No More Diapers!

We have finally reached the point of no more diapers (actually, for a few weeks now). She has been doing very well and getting through the night with no accidents. (for probably the last six months we have still put a diaper on her at night only because every third night or so, she would wet).

I am so proud of my little Punky and am amazed at how fast she is growing up! This last Thursday, I signed her up for preschool!!!! She is so ready and is excited. I know she will like it.

The Fern and the Bamboo

I found this poem and really loved its message...

One day I decided to quit.I quit my job, my relationship, my spirituality.I wanted to quit my life.I went to the woods to have one last talk with God."God", I asked. "Can you give me one good reason not to quit?"His answer surprised me."Look around", He said."Do you see the fern and the bamboo?""Yes", I replied."When I planted the fern and the bamboo seeds,I took very good care of them.I gave them light. I gave them water.The fern quickly grew from the earth. Its brilliant green covered the floor.Yet nothing came from the bamboo seed.But I did not quit on the bamboo.""In the second yearThe Fern grew more vibrant and plentiful.And again, nothing came from the bamboo seed.But I did not quit on the bamboo"."In the third year,There was still nothing from the bamboo seed.But I would not quit.In the fourth year,Again, there was still nothingfrom the bamboo seed.Yet I would not quit.""Then in the fifth year, he continuedA tiny sprout emerged from the earth.Compared to the fern it was seeminglySmall and insignificant.""But just 6 months later the bamboorose to over 100 feet tall.It had spent the five years growing roots.Those roots made it strong andgave it what it needed to survive.I would not give any of my creationsA challenge it could not handle."Then He said to me."Did you know, my child,that all this time you have been struggling,you have actually been growing roots?I would not quit on the bamboo.I will never quit on you.Don't compare yourself to others."He continued,"The bamboo had a different purpose than the fern,yet, they both make the forest beautiful.Your time will come," God said."You will rise high!""How high should I rise?" I asked."How high will the bamboo rise?"He asked in return."As high as it can?" I questioned."Yes." He said,"Give me glory by rising as high as you can."~ ~ ~Never regret a day in your life.Good days give you Happiness.Bad days give you Experiences.Both are essential to life.Keep going, DON'T QUIT!GOD is too wise to be mistaken.And too good to be unkind...So when you don't understand..When you don't see HIS plan...When you can't trace HIS hand...HAVE FAITH AND TRUST HIS HEART

Feature Presentation

Punky has now entered the wonderful world of Mary Poppins. I am so excited. This was one of my favorite movies as a kid (and still is) and my sister and I watched it over and over again. I had thought a few weeks ago that Haven would probably be at the right age for it, and last weekend Aunt K had it on TV and Punky liked it. I just happened to find a copy of it and now Punky has watched it too many times to count. Even Hubby has gotten into the Mary Poppins festivities.

In fact, just tonight in the car, I heard her singing..."Chim-chiminy, chim-chiminy, chim chim cherroo..." Too cute. My baby is growing up.

Also on the movie subject...I have decided that there are no good current movies out there right now for me, so I am going to start in on some oldies but goodies. A few that are on my list to see that I have never seen are: Rear Window, Casablanca, Singin in the Rain, Mr. Smith Goes to Washington (I like Jimmy Stewart), Citizen Kane, and It Happened One Night. If anyone has any other suggestions, let me know!!!

Just a toot...

So, Punky has had this habit now of telling me when we are out in public "I have to go potty!" So we race off to whatever nasty bathroom we are nearest to and once I have the toilet covered in paper and sit her little butt on it (or hold her over it) she then says "I don't have to go". Makes me furious.

The other evening we were in Menards and she said "I have to go potty!" I asked twice, are you sure you have to go and she said yes. So as we are walking quickly toward the bathroom, I say, "Pee, or poop" (you know, to mentally prepare for what I have to go through in the bathroom) and she says poop. Great.

So as we are walking I ask her again "do you have to go?" She says "no". I ask her two more times, "Are you sure...you don't have to go?" and she finally says, "No mama, it was just a toot!"

UGH!!! If she weren't so darn cute...

And then I realize how blessed I am...how many women out there wish with all their heart they had a little girl to take to the potty...the parents who have lost a child and would give anything to take their kid to the bathroom EVERYWHERE they go. And I send up a prayer of thanks that I have such a wonderful little "Toot".

Wonderful Day

So today I had the afternoon off and decided to have a special afternoon with Punky (not that every day isn't special, you know). I picked her up and asked her if she wanted lunch. She said no (as usual). Then I said...OK, but I was thinking we could take pnut butter and jelly sandwiches to the park for a picnic... I heard her gasp and she said OH, let's do that!

So Punky helped me make (a mess) sandwiches and we headed off walking to the park. It is a good 3/4 mile away, so she rode in the stroller. We arrived and started eating our pnut butter and jelly
and Punky's favorite, white cheddar Cheetos.

We then preceeded to play...

And then the dreaded words...POTTY.

You can tell by the looks of the outside of the place how nice the inside was-trust me. And, as she has done before, after I get her in there, toilet all covered in toilet paper (I am a germ-a-phob), me holding her on the toilet breaking my back she says she doesn't have to go anymore. UGH! I never know when to believe her or not. Needless to say she got a little swat on the butt and a nice little lecture before we went back to playing.

Then the walk home, all was peaceful and this is how we returned home.

What a wonderful afternoon.

Daddy's Home!

Hooray! We went to the airport today to pick up Hubby after being gone for a week in Orlando at a work conference! Punky was so excited to see him (she constantly asked when he was coming home).

Actually it was quite funny...last week when we dropped him off at the airport, Punky cried and cried and didn't want to leave him. When we pulled into the garage that night, she saw Hubby's car in the garage and gasped and said "Daddy came home!" I had to tell her no, that he wouldn't be home for awhile and then she was disappointed all over again.

So needless to say, we are both happy and thankful Hubby is back (although the house stayed a lot cleaner with him gone, but I am sure that is due to the fact that I had less laundry and didn't cook ANY meals. However, now the laundry is back in full force).

I need a vacation...

...and we just got back two weeks ago...is there something wrong with that?

Yub

Punky said the cutest thing tonight...she was picking out her treat for being a good girl and eating her supper...the conversation went something like this
"how about a donut?"
"No, that's not a treat mama"
"Fruit snacks?"
"No"
"Granola bar"
"Yes! well, no"
"Some mini cookies?"
"Yes yes yes! I yub them I yub them I yub them. Yayyyyyy!"

She can't say her L's or her V's very well, so love is yub. I am so thankful for yub.

Florida 2008

So, I am going to write one REALLY long post to let you know what we did on our vacation.



Day 1

We left home at 10:00 pm on Thursday, May 15th, hoping the kids would sleep through the night in the car. They only slept about three hours. Did not go the way we planned. We arrived in Daytona around 6:00 pm, checked into our hotel, and went out to dinner. Everyone was tired, so we unpacked and went to bed.


Day 2

On Saturday, we had a beach/swim day...just lounged around. It was great!

Day 3

Hubby, Punky, and I traveled about two hours to Lakeland to visit our Aunt, Uncle, and cousins' church. We spent the day with them swimming and talking and then spent the night. GiGi is just Punky's age and Gannon was so fun to play with. Punky had fun swimming with them in their pool.

Day 4

Hubby, Punky and I spent the day in Orlando at the Florida Mall. It was huge and a lot of fun. We later met up with the rest of the fam at the Adidas Outlet and then to Downtown Disney...DD is one of my most favorite places, especially at night. The kids seemed to like it and we bought a few cool souveniers. The kids are just too cute.

Day 5

We had another beach day. We took some really cool pictures that morning, but not like what I wanted. I wanted some good family pictures, but Punky would not cooperate...they are the ones of her in the white dress.

Day 6

Disney World! We had such a great time! Even though it was about 95 degrees, the kids loved it. They met so many of the characters (they thought they were the REAL people) and had fun. I think they were the perfect age to go. The adults had fun too!

Day 7

Our last day there, we lounged some more and did a little shopping. We went and saw Indiana Jones in the theater. It was pretty good, but different from the rest (and Harrison Ford has definitely aged in the 20 years since the last one). It was so hard to pack up knowing we had the long car ride ahead of us!

Day 8

We started out around 9:30 a.m. leaving Daytona. We made our way home with a few stops along the way. The kids did not want to ride in the car, but overall did pretty well. We stopped overnight near Clarksville (I think) and then headed back out on the road Saturday morning. We arrived home around 7:30 in the evening, and we were all glad to be home! However, Punky did ask a few times to go over and play with Buddy on Sunday...I think they missed each other!

All in all it was a great, relaxing trip. I love the beach...I could go there every summer! I am very thankful for safety and good health (some of us caught a cold) and family fun.

We're Here!

Hey, we have arrived in Florida (about 6:30 Friday night). We have already had so much fun...here is a recap:

• Left home at 10pm Thursday with two tired kids and six tired adults.


• Car #2 hit a deer laying in the rode...no damage that we see.


• Kids did not like the idea of sleeping in the car...only got about 4 hours of sleep the entire 20 hours we were in the car.


• Our hotel room is awesome...the resort has four pools, a lazy river, water slide...and THE BEACH! The kids loved it.


• Ate dinner at Bubba Gumps...was yummy!


• Traveled to Lakeland to see Dave, Lori, Gannon and Gianna. Swam in their pool and had fun catching up with them!

Tomorrow is Magic Kingdom...hope for good weather (and happy kids)!