Threw in the Towel

In case you haven't noticed from my last post, I have officially thrown in the towel for potty training. Ridge is back in diapers.

My last straw was when Ridge stood in the middle of our living room, peeing freely, and saying, "stop tee tee, stop! stop, tee tee stop!" At that point, I knew he didn't get it.

After 4 weeks of trying, it was time, time to let it go. I can rest in the fact that he won't go to highschool in diapers or pull-ups. Ridge is perfectly content right now in his diapers. Plus, summertime is a much easier time to potty train anyway. :)

Planning is not a Guarantee

I woke up yesterday morning excited about the potential for a run.

1)My plan was to walk Cobb to school and then just keep going with the littles in the stroller. Well, we weren't ready in time. So we drove him.
2)When we got home, we bundled up with hats, coats, a blanket, water bottles, and snacks. The kids were excited because there was talk of a possible park experience after the run. We went for about five minutes, and I realized I forgot to leave something out for my friend to pick up. So we headed home.
3)After placing the item outside, we tried again. We got about five minutes out, and Charly started crying because the clip fell off her doggy. So we backtrack. . . no clip, still crying, comfort her in front of our house
4) We head back out. five minutes later, "RIDGE HAS A DOO DOO!" so we go BACK home and change him.
5)Finally, we get back in the stroller for attempt #5. Five minutes into the run. It rains.

So yet again, I realize planning doesn't work in a household of young kiddos. Planning is necessary for the potential of something working, but never a guarantee. :) Oh well.

Nine Years of Marriage!

I love my husband, and YES, I love him more today than I did nine years ago.
I always think that we haven't aged, and that 9 years ago really wasn't THAT long ago. But then I look at this picture and I stand corrected. (it's my favorite pic taken by my friend Emily)

Fortunately for us though, we have not only aged in our appearance, but we've also grown with Christ and with each other. This man I fell in love with and married nine years ago, is a man whom I grow more fond of each year. Why? Because I see him growing in love, humility, compassion, and wisdom. I see him seeking after the one relationship that really matters, his relationship with the Lord. And this enables him to love me well.

I am so very thankful that the Lord has given me Rob Thomas as a spouse. Rob is a man who's heart is full of compassion for others. He is incredibly funny, and keeps me laughing. He is wonderful with our kids, who are all in awe of their daddy. And he is wise yet humble.

On our wedding day and throughout the ceremony, I was literally bouncing with excitement. I really thought, "there is NO way I'll ever love this man more than I do today." Yet today, there is a depth that I could not have imagined on February 24, 2001. Today we know each other's short-comings, faults, and pride. Today we know(and continue to learn) how to love each other through all our weaknesses. Today, we can communicate like we never have before. Today, Rob understands how I feel better than I do sometimes. And today, we know what it means to serve the other person. Marriage is work, but incredibly rich when the work is done. I can't wait to look back 10 years from now and see what richness the Lord will provide.

Happy Anniversary Rob!

Put a Ring on It

Yesterday in the car, Charly started singing Beyonce's song "Put a Ring on It" at the top of her lungs. Shaking her hips in the car seat and shaking her finger. . .

Charly: If you liked me then I gotta get a ring it
Me: NO, no, no, no, no, not yet, no, no, no, not yet, no no(to the tune)

And then I was told I wasn't allowed to sing. If we could only catch her on video belting out all the songs she sings. . . if only.

Kisses

I wish I had a tape recorder that followed us around all the time. My kids are cracking me up! Here's a conversation from the car yesterday(to the best of my memory):

Cobb: MOM! Charly kissed me at Life Time. I told her not to!

Charly: Well, he is my brother

Me: Cobb, she is your sister, but if you don't want her to kiss you then that's okay too. Charly, don't kiss him if he asks you not to. Okay?
Charly: Well, someday, you'll like kisses Cobb
Cobb: NO!
Ridge: I DONT like kisses
Charly: Yes Cobb! When you get married
Cobb: NO, I said NO!
Ridge: NO!
Charly: Yes, when you get married like mommy & daddy, you'll like it. I just KNOW it!
Cobb: You don't KNOW know Charly.
Charly: Yes!
Ridge: Yuck Kisses

Charly: You kiss mommy all the time Ridge!
Ridge: Oh

Great Wolf Lodge

This weekend, we took a mini family vacation to Great Wolf Lodge in Grapevine, TX! (yes, just about 25 min. from our house). We had a blast! That place is so so fun. We got there Friday afternoon and went immediately to the indoor waterpark. Cobb & Rob rode the big slides while the littles and I played in the wave pool, playground, and the shallow pool area. Rob & I switched after a little while so mommy could try out the big slides too! Cobb, Rob & I all like the GREEN slide the best. Wish I had pics of the waterpark area, but we didn't bring our camera in.

That evening after dinner, we put pjs on(or Cobb's. . .I forgot the other kids pjs. . .oops!) and headed down to storytime in the Lobby,

then ice cream, then BED! The kids got to sleep in these cool bunkbeds. Here they are Saturday a.m. eating breakfast & watching a show while mommy & daddy had some quiet time.


We hit the waterpark again at 9 (right when it opened). After checking out at 11, we ate lunch at the restaurant. good food!

Daddy drew our family heads on the back of Ridge's kids menu.

Charly added the bodies, but Cobb & I didn't get one because she accidently started putting a dress on Cobb then scratched it. She was done after that. A close up of the masterpiece:

Then we attempted the wand game at the hotel. It is really cool, but we were all so exhausted that we didn't last long.

Easter in February!

Well, sort of. . .
Rob was shooting Igniter's "Easter Moment" video at our house.

The actors included Rob's brother, our kiddos, and our young nieces & nephews. So we squeezed all the kids into their last year's Easter outfits (new pants were bought, but most of the shirts semi-fit). The kids did great and remembered to call their Uncle B/dad by his character's name: "Uncle Deryl."


And the kids were very patient with all the different takes:

The "Easter Bunny" made an appearance

And the kids got their promised Easter Egg hunt as a reward for all their hard work:





Here are the boys going through their stash!

Charly was SO excited to wear that Easter dress again, and she was not about to get it dirty.

She loved her dress so much last Easter that she wore it a straight 32 hours! Click Here to see last year's Easter post.

The kids had a blast yesterday & we did too. If you are wondering what this video is going to look like, view "Thanksgiving Moment"(shot 3 years ago; same kiddos minus three!):



If you are new to the Igniter World and want to see more, click here

The snowman Escapades

My hubby made me laugh out loud as he chronicled the life of our snowman on twitter. I thought I'd show his tweets here(pics are below the captions):

"Our snowman is fighting for his life right now. He's a true fighter. "


"Day 2: He's lost his face, and looks scary thin, but otherwise doing amazing. Go Key! (Charly named him). "


"Day 2: 1:20pm. Not even doctors can explain this. "


"Day 3: 9:00am. I'm blaring out the window, 'Keep Holding On' by Avril Lavigne. He's soaking it in."


"Day 3: A look back. This is Key the snowman in his 'glory days'... 4 days ago (Friday)."


"Day 3: 6:00pm. Today was brutal. Key's head fell off but I doctored it back. He's now getting 'short' jokes."


"Day 4: 8:02am. Some kid just shouted a 'headless horseman' joke at our snowman, Key. While it hurt, Key knows there's some truth in it."


"Day 5: 7:40am. 'Old soldiers never die, they just fade away.' Gen. Douglas MacArthur.// so long Key."



To see the stream of tweets on Rob's twitter page click here

Catch up Posts!!!

I spent some time catching up on some events I left out so please check out the following:

School Christmas Parties 2009

Christmas 2009

Fun at the Aquarium

New Years with the Fifers

Watermark's 10 year Anniversary

We celebrated our church's 10 year anniversary back in January (1/17 to be exact). It was so fun & the kids had a blast on the bounce houses & the pony rides. We enjoyed yummy cotton candy & corn dogs.




Posing:

All the adults had fun too! My friends Carrie & Sarah:

Doug, Christman & Rob:

Lane!:

My Niece Clara!

My niece Clara Alene Thomas was born on January 8th! Isn't she cute!!



Well, it just so happened that Charly wanted to spray her hair orange that day. We had found a can of orange hairspray, and I thought, why not? So we went to visit sweet Clara in the hospital with orange hair.. .




And here she is at three weeks old:


I also have a new nephew (well, he's 4 months now). If you want to see how cute Hank (Henry Bascom Richardson) is check him out here for the birth pics and here for a more recent pic.

And I'm getting a another new niece in just a few weeks!!! My sis is due March 4th.