Hair cut

Today I took Alyssa to get her hair trimmed, and on a whim I decided I would cut Aubrey's bangs and trim her hair. So she got her first haircut today and the poor sweet girl cried hard the entire time. And...I'm not sure if we are going to keep the bangs. She has a callick and they have that split in the middle and never go all the way across her head. It's very cute, because she is very cute. We could shave her head completely and she would still be a doll.

"I doubt it"

Last night when I got home from shopping, Aaron and the girls were watching a TBN version of the life of Jesus. It was funny to me because Jesus spoke with an English accent. I was holding Aubrey and I looked at Aaron and said jokingly, ' so do you think Jesus spoke with an English accent?' Aubrey as clear as day looked up at me and said "I doubt it."
It was one of those moments where you wondered if you heard her right. We about fell over laughing, so of course she realized she made us laugh and started saying over and over " I doubt it." "I doubt it."
That girl is something else!

A little shocked!

Last night I was in the kitchen making hamburgers, and I heard this very loud popping noise that sounded like a cap gun being shot. Then I hear crying and screaming. So I run in the hallway and Alyssa is standing in front of the elecrtical outlet that is now black, and she is holding my keys in her hand. She stuck those keys in that electrical hole! I couldn't believe it!
She was fine, but I started crying because.... I don't know why.....maybe I was just PMSing, maybe because it just shook me a little bit.
She started saying "mom, I'm ok. I don't have to go to the doctor." I told her that I don't think we have to go to the doctor.
She looked up at me and said, "Mom, did I just get shot."
I told her 'no sweetie you just got shocked.'
Aaron was sitting there and he said, "Well, now at least I hope she learned her lesson." (So sensative . LOL)
Actually now I learned my lesson. I have to put those plastic cover things over the holes. I have in the past, but somehow that drew more attention to the holes and the girls would end up flicking them out. I will be more persistent now.

My 2 cents

I am going to be so bold as to give my 2 cents about the new movie that is out " The Princess and the Frog." Alyssa has been wanting to see it since the previews have first started showing, so I took her to see it. I have to say that I was extremely disappointed and Alyssa wasn't very impressed with it either. I felt that they emphasized and almost glorified voo doo and satanism in this movie. In the past I have had some "religious" views about movies and was a little over the top about things, and not watching certain movies. I was anti Harry Potter, but since then God has done some works in me and my opinions have changed about what I will let my kiddos watch. i am still careful, but not over the top anymore. I have become a little more relaxed, but this one was just plum blatant about it. The voo-doo man in the movie often refers to "asking for help from his friends from the other side." Then it shows demonic shadows coming out of the walls and ground, and giving him these supernatural powers. He actually called on his "friends from the other side" for help. There are parts where they take the blood of the prince and the character wears it in a voodoo vile around his neck to conjur up the powers of these evil spirits. At several different times they take a voodoo doll and start to poke it with pin. There is fortune telling with tarot cards, and at one point the voodoo man speaks out that if you destroy his vile of blood, he won't be able to work out of the powers from his friends from the other side. He at one point promises the souls of many people as payment for help from these demonic shadows. Of course Disney cutesied it up a bit, but there were some evil things demonstrated in this movie that I felt was unnecessary in a children's movie, and it almost seemed to be intentional because of the amount of detail they put into it.
It's a shame that they had to do that. I thought it was weird.....reminded me of the time Disney was putting X rated things hidden in their movies. I know that was true, and not hearsay...I have "The Little Mermaid" movie with a big penis detailed in on the top of the King's castle on the cover. Just as clear as daylight. Makes you wonder who it is that is creating these movies for our kiddos to watch, and how easy it is for them to hide or slip in underlying messages or profanity.

What's on my heart tonight

Sometimes I grow so very tired of people not getting the bigger picture. I know "the bigger picture" just can't be "gotten," it has to be given to you by the holy spirit himself, and you have to be in a place to receive it as well. You have to have your own God Experience. Then once you have it, it's like oh my gosh....I can see everything so very clearly now. I was truly blind but now I can see it. Sounds kind of like a Christian cliche', but my gosh...I can't stress how true and real that it is. I can oftentimes forget that others haven't received the awesome gift of the "bigger picture." I don't often try to conversate with people about spiritual things if they aren't at a place of understanding. I'm not talking about preaching, I'm talking about a discussion, because I know that it's just going in one ear and out the other. Sometimes I will slip, because passion will take over, and I'll just end up so frustrated at how easily ignored the conversation becomes and how quickly people change the subject. Deep down I know there isn't an understanding for them, and there may be some discomfort, but at the time it just feels like I am being brushed off and I end up so frustrated. I want to shout...'Oh my gosh this is so important, why aren't you getting this!' But I shut up as Aaron just whispers to me," They don't get it, just drop it." Such a hard thing to do when you have a grasp of the "bigger picture," and you are passionate about something and you have no one that you can discuss it with without them looking at you like you are crazy. I have friends with the same passions as me I can conversate with, but sometimes the people that I am closest to don't have a clue as to the things that matter most to us and the amazing things God is doing in our lives, because we can't talk to them about it. Don't take this email the wrong way. We are not so much higher and mightier and more spiritual than anyone else. This is simply a huge part of our lives that some people close to us know a very small amount of details about, or want to for that matter. All I'm saying is it's just hard to keep quiet and to keep light conversations about a subject that is so deep and so profound, and that is THE most important thing in your life, because the people around you don't want to hear about it. They don't ever say,"I don't want to hear about it." They just brush it off quickly and change the subject, and I wind up with my panties in a wad until God whispers to me or Aaron whispers to me that they haven't yet gotten the bigger picture.
My very wise farmer husband is always talking in parables like Jesus and reminds me that you have to have good soil to plant the seeds. If the soil isn't ready the seed won't take root and grow. This is very easy to forget when I don't have my spiritual glasses on and I'm letting personal feelings and my emotions come in.

Poop Wars

This morning my house is filled with the aroma of poop. I had Kyle in one bathroom saying, "Aunt Stacy, I'm pooping," and Alyssa in another, "Mom, I'm done, come wipe me." Then 2 from little Aubrey. Then I had to break up a yelling match between Kyle and Alyssa that went something like this:
Alyssa : "Kyle my poop was really big."
Kyle :" No my poop was bigger Alyssa. It went to the sky."
Alyssa: "NO...MINE WAS BIGGER THAN YOURS."
Kyle : NO IT WASN'T. YOURS WASN'T EVEN BIG."
and so on.....It ended with me saying 'ok, ok...both your poops were really big and smelly,now stop arguing over it,' as I was wiping Aubrey's little behind.

Oh the joys of motherhood...I am pooped out, and think that this calls for some Scentsy candles and some me time. :)

Out sick

This morning I woke up to Alyssa throwing up in my bed. She felt fine afterwards, but I still made her stay home from Pre-school. She was a little upset about that. She kept saying, "Mom, I'm so not sick. I only threw up."LOL! Plus, Aunt Savita is having an after school Christmas party for her girls and some friends today and she invited Alyssa to come over. So all morning long, about a thousand times Alyssa has asked me if she can still go to the Christmas party. I told her the same answer about a thousand times. 'If you don't throw up again, and if Aunt Savita says it's ok, then you can go.' So we will see what happens today. I am just praying no one else gets this bug. She is acting totally normal.
Well, on a different note: Alyssa is completely obsessed with wearing tank tops at home. She doesn't want to wear anything else to bed or around the house lounging. I blame my neice Emmy for that one, because Alyssa wants to do everything like Emmy and Emmy wants to wear tank tops all the time too :) So we were going through our clothes and toys to donate to the Arc of Texas, and Alyssa told me, "Mom, we have to give these clothes and toys to kids that don't have money." I said that's right. She said, "Well, we don't have to give them all my tanktops, but I will give them a little bit." Made me giggle a little bit. How sweet of her to be willing to give up her cherished tanktops.
So we were in her room and I said 'you look and sound like you are feeling better. I think you need to clean your room.' She looked up at me with her pitiful blue eyes and said as serious as could be..."Well, when I clean my room, that's what makes me sick." I said really? Cleaning your room makes you sick,' and I started to laugh. And she yelled back at me"Mom, it's not funny, and it's true it does make me sick. I might throw up."

Our first Family of 4 vacation!

This past week we went on our first ever family vacation with all 4 of us to Branson, Missouri! We had gone to Sea World with Alyssa when I was pregnant with Aubrey, but this was our first official one with all of us! I know what you may be thinking....why Branson? It's just all old people. Well, we don't mind old people and learned on this trip that we LOVE hanging out where old people hang! They are always friendly and fun, and so easy to talk to, and never wake us up in the middle of the night playing loud music and cussing in front of our kiddos. And my girls loved the attention they got from all of them. Alyssa didn't meet a stranger the whole trip. She talked up a storm to every cute elderly couple that would lend her their ear. We left our house at about 6:30 Saturday night and decided we would drive half way to make it easier on the girls. We drove for about 3 and-a-half hours and stopped at a little Comfort Inn and got our Postal Workers discount and stayed the night there. Woke up at about 7:30 and had some complimentary pastries and went on our way. We got about 15 miles up the road when I realized that Aaron has left his cell phone and we had to drive back :) That was fun :)
Ok so we had the cell phone and coffee and nothing but the car and the wind to take us onward! We had no agenda, no plan, we were just going to do whatever we felt like that day.
It took us about another 4 hours to get there. We arrived at our lake-side condo...The Village at Indian Point, and was pleasantly surprised. It was nestled in the woods surrounded by trees, right on Lake TableRock. Our condo was very nice...had a balcony that overlooked the lake, 2 bedroom, 2 bathroom, kitchen, and washer and drier. It was basically a rustic outdoorsy apartment!
While we were there we went to Silver Dollar City, twice, went fishing, pretended we were Goonies in a cave and went exploring, went shopping, went to see the Warnock sisters in their show, went to a 2 mile Christmas light display, visited Santa, went to Bass pro shops, visited Big Cedar lodge and went to the horse stables, took the girls to an indoor game center, watched movies, ate lots of good food, went spotlighting for deer, and just enjoyed the outdoors and enjoyed our time together. We lauged a lot and really just enjoyed not having an agenda everyday. It was very laid-back and pleasant. A vacation for us together was so overdue and much needed. I feel like we reconnected as a family. It was wonderful! Next time we will be staying at the Big Cedar Lodge, which was breathtakingly beautiful, and an outdoorsman's dream. There were deer everywhere. Our last night there, we wanted to do something fun for the the girls, so we bundled up and went out spotlighting for deer. We found 9 deer in 20 minutes! They got a kick out of that! On the way home, we stopped and ate at Braums. The girls did an amazing job! Aaron and I were both very impressed with them. Not one time on the 8 hour trip home or up there, did they complain or whine. The DVD player in our pathfinder helped with that! If you don't have one of those, it is worth the investment for long roadtrips with your kiddos! Today Aaron had to go back to work and I miss him so much! I got use to him being there 24/7 with us and it was nice!
Words cannot describe how very blessed I feel to have the husband that I have and the kids that I have! I love them with all my heart and am so grateful to God for them. They are so precious to me. I hope I never take them for granted!

Out of town and look what happens.

We went on a wonderful family vacation, which I am going to blog about next after this, but first I just had to say this.... We don't buy all organic stuff because it is too expensive, and with Aaron being a farmer, we have learned that "organic" isn't what it use to be :) but we do buy organic milk. With the big amount of growth hormones that are injected in cows, we feel it's important to at least buy organic milk for the girls. I won't go into all the details of the what the research says, but that's not my point. The point is that when we got home from our vacation last night, I went to Wal Mart to purchase some standard things such as milk and bread. I went to grab a gallon of the organic milk that we usually buy and it had gone up to $7.50 a gallon. I about fell over. It was already high! I couldn't bring myself to buy the whole gallon. I just paid the $3.50 for the half gallon :( I guess I will be making my way over to Braums. I was informed by a friend that Braum's wholesome milk is less than half the price of organic, and it isn't certified organic milk, but it is "all natural with no hormones added. I just wish there was a Braums a little closer....wait a minute...no I don't. That would be dangerous :) I LOVE Braums!

Little sweetheart

Although my little Aubrey is super super busy, she is also the sweetest little person in the entire world. This morning at about six o'clock, she and Alyssa both came and crawled in bed with me. I was laying on my side and I felt this tiny little hand start to rub my face. Then she started to very gently rub my lips with her finger. My eyes were shut and I was thinking to myself how sweet is this! Then I feel little bitty lips touch mine and she whispered..."I wuv oo." It really can't get any sweeter or better than that! This was the second time she had said I love you to me first. So I know she knows what it means now. She LOVES to cuddle and kiss more than any child I have ever known. We will be laying in bed and she will grab my face and bear hug it and fall to sleep that way. Of course I have a hard time breathing, but it's just so precious I try to endure. She also can say her full name now, which is so very sweet.."Auby Fayf, Weez"...Aubrey Faith Reeves. So busy, but so much fun! I have my hard days, but being a mom is the most wonderful and most fulfilling thing I have ever been given the priviledge to do. I am thankful everyday that God gave me the family he did! I love my sweet sweet husband and my precious girls so very much!

Something's Up!

What's the matter? That's the question I have been asking myself lately. Summers come and farming starts and Aaron and I always get disconnected from each other, from the Lord and from people, which is not what we want, but by now things are usually coming together again, but not this year. This is the first time we have actually questioned whether or not the Lord even wants us to farm. There has to be a better balance. We HAVE to do it in a way that is honoring to Jesus or it just won't work. We feel that more than ever now.
I think our focuses have to change. For me lately I have been on this slim 4 life diet and have been so very self focused, trying to reach my goal weight. God has given me discipline with my eating, but I need discipline in other areas of my life now. I focus all my energy in losing weight and in my girls. Focusing my energy in my girls is a good thing, but I still need a balance of other things. My first ministry in life is with my husband and then my children. I can't be a great parent if I'm not a great wife first, and I can't be a great wife if I'm not connected with Jesus. I really want to model that for my girls.
I have just been on edge lately, and I know that it's because my relationship isn't right with God right now. Really ever since New Rivers split up things haven't been the same for us. We aren't in a home team, we have no accountability, we're not involved in any outside ministries. We so desperately need that, and it's time to get plugged back in somehow. I can feel God tugging at my heart pulling me back towards Him. Why do I keep resisting? I can name all the excuses...too busy, not wanting to commit, have too much on my plate, don't want to feel overwhelmed, can't fit anything else in, don't feel like I am in a place to lead anyone right now, don't want to burden anyone by reaching out to them for help, don't fit in, feel uncomfortable talking to people....all stupid excuses that come from the enemy. Please Lord may your voice be louder than his.
Really I don't want to hold my husband back either. I feel like I do this in ministry a lot. Such an amazing heart Aaron has! He genuinely loves the Lord and cares for others, and I hold him back. The truth hurts, but that's it. It all comes down to fear. Fear of adding new things in life, fear of making the wrong move, fear of letting people down, fear of my husband taking off in ministry without me. I will be in church and feel so very moved and inspired by a message, and I will be thinking of all the things I can do to get involved and make a difference. Then I go home, and it all kind of fades away and gets pushed down with my daily to-dos. Please Lord pull me out. I want to see your face. I want to live my life for you, because you are ALL that matters.
You gave me this life, chose me, and adopted me as your daughter and I want to honor you. I want to live bringing glory to you. Draw me near and hold me tight. I need a big hug from you. I keep thinking of the time I first came to know you. I always think of how I felt....so very full of joy. I describe it as being in a protective euphoric bubble. Everything was fresh and looked new and people were beautiful, your creation was miraculous to me. That's because I had your eyes. Give me your eyes again. Help me to see the world through your eyes. Give me your heart Lord.

Last 2 weeks

Aubrey somehow got on our computer and started pushing buttons and severely messed up our computer...so for the last 2 weeks we have been without a computer and I haven't had any source of communication with the internet world, which has been good, but I have also missed it. $300.00 later I am back and a little less addicted to facebook. Aaron thinks it was a God thing that we were without it for 2 weeks. It was a forced fast from the computer that we both really needed.
Also for the past 2 weeks, Aubrey has become a little more difficult to handle. She is soooo very independent and wants to do everything herself. She is starting to REALLY test her boundaries what seems to be every 2 minutes she is awake. There are times when I want to cry and I have definitely needed some alone time a little more often. Alone time right now isn't a luxury anymore, it is a must if I want to keep my sanity. To say that she is busy would be an understatement. She isn't a bad girl, she is just so very busy and into EVERTHING. I think the newest of her talents these past 2 weeks has made my life a lot harder. She has learned to move the chair over to where she wants something. She will scoot the chair where she wants to go and use it as a ladder to get her to where it is she desires to go at that time.....the kitchen sink or bathroom sink and then proceeds to either eat lipgloss, or toothpaste, or she also enjoys trying on mascara for lipstick or dumping soap out all over her hands. It is a constant battle to keep her off the chair and off the countertops and kitchen table....I MEAN CONSTANT BATTLE....no breaks. She gets in trouble in one spot and then moves onto the next. She has this incredible talent of being mischievious and super sweet at the same time. I will be headed towards her to punish her and she will poke out her lips for a kiss and say "I love you," which immediately softens my heart. She knows exactly what she is doing...little stinker :)
Here lately I have noticed that she understands pretty much everything I am saying. So when she got in trouble the other day I was explaining to her why she was in trouble. She started crying and I told her you have to be a good listener to momma, and be obedient. She stopped crying and I said are you a good girl? and she said "Uh-huh." I asked her 'Are you going to be obedient now?' and she said "I bedient."
She totally knows what she is doing and what she shouldn't be, she is just seeing what she can get by with. It's all a matter of me and Aaron being consistent. Oh my goodness....this is only the beginning :)

So sweet

Tonight Alyssa and I were at Wal Mart and she had dressed herself before we left. She had on a tank top knit shorts and flipflops with hoodie over it. When we got inside she took off her jacket and said here mom hold my jacket. I told her that it was cold outside and to put it back on before someone thinks that I am a bad mother for letting my kid out in tanktop and shorts on a cold Fall night. She looked at me with surprise and said," Mom, don't say that." I said 'don't say what?' and she said..."Don't say that people will think you are a bad mom, because you are a really sweet mom."
It was my best compliment I had ever received in my life! Such a sweetheart. I am so glad that my little girl thinks that I am a "sweet mom."

Good times

We have been having some good times here in the Reeves household here lately. Again, it's the freedom thing. This past weekend me and my 2 girls had the honor of being in Kendra's wedding. I am so very proud of this girl. She has chased her dreams, reached successful goals, traveled, fearlessly lived life to the fullest, and now has married the one God has made just for her. I admire her so very much and couldn't be more proud to see how happy she is now. I really don't know if I have ever seen her this happy. It's all so good!
And to see Matt look at her the way he does, you just know that is a man in complete love....so sweet!
Her wedding was amazingly beautiful, just perfect and not a thing went wrong! The weather was a little cool out, but other than that, it was wonderful! And the party was a blast! Justin Clemons took her pictures and did an AMAZING job! I can't wait to see them.
The next day we were all so pooped out that we didn't get out of our PJs. We slept off and on all day and it was GREAT! We hadn't done that since I don't know when. Then Monday was fair day. We met the Gilbert's and the Pai's up there and watched the kids have a blast. Me, Aaron and the girls stayed from about 10:00-5:00. Oprah was there filming her show, but we didn't see her and surprisingly it wasn't that crowded. I'm not a huge Oprah fan. I think I would've rather run into Gail, than Oprah.
It was just such a wonderful fun-filled and restful weekend. Then Aaron took me on a date to the movies! We are really enjoying being together. I LOVE my life and am so grateful for ALL my wonderful family members.....muaahhh XXXOO!

What's new???

You may have been asking yourself...what's new with that Reeves bunch...then again, you may have not been, but I will tell you anyhow.
It's been a couple of weeks since my last entry and since then farming has ended. It was a challenging year at times, but a great year! God is taking care of us in more ways than one!
To wind it all down, Aaron had to call some of his customers and explain that we were ending the season for this year. A lot of our customers are Asian. Some of them are hard to understand and Aaron has to talk slow so they can understand him sometimes. As I was listening to him talk, I got tickled because he started talking with a spanish accent real slow. When he got off the phone, I asked him if it helped at all for his Asian customers to understand him better if he talked with a Spanish accent. He started laughing and said he didn't realize he was doing it. So funny! I think working with all his workers who are Mexican, he has developed a habit of speaking with a spanish accent when he talks to anyone who has trouble speaking English! Cracks me up!
Anyhow....things have been great since the season has ended. We are together more often, and starting to get close again and laugh more as a family. Don't misunderstand me, farming doesn't make us miserable, it just takes away a lot of freedom, especially since Aaron has another job as well, and it is so good to have that freedom back!
Aaron at times has a hard time letting go. He had planted a late patch of squash, that we aren't needing to harvest anymore, and at totally random times like in the middle of watching a movie or 2 minutes before dinner, he will say.."I think I am going to go pick some squash."
I have to remind him to let it go for now. That's where his passion is and he loves it, and he doesn't really know how to sit still. One of these days soon, I think he will be a full time farmer. We just need to find some land and build a house on it, so we can be right there!
Also new...I have lost 24 pounds now doing Slim 4 Life! I weigh less now that I have in 5 years and feel so free. Trying so hard to lose that weight and working out as hard as I was, was consuming my every thought and my emotions....poor Aaron! I was miserable, which in turn made him miserable. Now all I can say is that I am thankful to be free from those feelings and Aaron feels like he got a new wife.
Monday was mine and Aaron's 7 year anniversary. He totally surprised me and had a bouquest of bright colored Gerber daisies delievered to the door. They were so beautiful! They are my absolute favorite flower...so colorful and perfect looking...just a happy little flower! He also took me out last night to the Neuhaus cafe. If you don't know what Neuhaus is, it is the WORLD's BEST chocolate. I haven't indulged in any since I worked at Neimans and was pregnant with Alyssa, so he decided I deserved to indulge. The very sad part was that they didn't have my favorite chocolate in yet, because it isn't cold enough outside here. They are Belgian shipped and contain real cream and in order for them to be so delicious and wonderfully blissful, it has to be a certain temperature here to carry them....BUMMER! My favorite by the way is a white chocolate truffle that is filled with light walnut cream with a dark chocolate "N" on the top of it! I can't think of the name, but it should be called " Little piece of Heaven and worth every single calorie truffle." It is the BEST thing I have ever put in my mouth, and I am not a HUGE chocolate person. Anyway, it was a wonderful night, and I am so very blessed to have such a sweet sweet sweet and wonderful husband! How did I ever get so lucky!

Fish City

Last night after soccer practice, we were in the car driving trying to decide where we were going to go eat dinner. I said how about Pei Wei or Fish City? Alyssa says, innocently and not knowing the funny nature of her words..."No, not fishshitty." It was so funny Aaron and I busted out laughing. She said what are yall laughing at, and I told her I was just laughing at daddy being silly. Then she said it again...."I don't want to go to fishshitty." This time, almost tears, we were laughing so hard. She didn't know what she was saying, or why we were laughing, if she did, she would have gotten vinegar in her mouth for saying bad words :) Anyway, we ended up going to Pei Wei and now the beloved Fish City will forever be to us "Fishshitty."

Is Taylor Swift Saved????

Does Taylor Swift have Jesus in her heart? This is the burning question my 4 year-old wants to know. We were driving in the car when Alyssa asked me this very random question. I told her I wasn't sure if she did or not. She said well, does she sing about Jesus? I said I don't know of any of her songs being about Jesus. She then asked me again about her having Jesus in her heart and I told her I don't know, but I sure hope so. She got so upset that I thought she was going to start crying. She said," Yes, she does, momma. She does have Jesus in her heart." Ok ok. I told her maybe you are right.
I was telling Aaron about this thinking it was cute and funny, and he brought to my attention how Alyssa's understanding on the importance of this was. I never thought about it much, but her understanding about Jesus and the importance of having a relationship with him was greater than I thought. I always pray for God to give my girls wisdom and understanding beyond their years, and I believe now more than ever that He is listening and pouring that wisdom and understanding into my girls!

Little Piggies!

This morning I painted Aubrey's toenails hot pink for the first time! First of all, I have to say that she already has the cutest ever tiny toes I have ever seen! Now they are even cuter :) I had to use the quick dry nail polish, because she kept trying to touch them. She is so funny! She was smiling from ear to ear and kept saying "cute toes" "pretty." We went on some errands and I put tennis shoes on her and when we got home I took them off. The first thing she saw was her pink toes! She just walks around looking at them smiling repeating "cute toes; pretty." I love her so much! She is too sweet and cute for words! Ohhhhh it's the little things that bring me joy!
Oh, and her newest words are I love you. She says " I wub oo." and if we say it first she says "too." Which is her I love you too! She is still the biggest ever cuddle bug on the face of the planet and I love every second of it. She will give me the longest ever hugs and lay her head on my shoulder and pat my back or cup the back of my head and then she will look at me and give me the sweetest kiss! She has such a sweet, sweet tender heart. Just now, she walked up to me and asked me if I was ok. she said "Kaaaay?" I said I'm ok, and she walked off. It's so funny to me to have her talk to me with such concern on her face. Such a tiny person and such a big sweet heart!

Alyssa's cocktails

This morning Alyssa is pretending to be a waitress:) She is in the bathroom mixing different things together for me. She came out with "strawberry milk and flowerly honey" She told me to enjoy because they wouldn't have it tomorrow. hehe!
It was a wonderful mix of cinnamon tooth paste, mint toothpaste, body spray and hairspray and water, stirred up with the end of her hairbrush in a tropical fish dixie cup! Yummy! I told her it was the best ever "strawberry milk and flowerly honey" I had ever had. Oh....as I was just sitting here typing this she brought in my "white peach cobbler." Can't wait to see what's next!

Diabetic

This morning I took the girls with me to the grocery store to get ingredients to make my dad (Grandad) a cake. Today is his birthday. Yesterday was Aaron's dad's (Papa) birthday. So we were walking into the store and Alyssa said are we going to make Grandad and Papa birthday cakes. I said no, just Grandad. And she told me that we need to make Papa one too b/c his birthday was yesterday. I explained to her that we couldn't make Papa a cake because he is diabetic and can't eat very much sugar. Of course she was so concerned asking me all kinds of questions, like what does that mean? and What will happen to him? I just told her that a lot of sugar isn't very good for any of us, but if Papa eats too much he will get sick, so we should do something different for him instead of making him a cake.
Alyssa says to me"Mom, I have that too." I asked her what? and she said"I also have diarreah when I eat too much sugar." I said no, not diarreah, it's called diabetic. She said "no mom, it's called diarreah. It's when you eat too much sugar and you poop it out." I giggled and said oh, ok I see. I guess that could happen too :)

Halloween Costumes

Wow. I am on top of things this year. I usually wait until the last minute, but this year I decided early what I wanted my girls to be for Halloween. I don't know how long I will be able to pick Alyssa's costumes, since she is growing up and is developing her own opinions, so I took advantage and decided to make them 50's girls. I found a really cute website anniespoodleskirts.com, and ordered them from there. Alyssa's is hot pink with a black poodle and Aubrey's is black with a pink poodle. They both came with white shirts with poodles on them and matching scarves. They are the cutest little poodle skirt costumes I have seen that are affordable. I got them in and tried them on the girls and they were adorable in them! They were so excited. Aubrey was giggling uncontrollably while I was putting hers on, and when they were both dressed, they ran around the house dancing and laughing and chasing each other. I am pretty sure they like them! Anyway, I can't wait until Halloween so they can wear them. Now just to be able to keep them off of them so they will stay clean until then!

Look-alikes

Yesterday, Aaron and the girls and myself were driving around looking for farmland to purchase and we lost track of time. Alyssa had soccer practice at 5:00 and she wasn't ready. It is an ordeal putting those shin guards and huge socks on, so we stopped at my mamaw's to change her, b/c we were in the neighborhood. My mamaw just turned 90 this year and Linda Fort had made her a photo album of her past and present. On the cover of it there was a picture of Mamaw...Oleta Lorraine Phennel, in her 20's and then one of her now. Well, Alyssa was looking at it and said "that is a good picture of my mom." Me and Aaron and Mamaw started laughing, and I told her that is not me, that is a picture of Mamaw when she was young. She said ,"no mom, that's you....look at the lips. Those are your lips." I said no, that is Mamaw when she was young. Oh my goodness!!!! Alyssa lost it. She had a MAJOR meltdown! She started crying and screaming, "Why are you lying to me? Look at the lips. That is you. I know that is you. Why are ya'll telling me that?" We couldn't help but laugh, which only made her more upset, so we stopped saying anything. We couldn't convince her otherwise. She wouldn't believe that that was a picture of Mamaw for anything. Later when she cooled off, I tried explaining again that it was Mamaw and not me, and she got upset all over again. It was too funny! I never thought I looked like my Mamaw in her younger years, but apparently I did to Alyssa. That's ok with me. Mamaw was a little hottie!

First day of preschool.

So Alyssa's first day of preschool was yesterday. The night before I made sure her backpack was all packed, and I made her lunch....turkey and cheese sandwich, which I cut out into a heart with a heart-shaped cookie cutter, carrot sticks with ranch, grapes and water, and a surprise...gummy savers :) Even though she can't read yet, I wrote "I love you, Love Mom" on her napkin....just because it made me feel better.
Well, morning came and she was ready to go. She picked out her little outfit and put on her backpack and we headed out the door....sort of! We started out the door with plenty of time to spare and I started to smell something....poopy diaper. So...back in the house, changed the diaper, then ready to go a second time. I look over at Alyssa and she is holding her tummy telling me she has to poop. Oh no!!!!! Now time is ticking away and I didn't want to be the mom that showed up late to the first day of pre-k. She finished up and we jumped in the car, and....no gas! I totally forgot. I speeded on over to Wal-Mart, put in 20 bucks and hurried down 78. So by some form of miracle, I got to school on time and didn't get a speeding ticket, and still had my sanity...a little bit:)
I rushed Alyssa to class and took some sweet pictures and left with a tiny package the teacher handed me on the way out the door. I was surprisingly not emotional at all. I think I was too tired and rushed to even be sad that my baby is now a big girl a that this is my last year with her before she starts Kindergarten. Until..........I got in the car and had a chance to look at what the teacher had handed me. It was a tiny plastic baggy with a hershey hug and kiss in it and a tissue and a note that read:
"As you leave your child for the first day with us,
and even if there are no tears, no fuss,
Know you will be missed by your sweet babe
during playtime as new friends are made
So here is a tissue to dry your tears,
a kiss and a hug to calm your fears,
Go on with your day, try to relax
We will love your child until you come back!"

So then came the tears. It hit me thinking how time has flown by so fast with my sweet girl! It truly does seem that I was seeing that sweet little tiny face for the first time just yesterday. My goodness. On the first day of Kindergarten I will likely need a valium of some sort before dropping her off to school.
But the day came and went and before I knew it I was picking her up. Aubrey was missing her too, because she kept walking to the door saying "Go" "Lylla" which means let's go get Alyssa! So very sweet!
Alyssa got in the car and was excited, telling me about her "spanich" class and her words she learned "menadas" this is how she pronounces it, which I don't know what it means.
So I was proud of her for learning "spanich" on her first day and for not crying or being nervous at all. Next week should be better for me ;)

Communion

So I have been on a diet for about 5 weeks now with no cheating. Tonight at church we had tables set up with bread and grape juice to dip the bread in for communion. That was the best dadgum grapejuice-soaked bread I have ever had! I looked at Aaron and said you know I'm on a diet when I want to go back for seconds at the communion table :)

Aubrey dancing and singing

OH MY GOODNESS!
I soooo wish I had the video camera out tonight! We had Hannah Montana the movie in and Aubrey in just her diaper was dancing her little heart out. She has the funniest and biggest personality I have seen in a 1 year old!
Aaron and I were rolling. I started crying I was laughing so hard. She was in the middle of the living room during the "Climb" song shaking her booty and she held her hand up like it was a microphone and turned around and was pretending like she was singing into her microphone :) LOL! She then proceeded to throw her hands up and do spirit fingers and say WHOOOOO really loud! It was the greatest thing I have ever seen! She has seen her big sis do that a few times! It was pure greatness!

Missing him

Well, everyone, it is official. I am really ready for farming season to be over. I MISS MY HUSBAND. I see him often enough, but we don't have the time for quality time and our schedule is all based around deliveries and trips to Dallas and Ft. Worth and to the farm. When we do see each other it has been a little tense, never really being able to relax and have much fun together. We never have a full day off together. I really and truly do not want to sound ungrateful. I can hear Aaron's voice ringing in my head right now...'don't be negative.' That is not it all! I know that I couldn't stay home without this business, and I know this is a HUGE blessing and way that God takes care of us. It is just such hard work and takes a lot of sacrifices to run a small business like ours. I also know that when God calls you to do things, it's not always easy and does take time and sacrifices and lots of hard work. You have to sometimes pay the price to reap the benefit! This year has been strange and has felt hard. We had a couple of people trying to get their hands in the business and threaten us a little bit, which we think is just all talk, and we know God is on our side, but it still shakes your nerves a little. I am so thankful to God for this and for providing for us, and I am grateful for my hardworking husband and my dad who helps us out tremendously. I am just ready to relax a little, to have a more flexible schedule and to be able to plan family outings and vacations together, which none would be at all possible without the farming. I am ready for our focuses to be on each other and our kids and the plans God has for us with this 24 hour prayer thing. I look forward to waking up with my husband and having breakfast with him. Thank you Lord for Reeves Family Farm, and thank you for the down time that we are about to receive soon as well. Finish out this season as long as you know we need it. I know you know how much we need. You are our provider. Thank you Lord! We give it to you. It's all in your hands...thank goodness!

Aubrey is saying small sentences!

I just wanted to update a couple of things Aubrey is saying now. First she calls Alyssa "Lilla" and Lucy, our dog "Sussy." She will be standing in the hallway and Alyssa will be in another room and she will be shouting, "Lilla, Lilla." It is soooo stinkin cute! Then of course she yells at me "EAT" when she is hungry. The other day she crawled up in her highchair by herself and was literally yelling at me "EAT. EAT." Yesterday she was saying it and I said ready to eat and she told me "Ready." Later she said "Ready to eat." She probably is saying more than I think because she is catching me off guard most of the time....I think to myself, did she just say that?
Last night Aaron was holding her and Alyssa in the rocking chair and Alyssa was crying. Aubrey looked over at her and patted her on her arm and said "It's ok." Aaron said did you just say it's ok? And she smiled and said it again. This morning Kyle was here and she said, "hi Kydle." Sweet, funny girl!
Some of the other funny things she does is say "WOW" and if we drive over a bump in the car she says, very animated, "WHOA!" I could go on, but as I am typing this she is hollering at me "EAT." So I better go feed her. We slept late this morning.....late breakfast.

No more lasagna or pizza

Note to self...Aubrey does not like lasagna or pizza so stop thinking it is a phase and she will learn to like it! But... who doesn 't like pizza or lasagna? Apparently my 18 month old! She LOVES steamed spinach, raw broccoli, cauliflower, lettuce, and tomatoes, but she will not eat lasagna or pizza. I think she is going to be my veggie lover! I can't complain at all about that, but on nights like tonight, when I need to fix something quick, it would be nice for her to eat the frozen dish I made. As I was preparing her plate, she was looking at me yelling, "EAT. Ready to EAT." So I put her in her highchair and placed her plate of lasagna and steamed broccoli and cauliflower in front of her. She starts crying and throwing the biggest fit I have seen. Through her big tears, she is eating all of her broccoli and cauliflower, but I guess is throwing the fit about the lasagna. She finally stopped crying and I tried to give her a bite, thinking that she would love it if she just tried it...NOT! I made her take a bite and she started crying and spit it out like it was dirt and told me "EWW." She does this with pizza too. She will eat spaghetti for some reason, but not the lasagna or pizza. She will be my little healthy eater! I guess I will have to order her a salad on pizza night.

Braces

This morning I was snuggling in bed with Alyssa, and I looked over and she was sucking her thumb. I asked her what are you doing? She has never sucked her thumb before. She looked up at me and said, "Mom, I am going to start sucking my thumb because I want braces." Funny, yes, but I hope she really doesn't get this in her head and start sucking her thumb. Braces are too expensive.
I should've put the clues together. She kept asking me questions like 'do people that only have messed up teeth need braces?' I said yes, some people are born with messed up teeth, and some people mess their own up by sucking their thumb. Oops! How on earth was I to know that her little mind was trying to figure out a way to get braces.

Have you ever....

Have you ever been in a church service and the whole time the pastor is speaking, you are thinking...'is he talking directly to me?' How did he get in my head?'
Well, that very thing happened to me today in church. It actually all started this past week. I started feeling this small conviction about relationships and how I was in a place of being lousy with them. God was talking to me all week long about this.
I am going to be totally open and honest and say that I have been purposely avoiding relationships with people this whole summer. My reason is stupid but, to me at the time felt necessary. I felt as though if I had anything else on my plate that my head would explode. Even if that meant meeting someone for lunch. Things that should've been fun to me seemed like a chore, just one more thing I had to pile onto the schedule, so I made a bad choice and decided to become a hermit and shut people out. It became about me and what I needed and at the time I felt I needed to be left alone. So wrong.
So all week long God kept showing me where I hadn't been the greatest friend to people. Just in my mind one excuse after the next played in my head. Not only had I put my relationship with people on the back burner, I also put my relationship with God on the back burner. I stopped spending as much time talking with Him and reading. And in the back of my head thought...well, He knows how busy we are right now so it's ok and He still loves me. That is so true..He does know how busy we are and He does still love me, but I started to feel empty. I started feeling rejected from people and felt a longing for God's presence and for my Godly friends. I missed it so much!
So God had already been tugging at my heart and softening it all week....I think to prepare me for the message Keith had today.
Worship time was AMAZING! God immediately showed up. I can't even tell you how awesome it felt to be in His presence like that again. It was so awesome! I tend to cry when God's presence falls and often times can't quit crying. That is how it was today. Cried all through worship and didn't want it to end.
So then Keith gets up and starts talking about relationships and the importance of relationships in our lives. One of the things he said was isn't it sad when Christians today are viewed as judmental people always looking down on others judging them and being legalistic about everything, And not viewed as people who love. The way Christians are viewed by most of the world is the total opposite of what Jesus stands for. That's because there is lack of relationship with people. Out of relationship love is birthed. WOW! REVELATION! I don't want to stand for that!
He also said something along the lines if you don't know this, you don't really know God. OH NO! Talk about conviction! God had been trying to tell me this all week. Not only do I need relationships in my life, I need to be engaging other people relationally and loving them where they are. I could really go on, but this blog is already long.
I just want to say that I want to love like Jesus loves. I am not even close to being there yet, but I want to be there! I am sorry to any of you friends I have blown off. It's not you...it was me!
This is something I have struggled with for a while..feeling overwhelmed, and this is something I know I will still struggle with, but now God has shown me what He desires for me, and that is to be relational. We can't be the light of the world He has called us to be if we are always avoiding relationships and hiding in our own little world...our little safe places. I am working on tearing down my walls. Friends of mine.... please know that I am working on it and God is doing his thing and forgive me if I haven't been the best of friend to you. I see it now!

Coming to grips

I admittedly and openly have had trouble accepting the baby flabby stomach since I have given birth to Alyssa. I always said I want a tummy tuck when I am done having kids...but I changed my mind. I may never wear a bikini ever again no matter how skinny I get, but something in me has changed. I find myself proud of my baby tummy. It reminds me of how precious my sweet girls are and how we have to pay the price to receive something priceless. I may still have my moments of seeing other moms in bikinis and think it's not fair. That jealousy may rise up from time to time, but I think I am just in a better place right now with the way I view myself. It helps that my husband is blinded by love and thinks I am the most beautiful thing that God ever made. Well...he makes me feel that way anyway. I am a lucky girl and am no longer going to focus on those stupid things that I can't change. They don't define who I am, God does, and if He wants me to have a baby belly for the rest of my life, then so be it! We are stuck with each other. It only took me 4 1/2 years to get here...whewwww...glad I made it.

Brookshires

Ok. So I have to brag because I have NEVER been told this before and it couldn't have come at a better time...when I am 30. Aaron and I were in Brookshires tonight and the very young high school looking girl at the cash register that was checking us out, was looking at us funny and she said....I don't want to offend you, but are you 2 married? You look too young to be married. WHAT!!!!!!! In no way was I offended! She asked us how old we were and Aaron told her and said we have 2 kids and she acted like she couldn't believe it. She wanted to know how long we had been married and I told her almost 7 years and she said she couldn't believe we were still in love the way we were and that she hoped to find love like that one day. It was very sweet and encouraging. Made my week. Aaron is very young looking and has a cute little baby face. Maybe I look younger standing close to him. I Love having a husband that makes me look good!

Little bras and movie quotes

Okie Dokie...so we were just at the table eating lunch...me, Alyssa and Aubrey, and Alyssa says to me as she was taking a bite of her green bean..."mom, I got a new bra." Again with the boobies I am thinking. She raises up her shirt and what is it I see strapped across her chest?.....a maxi pad. She said, " do you like my new bra." Oh yes I said through my laughter. She told me "mom my boobies are little bitty and yours are big. I only need this little bra."
That girl is so funny all the time and doesn't mean to be.

Another thing that I wanted to blog about was her movie quotes she has been saying. We don't have TV..only DVD...so we watch the same 4 or 5 movies over and over at our house. We were in the car the other day and she started quoting Annie "I gotta go bathroom." and was saying it just like Carol Burnette in the movie. Then Aubrey in her own little language started mimicking along and saying it too. So now this is a joke between the 3 of us. When one of us says "I gotta go bathroom..." the other 2 chime in right after and repeats it.
Another random one she said today was from the little cartoon at the beginning of the Parent Trap...." John they're playing our song,' "Marsha, what fools we were.'" hehehe! So random!

Also...Aubrey is so sweet.. After EVERYTHING I give her, whether it be a drink or a bath she looks up at me and says thank you. Also when we are leaving anywhere she has to make sure she tells EVERYONE bye bye at least 2-3 times each and never leaves anyone out. She is such a little social butterfly!

VBS at New Hope

This year was Alyssa's first year to go to VBS. We go to New Hope Christian Church in Wylie where we live and love it there. The staff is awesome...and the youth and children's church ministries are the best! I have to say....I wasn't expecting it to be such a big deal as it was!
I remember going to VBS at Church of Christ in Princeton, and I LOVED it. I still remember all the songs and I remember Terry Jackson, the pastor at the time, leading worship with the puppets...and I remember my Memaw serving me iced animal crackers and Kool-aid in a dixie cup, and doing crafts. It was great, but compared to New Hope, it was small potatoes.
They had the whole entire church decorated so stinkin cute! The theme was "Crocodile Dock." They had a scene on the stage set up that looked like a crocodile swamp with a boat and a fisherman, and they had all crocodile dock characters hung up all over the walls. It was so cute! All the kids wore their same little green tshirts the whole week! Every night Alyssa came home singing a new song and telling me what she learned about Jesus., and every day she kept asking me when was it going to be time to go to VBS again, so I know she was having a good time and looking forward to it everyday.
Well, tonight was our last night and we, the parents, got to come a little early and listen to each age group sing a different song. I am kicking myself now because I wasn't prepared. If I had known how stinkin cute it was going to be, I would've taken my camera and video camera and invited a few people to come along....like the grandparents.
All the kids did such a great job, but Alyssa shined so bright to me! I actually thought she would be a little shy and be the one that wasn't singing but was trying to find me in the crowd, but she surprised both me and Aaron. She sang so good and danced so good! You should've seen her! I couldn't have been prouder! I'm real emotional when it comes to my kiddos... I was so proud I couldn't stand it and started to tear up. I had to fight not to cry! Sometimes I just get this HUGE sense of pride and joy of being a mom that I just can't contain it, and it often comes out as tears! Sappy I know but true. This was one of those moments. It was a night I will always remember for the rest of my life. Such a precious little memory of my sweet Alyssa singing with overexaggerated expressions on her face and dancing to the song.."I get down...He lifts me up" by the Newsboys!
I LOVED every second of it! I was soooo born to be a momma!
I am thankful to all the workers and volunteers and teenagers that gave up their evenings this week to pour into my child and love on all the kids! So thankful!

Another one from Kyle

The other day I was watching Emmy and Kyle for Savita while she was taking Avery to the eye doctor. Anyway, I had some things I needed to do, so I loaded the kids up in the car and started off. Kyle always loves to tell me very random stories while I am driving. This particular day he told me a very elaborate story about his quest to kill all the rabbits :)
You see, my brother has a garden in his backyard that consists of 120 tomato vines and pepper plants and blackberry vines. They are also infested with rabbits that have made it a habbit to come over to the Gilbert's house every night for dinner.
So Steve has made it his mission to weed out the rabbits and save the garden! Ya really can't blame him for that one! All that work and you come out and your berry vines are whittled down to nothing. He tried traps, but I think they just kept mulitplying.
I guess Kyle also has been trained to kill the bunnies because as I was driving he told me..."Aunt Stacy....Sometimes I get on my dirtbike and I like to go shoot all the rabbits. I love shooting the rabbits, but I can't shoot the baby rabbits, only the big ones. " Poor wittle wabbits better watch out! Like Father like Son...double trouble!

Random

The very random things that Alyssa is saying right now is cracking me up. She is so funny all the time. This is very random and I am really just blogging this so that I can look back on it and laugh, but tonight we were all laying on the bed and Alyssa was pretending she was making a cake and a salad. I was the cake and Aaron was the salad. She was stirring and patting and she moved over to Aaron and was making her salad on him and she patted him and said, 'there daddy, that's good, looks like a turd." We cracked up so hard. It was so random and funny. Alyssa got all embarrassed that we were laughing and played it off and said," I didn't say turd, I said potato." OK!
I LOVE my kids and how they make me laugh all the time! Now where they come up with these things is beyond me :)

The Melting Pot

Friday and Saturdays are our busiest days of the week so come Saturday night we are exhausted in the Reeves household, not really wanting to do much.
Well, this Saturday wasn't any different. The day was over and we were home, just lying around resting. My phone rang and a little tiny voice was asking me if Alyssa could stay all night. It was Emmy. Then sweet Savita got on the phone and asked what me and Aaron were doing, and asked if we wanted to go out. She said she would watch both girls for us. Even though we were super tired, this was so rare for us to be able to go out on a date on a Saturday evening in the middle of farming season, so we jumped at the chance. I think that was an answered prayer, because I had been praying for more quality time with Aaron.
We decided since we got to do this, we would go somewhere nice, so we went to the Melting Pot.
We had never been and loved it. The atmosphere was very romantic. We sat in our own little corner all cozy and close.
I ordered a blackberry margarita, which was yummy and tiny, but seemed to be super potent because my head was spinning after about half.
Then we ordered the feast so we could get the full on experience. First came the bread and veggies and apples to dip in the cheese sauce of our choice. I can't remember what cheese we got, but it was a little strong....good, but strong. Next came the salad, I got spinach and Aaron got the house. Mine was better. Then came the main course. Ok so I had no idea that they brought the meat to you raw. I looked at it and was thinking to myself 'oh my gosh, this meal is so expensive and I am not going to eat it,' not realizing that it cooked in the little pot of boiling herbs. I thought it was just for dipping. I told you I was a little tipsy from the margarita, so it took me a while to get it. I was pretty relieved when I figured out I didn't have to eat raw chicken. So that was fun. I made Aaron cook it longer than the waiter suggested but it was good. That course consisted of beef tenderloin, chicken, pork, shrimp, dumplings, filet mignon, and veggies. Then came the last course....drum roll..........the snicker chocolate sauce with peanut butter and bailys and cream served with rice crispy treats, brownies, strawberries and bananas, cheese cake, and marsmallows covered in oreos crumbs and graham cracker crumbs all bite sized of course so we could dip them in that heavenly sauce. We left there stuffed and feeling a little recharged and reconnected.
It was a good time! We are thankful to Savita for letting us do that and thankful to God for putting in on her heart to ask us.

4th of July

4th of July this year was a lot of fun for us. We spent the evening at Steve and Savitas.
Before I go into that I have to say that I got really lucky at Veal's fireworks stand and won a hundred dollars worth of fireworks. You had to be there to win, so me and mom and the girls just walked down from her house and went and stood with about 20 other folks who were hoping their number would be called. They called about 4 numbers until they called mine. I just stuck my hand up and said oh that's me! I felt all the disappointed glares from all the other people there. It was just silence, and so AWKWARD! No congratulations or anything. Just awkward silence . I felt excited and really bad at the same time.
Anyhow the Veals were nice enough to give me all those free fireworks that we then had to carry back to moms house also carrying Aubrey and holding Alyssa's hand at the same time. We made it though.
Back to the Gilbert's house. They had a bouncy house waterslide that the kids had a total blast on. The kids had hotdogs, and chef Steve, who is a great cook, grilled fajitas and brauts for the adults and we had all kinds of chips and dips and desserts. My absolute favorite thing in the world to do is to watch all the kids having fun and laughing. I walked around to the side of the house at one point and Alyssa was laughing so loud and hard I could hear her from where I was. Most of the night I just sat back and watched them eating watermelon, and sliding down that big waterslide and playing with smoke bombs, sparklers and roman candles.
It was a blast. We didn't get home until 11:30, which is late for us and our kiddos :)
At one point in the night there was the little boy about Alyssa's age that was there and I was listening to their conversation....so cute!!!!!! Jaden said "I am scared of those firecrackers. " Alyssa said "well I'm not scared." Jaden: "Why aren't you scared?" Alyssa: "I'm just not scared. Here hold my hand and I will show you there is nothting to be scared of."
It was the sweetest thing!!!!! We watched them walk hand and hand as Alyssa led him down to the truck with fireworks and he said he wasn't afraid anymore. All the moms were getting up grabbing the cameras for the cute kodak moment. My battery had died by then . I don't know if anyone caught it on camera or not. I was so very proud of my sweet little girl!
It was a very relaxing and chill night! It was great! We so needed that. Especially Aaron.

biopsy

My mom had a mammogram that showed a spot a couple of weeks ago, so they had her do another one which still showed a spot. Soooo.....we had a little scare. Just a little one. On Wednesday morning bright and early I took her to have a biopsy done. She was a little nervous, but had her brave face on. She said that the biopsy hurt. They had 3 people holding her down because she couldn't move a muscle, and they deadened it 3 times with a shot. Then they stuck a rather large needle in and drained some fluid off of the lump.
Thankfully, the test came back ok. We are so relieved and thankful to God for her health and for all of our health for that matter. Thank you Jesus! Continue to cover my family in your love, favor and protection.

Aubrey

This afternoon, I caught Aubrey pretending she was changing a baby's diaper. She was saying , "whew" and "wee, wee," which is her way of saying shooee.
She is such a funny girl and talking up a storm. She answers me when I ask her all sorts of questions, and seems to pretty much understand everything I tell her. I don't remember Alyssa talking this much this early. Either she is ahead of the game, or time is just flying right past me a little too fast.

"I got boobies now"

Today Alyssa was crying about her dress she had on and told me that it was too low cut and that it showed her boobs. I said I didn't know she had any boobs. She got a little mad and said I do too have boobies.
Later in the day she came in with a t shirt over her spaghetti strap dress. She pulled up her strap and asked me if i like her new bra.
She said "Momma, do you like my new bra? It is holding in my boobies. I got boobies now."
Oh my goodness, if she is anything like I was, it really won't be long until she really does have boobies. I am praying she doesn't. But between me and Aaron's side, it looks like she won't have any hope. Maybe the organic milk I am giving her will help :) Oh I hope!

My little swimmers

This week we decided to start the summer off right and we went swimming all day Monday and Tuesday. Aubrey is loving the water. I really have to keep an eye on her and keep floaties on her the whole time. She likes to just jump off the edge of the step whenever she feels like it. She will be laughing and trying to keep her head above the water at the same time. This is only our 3rd time to go swimming and she is already rapidly turning blonde. No more little brunnette. By the end of the summer I am guessing she will be completely blonde like her big sis!
For the past 2 summers I have been trying to get Alyssa to let go of the step with her floaties on, but little miss cautious wouldn't do it. She would hang out on the step all day and complain how the other kids won't play with her. This year she is old enough to reason with and understand me when I try and explain things to her.
So I told her that the other kids don't like to hang out on the step. They like it better being able to swim around in the pool. I told her she would like it better too if she would learn to swim away from the step. So she agreed that she wanted to learn that day. But.........when the time came to start, she gave me every excuse in the book. "Mom, I have to poop." "My tummy is hurting." "I'm hungry." "My throat hurts." "I'm sleepy."
I asked her don't you trust me and she told me no :) I finally had to hold on tight to her and as she was screaming and clinging to me like a scared kitten, I had to drag her off the step with me. It took a while to calm her down enough to talk to her. I kept telling her to say "Go away Fear in the name of Jesus." and with tears streaming she repeated it and then she would say her verse. " I can do all things through Christ Jesus who gives me strength." It was so cute! Finally she wouldn't let go, so I had to let go of her. She was freaking out at first and I told her that she had to calm down and keep her arms down, and she started to float and kick her feet. Poor little thing was shaking like a leaf, but she managed to swim back and forth to me and Savita about 4 times and then she had enough. I was so proud of her! This was a HUGE breakthrough for her. Now I just have to keep her doing it more and more. When we left, she couldn't wait to tell her daddy about it and she kept asking me to tell her why I was so proud of her. I think one of her love languages is words of encouragement.

Busy time!

Right now is such a busy time for Aaron. Tonight he has with him over 100 boxes of squash to take to the market with him to wholesale. Thursday night and Friday mornings are the biggest wholesale days on the market. Everyone comes in from all over Texas, Arkansas, Oklahoma and Florida to sell and buy. Aaron usually goes at 2:30 am on Fridays and we don't get the pleasure of tagging along. Sometimes, like tonight, he pulls an all nighter. If he can beat the other people there and get there about 7:0opm Thursday evenings he can usually do pretty well. But there are the nights where he is thinking he will have an advantage and get up there early and the lot will be packed with Farmers that had the same idea as him. That's when he has to stay all night and pray he sells it. Farming is really such a gamble. It takes a lot of faith to be a farmer and even more to be a farmer's wife :) You plant all this stuff, pray it grows, and produces a good crop, then when it does, you have to pray that someone will buy it. I love that Aaron has gotten himself into a lot of the stores. This way we don't have to worry about staying all night at the wholesale lot in Dallas and hope it all sells.
We went with him one night last year to the wholesale lot. It was my first time. It really was such a neat experience. There were old and young dirt farmers (mostly old) from everywhere that pulled up in their old pickup trucks and trailers full of what they had just harvested, just as proud as the guy next to him about his crop. Just good ole' hard working, country people! It felt good.....reminded me of the people in Princeton... some of our customers that would come in every day at North End. Took me back a little bit!
It was really just a waiting and hoping game, but it was so much fun being there and hanging out in the lot with them. There is such a sense of pride in this kind of work. I felt proud of our stuff and was so proud of my husband for his hard work. I still am so proud of him. This year has been a tough one for him. His hours at the post office were cut down so much that he hardly worked and it was killin him not to be able to work and be a better provider for us. So he is in his element now...working his cute hiney off. He had a plan to make up for the difference...expand the business and double the crops..so that is what he did. So far so good! I am extremely proud of him and thankful God has planted this passion in Aaron's heart to farm. It is how God provides for the Reeves' Family! :)

My mom the sweetheart!

I just wanted to write about how much of a sweetheart my mom is! She is always doing stuff for us kids and the grandkids. Tonight she called us at the last minute and asked us to come over and have hamburgers. She had decided she wanted to pull her onions in her garden and realized she had told the kids they could help her, so at the last minute she decided to just call us over for dinner so the kids could pull the onions.
We got there and had dinner outside that consisted of hamburgers, chicken wings, smoked sausage, grilled potatoes and squash, and to top it all off... yummy, gooey, melty smores. There went the diet! :) We sat outside and enjoyed the beautiful evening and each other's company! It was a great ending to a great day!
My point is that she never halfway does things for us, it is always with her whole heart!
What a sweet mom and nanny we have!

Avery

This morning we had our farmers markets and we had our best Saturday yet!
My brother brought his oldest daughter, Avery, who is 9 now to work with us. It was so much fun having her there, and she did such a great job keeping all the baskets filled. Made me think about me and my brother going to work with my dad when we were younger in his grocery stores. I took pictures of the cutie pie to document her first day of work ever!!! I felt so proud thinking about how when she grows up she will remember coming to Aunt Stacy and Uncle Aaron's fruit stands and helping out! We won't ever be short of workers with all the kids we have! It is so neat having a business where all of our family is involved somehow. We're a great team and it is working out pretty well for us! If you live in the Mckinney area go visit my dad's fruitstand in Mckinney on Chestnut Square every Saturday from 8-12. Look for the Gilbert/Pruett sign! Just a little shout out for my dad!!! :) :)

Farming 2009

So far this year, farming has been good. The rain we got, kind of set us back a little. We had weeds galore and grass growing in the squash and okra patches. But this week has been dry all week so it gave Aaron some time to go get a handle on it. The sun is helping out our squash a great deal. Today Aaron took 30 boxes of squash to the market and he said it was sold within 5 minutes! That's the kind of sales we love...none of this waiting around for hours trying to find people to take it! I think it being memorial weekend really helped a lot! People plan on being busy!
Aaron told me that every time he showed someone his squash they complimented him on how beautiful it was! I'm so proud of him!
So we pulled out onions and the squash and zucchini is coming off, and today they are digging our potatoes too! Now we are waiting on the okra and cukes!
My brother, Steve is going to be supplying us with tomatoes and peppers this year! He took me and showed me his progress last night and everything looked beautiful! Tomatoes and jalapenos are already growing, and he has pears growing on his pear trees too!
If anyone reads this....come visit our fruitstands! Don't miss out on the home grown fresh yummy veggies and fruits! I LOVE fresh and am very proud of our stuff! Come visit us in downtown Rockwall every Saturday from 8-12 or in Wylie the first and third Saturday of every month from 8-1! Look for the Reeves Family Farm sign!

My big 4 year old

It's so hard to believe, but my sweet Alyssa just turned 4. The whole cliche' about time flies is so true. It just seems like yesterday that I graduated from high school and now here I am 30 years old with a 4 year old and a 15 month old!
Anyway, for Alyssa's birthday party we had a fabulous Fancy Nancy party at my mom's (Nanny's) house. All the kids got dressed up in their fanciest outfits and we served food Fancy Nancy style....the menu consisted of tiny chicken salad and pimento cheese sandwiches with fancy toothpicks in them, a fancy cheese ball with strawberry center, chips and dip, fresh strawberries, tiny quiches, cream puffs, tiara cookies, french vanilla cake with strawberry center and cream cheese fillling and vanilla and rocky road icecream! The kids had a blast decorating hand held mirrors and combs and brushes with rhinestones and stickers and glitter glue. They busted down the pinata and ran outside to see the peacock that decided to join the party! It was a great day! Thanks Nanny for being such a great hostess!
On Alyssa's actual birthday we went and got her little friend Elani and took her to Chuck E Cheeses with us! We had pizza, salad and chocolate cake and cokes, and played for a couple of hours. Afterwards I asked Alyssa if she wanted to go spend her birthday money at Toys R Us or Wal Mart and she picked Wal Mart :) So we headed to Wal Mart and Alyssa picked out a new bicycle with training wheels, a Taylor Swift barbie that sings "Picture to Burn," sunglasses, play food, and a pool and slipping slide for the backyard. Sounds like a lot, but we stayed in her budget., a lot of it was cheap. Gotta love Wal Mart!
She had a wonderful 4th birthday!
I just want to add that I am so proud of my sweet girl! She is such a good girl! So sweet and caring. For a 4 year old she has so much wisdom and conviction. I love her to pieces!

Love Story

The other morning at 6:30 am I got a text from my sister in law, Ashley that they were giving away Taylor Swift tickets on The Wolf at 7:35. I got up and started listening and was preparing myself to call in and 5 minutes before it was time, they announced that it was a contest for dads..and to win they had to be the 99th caller and sing the song "Love Story." So I called Aaron at work and told him that it was for dad's and he immediately, without skipping a beat asked me what he had to sing. I gave him the lyrics and he ran out to his truck and practiced them about 5 times. It was the sweetest thing! I was laughing so hard that I was crying. It was so darn cute! Well, he let me go so that he could call into the radio and Alyssa and I sat listening to see if Aaron was going to be caller 99. When we heard the man's voice on the radio, Alyssa said that's not my daddy. It was so disappointing. I just knew that we were going to win! But some other sweet dad won them for his 2 girls.
That was the sweetest thing for Aaron to try and win that for Alyssa! What a wonderful daddy she has and such a sweetheart! We love him so much!

Aubs the chatterbox!

My little mini muffin Aubrey has become quite the little chatterbox. She talks all day long. Some is jibber jabber and some words I can make out sometimes. I think she is going to be our social butterfly. Just in the past couple of weeks she has really caught onto words. She repeats a lot of what we say and I see her looking at my lips when I talk and trying to mouth along with my words. She can say her name now. She says "Bauby." I told my brother that and he said well then she can't say her name.....smarty pants! Some other words she says now are....."sissy, Lyssa, Lucy (our dog), cute shoes, baby, tuggy(which is her pacifier), blankie, bite, no, ouch, uh-oh, hi, bye-bye, ow, mommy & daddy. She can also point to her nose, mouth, and eyes! She has advanced a lot in her 15th month! She is so much fun! She is always happy and smiling and is a little feisty! Such a cuddler too! One of the girls that works at the gym nusery says Aubrey gives the best bear hugs in the world! I would have to agree! She is so lovey and friendly! When we are grocery shopping she likes to say hi to all the people we pass by! I am really enjoying having 2 girls! It is so much fun!

Mothers Day!

Today was mother's day and we spent the day out at my mom's. It was so beautiful outside and the kids played outside all day long. Everyone cooked and contributed to the big lunch we had. I ate so much that my stomach feels sick tonight, but it was so good. Momma made fried chicken strips and baked ham, we had corn salad, broccoli salad, mashed potatoes, corn on the cob, hot rolls, squash casserole, triple layered german chocolate cake, cream cheese lemon bars, banana pudding and of course sweet tea! Oh my goodness, I come from a loooong line of good cooks. It was great. But....my stomach is a little sick feeling tonight. I had been eating SUPER healthy the last 3 weeks and I think my body was in shock after all that today! I did my hoe down exercises twice today and am probably going to do them once more before bed, just in case :)
For my mother's day present Aaron took me to Quigley's pottery place and I got to pick out what I wanted. I chose a big platter and we painted both the girls hands and put them on the plate. We then painted cupcakes around their hands and decorated it all cute and wrote their names inside their hands with the date. At the top of the plate I wrote "Mommy's little cupcakes." It is going to be soooooo stinkin cute! I have to wait a week and then go back and pick it up. They have to fire it and polish it out! I looooove stuff like that! That's something I will cherish and keep forever. My little Alyssa also painted me a very very beautifully messy coffee cup! I told her it will be my favorite coffee cup that I will use every morning! I can't wait to see the finished product! I will post pics when I get them back! I am grateful that God chose me to be the mom of 2 amazingly sweet girls and 1 awesome husband whom I love very much and am soooooooooooooooooooo thankful for!

Jesus and icecream

Tonight we took the girls to church and met with our very awesome friends Alicia and Kavin Tubbs. We had such a great night of conversation and ministry. God always uses them in tremendous ways to speak into our life! We love them so much!
Anyway, afterwards when we picked the girls back up from church they were both in such wonderful moods! Aubrey was trying so hard to talk. She was saying every word she knew...I mean every word she knew trying to converse with us. It was so cute! She now knows where her nose and mouth and eyes and toes are. She is such a smart little cutie pie!
Well... the main reason I wanted to blog tonight was to record the conversation we had with Alyssa. She was so excited about Jesus when she got out of church tonight. We got in the car and she went on and on about how Jesus is coming out of the sky today! She said it about a hundred times! "Mom and dad, did you know Jesus is coming out of the sky today?" He is coming down from heaven out of the sky today." She said we had to go home and get some icecream and sit and wait and watch for Him to come down. She then proceeded to tell me that there were a lot of people in heaven and that there is going to be a big wedding and that Jesus probably has icecream in heaven too! When we got home she got out of the car and said, "Look do you see him. He is coming down." She ran in the house and got the flash light and took it back outside so that she could see him better when he came down. Aaron told her that when He comes, that we will be coming down behind Him and told her how awesome it was going to be, and he told her she was going to have a new body and be wearing a beautiful white dress. She told him, "Maybe my dress will be pink dad." It was so cute!
Having my almost 4 year old get so excited about Jesus and His return and hearing how much knowledge she had, got me so excited. I think God is so awesome!
Also I just wanted to add that the other day we were talking and I told her that I loved her heart and that she had such a sweet heart. I put my hand on her chest when I said this and she said "Momma, do you feel his head in my chest." she was talking about Jesus being in her heart. She is so precious with her "child-like faith." That is how I want to be, and that is how I think God wants all of us to be!

Easter

This year we had such a good Easter. The night before me and Alyssa decorated eggs and made deviled eggs. It was so much fun, but stunk up our house. It smelled like an egg and toot mixed together...horrible! I lit candles in every room to get the smell out. Before we went to bed that night I was laying in bed with Alyssa and I prayed over her and told her I was so thankful to have her as my daughter and to have Aubrey and Aaron. I told her how great a family we had and said I am just so lucky to have such a wonderful family. In her little soft voice she said, "me too." Just melted my heart to butter! So sweet. I told her the Easter story about Jesus and what he did for us and what Easter meant and when I was done she said, "tell me again momma, tell me a hundred times again! " Have I ever mentioned how precious she is and how much I love being a mom??????? It's the time of my life!
The next morning the Easter bunny had visited and the girls woke up and went through all the Easter goodies. Aubrey got a toy bunny, a new baby praise DVD, which is her favorite, a monkey cup and plate, and lots of candy. Alyssa got a new BOZ DVD, tattoos and stickers, lipgloss and a new plate and cup to match Aubreys. When she looked at her plate she said,"HEY, they had this at Target." Whoops! The Easter Bunny will have to be more careful next time! :)
Then we went to a great church service and headed out to my dad's for lunch with the Gilbert clan. It was so good seeing everyone! The upside to being married is also a downside, you gain a new family, but you don't get to see yours as often anymore. Does that make sense?
I hadn't seen the Gilbert side in a while, but everyone was the same and it felt as good and comfortable as ever! SueAnn had everything set up real nice and everyone brought a ton of good food, and we all sat around eating and talking. The rainy day ended up turning into a beautiful day. The kids were able to hunt their eggs outside. Memaw made an extra basket of eggs for the kid that got the least amount. That ended up being Alyssa. She took her sweet time hunting the eggs, opening up every one and peaking inside to see what she got before she went to the next one! That was so sweet of Memaw!
Alyssa, Adrian, Emery, and Avery stayed outside allllll dayyyy longgggg! From about 1:00 pm until we left which was around 8:00 pm. They all play so good together and played so hard. They ended up taking off their shoes and socks and pants and playing in the creek. So much fun!
We ended the day just sitting on the back driveway chatting and enjoying the weather. It was just a perfect day! I am thankful God blessed me with such a wonderful family!

Aubrey's Shoe Obsession

So Aubrey has learned a new word and I think it is her very favorite word...shoe. I have never in my life heard of a 1 year old loving shoes like this girl. The other night Aaron got up in the attic and pulled out a bunch of shoes of Alyssa's when she was Aubrey's size. Aubrey was beside herself with excitement. Aaron said she wanted to try them all on and was smiling from ear to ear. This morning I still had all those shoes sitting up on the countertop. First thing, Aubrey starts pointing to the table. I thought she wanted her cup so I handed her the cup. She got mad and threw it down. So then I grabbed a shoe and she started laughing and held it up for me to put it on her. She was giggling the whole time saying "shoe, shoe." After breakfast she followed me around the house bringing me different shoes wanting me to change them out, probably every 30 seconds. She is hilarious! She wants to have her shoes on all day long and a purse over her shoulder too! At least I always know where she is because I can hear CLOP CLOP CLOP on the floor.

Hannah Montana

This may sound a little silly, but today was one of my favorite times as a mom! Alyssa and I went to the movies to see the new Hannah Montana movie. It was so much fun! We got popcorn, sourpatch kids, junior mints and a coke and went to the end of the line of young girls that were waiting to watch the movie. Some girls were decked out in their Hannah gear and one girl even had on a Hannah wig! It was so funny watching all those girls get excited!
We sat in the back and poured all of our candy out into our popcorn bag and just had our own little party, just the two of us. Alyssa likes Hannah Montana, but she loves Taylor Swift, and Taylor had a little cameo in the movie. She didn't take her eyes off the big screen and kept saying momma, when is it going to show Taylor? When it finally did, she got so excited! Her eyes got real wide and she said there she is, and sat straight up in her seat! Other kids in the theater got excited too and started clapping and yelling for little miss Taylor! This is the silly part...I started to cry a little bit! It was just so precious being there in that moment with Alyssa and watching her get excited. In that moment I felt so so very blessed to be her mom and to have my sweet girls! I thought about the time my mom paid $200.00 for me a ticket to sit in the 5th row of the New Kids on the Block concert, and thought to myself...I would so do that for Alyssa to see Taylor Swift or Hannah Montana up close. That little look on her face was priceless and to see her excited and having fun was so amazing! I would pay good money to see that excitement and joy! So in that moment I understood why my mom paid that kind of money for her 5th grader to see Donnie D. up close! My absolute favorite thing in the entire world is seeing my girls happy and having fun!
Anyway, the movie was precious! I loved it! I think it will be one to buy!
At the end, I wasn't the only mom that was crying...another lady walking in front of me was crying and laughing at the same time, saying Oh my gosh I don't know why I am crying at the Hannah Montana movie! She had 2 girls with her too! I guess she got it too...what Hannah Montana represents...those little girls that like to dream big! That innocent precious time in their life that will pass so quickly! I savored every second of it! It really was one of my best days as a mom! I had so much fun with my sweet girl!

this morning

This morning I was sitting at the computer and Kyle, my nephew proceeded to tattle that Alyssa had a booger and wiped it on his pillow! Alyssa denied it and said, "I don't have a booger on the pillow. It's still in my nose!" The things those kids fight about are so funny! Sometimes I find it difficult to keep a straight face when they are upset about things. I think I might be a little upset if someone wiped a booger on my pillow too. But on the other hand, my little princess would never do that! :)hahaha!

Just Rambles

Ok.....so the sleeping through the night thing with Aubs didn't last. She is back to waking up almost every night and wanting to get in bed with me and Aaron. We are so tired, we just let her. The other night I put her in bed with us and she actually woke up about 5 times feeling around for me to see if she was by me or not. The little stinker! It is sweet, because she is such a little cuddler, but I would rather not be having to cuddle with her at 4:00 am.. That's when I want to be cuddling with Aaron! Anyway, she always has to have her hand on me or my face pressed against her face! It's all my fault and now it's a habit I feel is a bit out of control. Alyssa still gets up every night too and has to potty or just wakes up scared and Aaron ends up sleeping with her in her bed and I have Aubrey in ours with me! I want to claim our bed back, but I also want to sleep on some level!

Such a girl!

Well, the other day me and Alyssa went to Wal Mart and Alyssa picked out some shoes for Aubrey. They were just the little $5.00 Crocks knockoff ...Mary Jane style. My girl has cute taste!!!!!
Anyway, when we got home, I told Aubrey that we had a surprise for her. It was so funny because she completely knew what I was talking about. She walked over to me smiling and waiting. I pulled out the shoes and showed them to her and she let out a little giggle. I tried them on her and they fit and then she turned around and said as clear as day,"Thank you," and gave me a big hug! It was so funny. I swear that girls acts older than she is! Aaron, Alyssa and I were cracking up and couldn't believe she did that! Later Aaron tried to take the shoes off of her and she threw a little fit! Don't you dare take off my new shoes daddy!!!!!!!!
I guess she mimicks her big sister and learns from her. She already gets out Alyssa's purses and puts them on her shoulder and walks around the house like she's a big girl! It looks like I am going to have 2 really prissy girly girls!!!! Fine with me! I love it!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!They are so much FUN!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Sleeping through the night

I just wanted to write today down!!! Aubrey slept through the night 2 nights in a row, for the first time ever!!!! She has slept through the night before, but never consistently! I am so proud and excited! She actually slept in past 8 o'clock.
Now little Alyssa came in the bed with us around 2:00 a.m. She had a little cough and it kept waking her up. I asked her where on earth is this cough coming from? You haven't been congested. And she said, "it's because I have snot in my throat." Oh!! Ok. The little smarty! I gave her a little cough syrup and she finally went back to sleep. We used to joke that we won't get a full night's rest again for the next 18 years. But I can feel it though...one of these days in the very near future, Aaron and I will actually get to sleep by ourselves through the night. I can feel it... it will be soon...I hope!

Beautiful Morning!

Today is just one of those mornings where all feels right with the world! I have my windows up, the weather is perfect, I am drinking a good cup of coffee, and my girls are just hanging out in their jammies, being as good as could be. Not to mention, last night I had my first ever facial, thanks to Savita, and my face feels good. It's just a good morning!
Today I am feeling so grateful for all that I have.
Aubrey has started to greet me every morning by saying Hi! But it sounds more like "HIEE." So sweet. She is the most cuddly little baby I know. Gives the best ever hugs. When I walked through the door last night after my facial, she ran to me with her little arms stretched out squealing. I picked her up and she buried her little face in my neck. She acted like it was the first time she had seen me all week. Then when I put her down she continued to hug my leg like a little monkey and bury her head in my leg for another 5 minutes. She loves her momma! This morning Aaron and I were sitting at the breakfast table talking, and Aubrey comes running up to the me with her cup and said , "Mo." Which means more, and then I gave her more and she told me thank you. Such a little smartie pants! So precious!
Little Alyssa gets sweeter everyday I think. She has so much conviction and just has such a sweet disposition about her... a lot like her daddy! She has started singing a lot more. Aaron was shaving the other day and she went in the bathroom and started singing," Daaaaddy are you shaving your faaaaace?" Aaron busted out laughing at her! I think she is destined to be in a musical when she starts singing her sentences. As I am sitting here right now, she is in the bathroom singing, "Why can't we be friends", by War.
We went to see the Clay family the other night and Alyssa really took a liking to Bubba, no surprise there! All kids love Bubba, and when we left, she told me,"Mom, I forgot to sing Taylor Swift to Bubba!" She was so disappointed that she forgot to sing to Bubba. I told her maybe next time! LOVE MY FAMILY!!!!!!

Sprinkles of Laughter and Embarrassment!

Today I went to workout, my usual daily routine, but with one more kid, my nephew Kyle. I have the pleasure of keeping him a couple times a week while his mom sleeps from working the night shift the night before. Well, all went well and I finished my workout and it was time to load the kids up and go home. I started to strap Aubrey in the carseat and I smelled a poopy diaper, so I had to change her in the car in the parking lot. Kyle and Alyssa played on a little patch of grass right by the car while I changed her. About a few seconds into it, I heard Kyle say, "I gotta pee." I said ok let me finish changing Aubrey and we will all go back inside and go. Well, a few seconds after that I hear Alyssa say, "Mom!!! Look at Kyle. He is peeing outside!" I turned around and the little guy had his pants pulled down around his ankles and he was peeing in a very wide open parking lot of the workout shopping center. Oh my gosh! I didn't know what to do. I was holding onto Aubrey's feet wiping poo off of her bottom and I couldn't move! My first thoughts were Oh my gosh I am going to get a ticket! I started looking around for cops or other people that might have seen. Thank goodness, if anyone did, they didn't say anything.
It was too funny after the embarrassment wore off! I guess when you gotta go, you gotta go!
I would say a perk of having 2 girls is that they don't just pull down there pants and pee anywhere they please, but that just wouldn't be true. Last summer Grammy and Grandad would always teach the kids if they were swimming outside and needed to pee, just to jump out and go in the grass. Well, that is fine and dandy when you live in the country. But my sweet little lady brought that lesson home with her. We were grocery shopping at Wal Mart one day, and Alyssa was riding in the back of the cart. When I turned around to grab a can of mushroom soup, she had pulled her pants down and was in a squatting position and was peeing all over my groceries in the cart. It dripped all over the floor and I had to go find some poor man that worked there and tell him the story so he could go mop it all up. Thanks Grammy and Grandad! Fun times!

Valentines

For Valentines Day this year we kept it simple. When the girls woke up I had a small surprise on the table laid out of cinnamon toast popcorn. Alyssa had chocolate covered gummy bears and Aubrey had Valentine colored M&Ms, which she LOVED!
I made Aaron a big italian dinner that consisted of spaghetti, garlic toast, corn and salad, and then his favorite...peanut butter brownies. He showed up home from work and didn't forget about his 3 girls. I got a bouquet of pink Gerber Daisies, which are my favorite, and the girls got their own little bundle of pink carnations. It was so sweet. Alyssa walked around all day saying Happy Valentines Day!
We then proceeded to watch a really weird movie called The Princess. About 15 minutes into it I discovered that the lead character, the princess, was a girl I briefly went to high school with named Nora. I didn't really know her. I think she was only there for about a year, but Nilsa was frineds with her. Weird! I had seen her on a Tampax commercial a few years back, the one where the girl rolls in on her belly on a skateboard to steal a tampon. I guess she is moving up. Anyway, it wasn't special, but we had a good time as a family together! Romance will have to wait! I always feel guilty asking people to babysit on Valentines Day night, and I really don't want to have to pay someone to babysit and then pay to go out to dinner and a movie! Sometimes it is worth it, but gosh you would think that with all the family we have around here, we wouldn't have to pay for a babysitter! You would think that, wouldn't you?

Dinnertime prayer

Tonight we were praying at the dinner table before supper and Alyssa interrupted Aaron as she usually does, and said no daddy I want to do it. She does this often and usually just says a little jibber jabber, but tonight she prayed a real and sincere prayer! We were blown away!
She said,"Dear Father God...Thank you for Jesus, and I pray for Nanny to get better, and for Mamaw. " It was so sweet. My mom had called us yesterday and told us she had the flu. I had told Alyssa she was sick and I hoped Mamaw didn't get it. Anyway, that girl just listens to everything and I know that God speaks to her sweet heart all the time.

Also Aubrey is so very smart. You can say....How old are you? And she will hold up her one finger and say,"Mon,"Which means one. Ok so I took her to the doctor yesterday for her one year checkup and she had to get shots and was crying. I was trying to distract her and said How old are you? Her doctor told me, and I quote,"If she can say one and hold up her finger, then that is way advanced for her age." Yes, I knew it, she is wise beyond her year.
She also will point to the person in our family when you ask her where they are. Today I was teaching her where her belly was and she was catching on to that too! I think in a couple of days she will know where her belly is undoubtedly!!!!

Update

Well, it has been a little while since I last blogged... I guess about 2 weeks.
Aubrey is walking now! We were at mom's house for lunch Sunday January the 11th, which was ironically the date of the first day I ever met Aaron, and Frank, Lindsey's husband, came over to me and asked me if Aubrey was walking yet. I told him no, not yet. And he said well she just took 3 steps and I didn't know if that was a big deal or not. Yeah!!!!!! It's kind of a big deal I told him. So that was the start of it. Frank was the first to see her very very first steps. So from then on it was history. She is a little walker now. Sometimes she will just give up and start crawling still, but for the most part, she has it down. She is also very musical, just like her big sis. She will sit forever and play the little pink piano in her room! Alyssa likes the guitar and lead vocals on her glitter microphone. I think we are going to have us some worship leaders one of these days!!!!!
Anyway, Aubrey also said "baby" the other day and I asked her if she wanted to go night night and she told me flat out , "no." and shook her head. Such a funny girl! She loves her babies now too. She hugs them and holds them close to her chest like the way I hold her and walks around cuddling them and kissing them. She gives good kisses now too, not the kind that are open mouthed anymore. She sticks out her bottom lip like she is making a sad face and that is how she gives her sweet little kisses! I can't believe she is about to be 1!!!!! The time with her has really flown by so fast!
Alyssa is a funny girl too...always singing. She was singing the song "Mighty to Save," the other day and she said "Savior, He can move the mattress." I told her that I think the word was mountain, not mattress but I bet Jesus could move a mattress too! Little cutie patootie! She gets sweeter by the day. She is good to her mama and her little sissy! I can already tell she is going to be protective of her, she already is! I pray often that they will be each other's best friends throughout life. That is one of the reasons I really wanted 2 girls back to back so that they would have each other to share life with! I love it! I never had a sister and always thought it was special the relationships that sisters had with each other. But then again, God gave me Savita, who is like my sister, but more like my best friend, next to Aaron and the girls! I am thankful for her in more ways than one!!! I am glad my brother snagged us such a good one!!! And I have always had my girls Kendra and Lindsey! I love them and am thankful for them too! They have always been special to me and close to my heart!!!!
Anyway, there isn't much change with me and Aaron. Things are good! He is as sweet as ever! I am so thankful that he has a job, even though he doesn't work as much as we would like or need. But thank the Lord for farming! It has saved us. I know a lot of people who have been laid off and I am just so thankful to God that Aaron has a job, and the farming! Even in a recession, people have to eat right!!! So we will farm on. He planted our onions and some potatoes already. We are praying that the freeze didn't get to them! Well, in conclusion, life is good, God is good, we are blessed, and I am thankful!!!!!!!!