind? That was exactly what I was planning to do. Scary. I didn't even realize she knew what a blog was.

***In unrelated news, Campbell is officially off the bottle. She gave up her last one on Tuesday night. I'm sad. I wasn't ready for that. I quite enjoyed the fact that she would sit and snuggle in my lap for a solid 10 minutes and drink her bottle right before bed. It was the ONLY time of the day that she would sit still for that long. It also makes me sad because it's just one more step away from being a baby. Somebody stop the clock!

***In other random news, tonight was the last episode of ER. I watched to pre-show and cried. I am waiting on Rus to get home so we can watch the show together. I started watching this show my freshman year of college. Wow, it's been on a long time. I'm very sad it's over...it's one of my favorites.

We Interrupt this Spring...

Many people would find it bizarre that my last post was all about nice Spring weather, and this post is about snow. Nope. Not bizarre, just Oklahoma!

Yesterday morning we woke up to a rain/sleet mixture that quickly turned to snow. It snowed for 8 straight hours at our house...and we're not talking about a few measly flakes here and there, we're talking blizzard-like conditions. It was beautiful, and so much fun to watch. Because the weather had been so Spring-like prior to this, the ground was still very warm. We were shocked that it stuck like it did. I guess when it snows that much, that fast, it has nowhere else to go!

This winter has been full of cold temperatures and wintry precipitation, but it has all fallen in the form of ice. We were so excited to finally get something we could play in...and this was PERFECT snow for making snowmen!

After our photo shoot, Daddy and Karson stayed out for over an hour. They built a "really cool" fort and a snowman. Daddy also pulled her around on a make-shift sled. So Fun!!!

Mommy and Campbell only got to stay out for a few minutes. Baby Girl WOULD NOT leave her mittens on, so I was worried her hands were going to get frost bitten!

Our 2 favorite snow bunnies! It was hard to see because the snow kept falling in your face...thus the squinty eyes!!! (Look at our street...this was around 1:00...the snow had been falling for about 4 hours by this time...picture 4 more hours of this!)

In Karson's 5 years of life, she has either been too young, sick, or recovering from surgery every single time we've had a snow fall. Needless to say, she was DELIGHTED to be able to play in the white fluff covering our yard. Today it was back up to 58 degrees. Most of the snow is gone. What a fun, quick, and unexpected little gift on an otherwise boring Saturday!