A New Addition to the Churchill Home

We apparently have a new family member! Wow, I never saw myself as a mother of three! Tyler has an imaginary friend - his name is John Peter. Tyler calls him his "boy friend"(No comments from you Brian)! He has taught Tyler how to do some jumping routine. How fun is this? I wonder if John Peter is potty trained!!! This could work out good for me - maybe I will set a place for him at the table tonight! I think the lack of social interaction and television this week has given him quite an imagination!

Day 1

So I know that you all are dying to know how the pooping went today - sorry Brian, I know another crappy topic! Actually things went well. He finally went a little on the potty this afternoon. Yea Tyler! We will keep working on it!

In addition to potty training, I also got several things done for Valentine's Day and for AWANA. Here is a picture of towels that I did for the kid's teachers... (There is 6 towels. It looks like it could be 3, but there is actually 6)...

The evening is proving to be very good as well. Kayla got home and played outside for quite awhile doing "farming" stuff! She is so funny! Craig came home with a huge bouquet of flowers for me because he thought that I might need my day brightened! I just love him - he is so good to me! So, all in all, it has been a good day!

New Shoes

I forgot to add one of our highlights from the weekend - Tyler got new shoes!!! Yea! He loves them - trust me, everybody that he has come in contact with has seen them! And as you can see, his shopping experience with Craig was absolutely exhausting!

As soon as he woke up Saturday morning, he had to put his new shoes on - they look good with his PJ's don't ya think?

In the Lord's Army

Just Plain Gross!

Okay, so I have to tell ya'll a secret and I just wonder if anybody would join me in this. So usually I make lunches in the morning and I just have to say - is there anything grosser than touching lunch meat in the early morning hours? Ugh! I hate that! I broke down and bought bologna for the kids this week and that is even grosser than regular lunch meat. I hate bologna! I mean, what is that stuff made of? And on that thought, why am I feeding it to my children. It is like a rolled out hot dog and I don't like hot dogs either! Okay, I feel better now that I got that off of my chest! Hope everybody has an enjoyable lunch today and if you are eating a sandwich that someone else made for you - you should call them and thank them right now!

Good and Bad

Well, Tyler did not get in trouble at school today! Praise the Lord! However, he did have stinky pants on when I picked him up. So this leads in to the update on poop! If you are one of my friends or family members who do NOT like to talk about poop (do I have any of those?) then you may want to skip this entry! So, before Christmas Tyler was doing so well with his "movements" (okay, sorry, couldn't resist a little humor!). Craig and I worked with him the whole week of Thanksgiving and when Thanksgiving was over badabing badaboom - one fully potty trained little boy! However, something happened during the excitement of Christmas and he fell off of the pooping bandwagon. Yea, so not fun, huh? So, in my naive little mind, I think, "well, he just needs to get back into his regular routine, and he, in turn will be regular again as well"! Yea, so far that hasn't happened. Friday morning I got about 30 minutes away from his school on my way to eat lunch with my husband and they called and said "Tyler has pooped his pants, please come change him!" Okay, I'm thinking, "stay calm, he is too young to know how much gas is!" So, that brings us to today. When I dropped him off this morning, we had a very clear and understood agreement - Behave and poop in the potty and we'll get ice cream after school and watch a movie instead of taking a nap. I mean, that's a pretty good deal, right? Well, apparently not good enough, because when I got to the school today, he had pooped his pants. "Hello, is this thing on?" I had told him that if he pooped in his pants today that he would not be going back to school until he stopped doing that, sooooo.... we will be holed up in the house for the next week - no Bible study, no school, no work - until we get this thing mastered again! I know I am making jokes about this, but truly please pray for us - we have been working at this for 1 1/2 years - that's right folks - YEARS!!!! I'm just about at the end of my sanity rope. If you are praying for patience for me, please tell God that I have enough!!! :o) Okay, thanks for letting me vent; I'm off to do something constructive now!

Happy Monday!

Happy Monday everybody! Don't you just love Monday mornings? I mean really, it is the start of a brand new week. It's like a new chance for a New Year's Resolution every Monday! I love that! Okay, the truth is is that I actually came home from church last night and got things straightened up and lunches made so I'm not actually running around like a chicken with my head cut off this morning. I wonder why I don't do that every night! Hhhmmmm - could it be laziness, selfishness, exhaustion??? Something to ponder at a later date!

There is not a terrible lot going on this week. Today is work and school for everybody and then Monday afternoons have become my AWANA planning time. I'm much better if I just get it all done at the beginning of the week. Tonight Craig and I have decided that it is time to start walking again. Why do we start and stop and start and stop? Okay, yeah, I'll ponder that one later with my other question! Oh, I also have to work on some embroidery stuff this afternoon for Valentine's Day. I love Valentine's Day! That is my favorite holiday to do stuff for the kids' schools. So today I am doing little Valentine's Day hand towels for their teachers. There is just nothing like the Dollar Spot at Target - you can get the best stuff. I picked up these really cute towels in there for Valentine's Day. Love it!

Oh, I know lots of you have been wondering about the potty training issues with Tyler. Well, let me get through today and maybe there will be a poop update soon!

A Trip Down Memory Lane

So tonight we had our girls night out with me, Kayla, and Kendall. What fun! They have had the best time. A big portion of our evening was spent watching High School Musical 2 on the big screen! Okay, now I want you to be honest, at least with yourself - did you ever dance with a group of your friends through the halls of your high school singing songs about summer time? Yea, I didn't think so. I have to say though that it did make me think back to my high school days and those crazy high school girl feelings. Well, I was definitely not the most popular girl in school, my self esteem pretty much dragged on the floor behind me! For the first couple of years I was Brian Causer's little sister which is not that bad of a thing when your big brother and all his cute friends are on the football team. Oh my goodness, I just remembered this guy - Rusty Bean! What a hottie, but good gracious what a name!!! Poor thing! Anyway, I did take about half the time to waltz down memory lane and remember all those old crazy feelings of high school. Then I have to admit that a big portion of the time was also centered on hawk eyeing everything to see what kind of ideas my daughter might be taking away. Oh, and then there was also that small part that wondered about all those crazy kids stopping to dance and sing every few minutes. And who names their child Sharpay?? Never heard that one before. Okay, really, I have regressed enough! We did have a great girls time though and it doesn't hurt that at least for tonight, I am, like, "the best mom ever".

Tyler's Funnies!

So this morning while Tyler was eating breakfast he said something that was just crazy - he said Craig told him - I'll have to chat with my husband about this one. So Tyler is sitting over his bowl of cereal with his head all flopped off to one side and he says "Mom, my head is going to fall off and roll around on the floor like a beach ball"! What is that about?

Okay, here is another one - Tyler got in trouble at school today and on the way home he said, "Mama, do you know how to say, 'I'm going to get a spanking in Spanish'".! I have no idea where that came from!

Shew!

I think I earned my cape and mask today! Hahaha! I actually detest Superwoman! However, I did get much of my list done today. The house is clean, the last load of laundry is in the washer, the bills have been paid, the budget done, the grocery list and menu made, my desk is cleared off, the embroidery orders are about to get tackled, did the meeting at work and the forms that I needed to do. All in all a very productive day! Tomorrow is fun day! Fridays are my day to run errands, so I have my list ready. Tomorrow afternoon I have a conference at Kayla's school to go through her portfolio. Then from there we are going to get Kendall and we are having girls night out! I'm taking them to a movie and out for ice cream! Then Kendall is spending the night. So it should be a very fun day! I'm not sure what Craig and Tyler will do. Tyler desperately needs new shoes so maybe they can go and do that.

Today I Plan to Be....

SUPERWOMAN!!!! Now I know that we all have days like today where you have so much to do that you couldn't possibly get it all done in a week much less in a day! That is the kind of day that today is going to end up being so I am fixing to get started. I figure if I tell all of you what I need to get accomplished today then maybe it will push me to actually get most of it accomplished! After all, I admitted defeat yesterday; I don't want to go down that road again. So, on the agenda today -- mop the floors, dust, clean the bathrooms, finish the laundry, client meeting at 4:30, Form 1851's to fill out for another client, menu to plan and grocery list, budget to do and bills to pay, two children to play with and spend time with and love on, dinner to cook, floors to vacuum, windows to Windex, and embroidery orders to fill!!! YIKES!!! Can she do it? Not if SHE is continuing to sit here typing on her blog - results to come later!

Admitting Defeat After a Really Crummy Day

So I'm giving up on the puzzle. I admit it Brian - I am a wuss! It is too hard and I'm cracking under the pressure - hahaha! I have maybe 75-100 pieces left and I just have to give it up. I'm getting nothing done because I'm too busy trying to fit all of these crazy little pieces together - I'm going to need therapy after this!

Okay, aside from the crazy puzzle, let me tell you about my day as a parent. Now, please understand, I'm not downing my kids - they are great kids and most of the time they are very good, but today has not been one of the "most of the time" days. I was told by Tyler's teacher at K3 today that he is just not listening to her at all. He has been having to sit in time out for disobedience. Agghhh! Not only that but he also had dirty pants when I got him home. So, Craig and I are in crack down mode. Every now and then we find ourselves getting lax in our discipline skills and the kids begin to act like hooligans and we have to take that firm hand again. So this afternoon with Tyler we have been working on his listening skills as well as his potty training skills. Then Kayla has also decided this afternoon that it was time for drama and attitude. Eeesh! Oh well, what are you going to do? Discipline and love and discipline in love!

Okay, for a happy note - I sold several things on ebay today and did pretty darn good for myself! For instance, I bought an American Girl shirt for Kayla for her birthday last year brand new for $16.00. She has outgrown it and I sold it on ebay today for $11.50! Yea!

The Puzzle From Down Below

So I know all of you puzzle fans are wanting an update on the impossible puzzle. My brother actually called me a "wuss" - thanks Brian - when was the last time you did a puzzle?? Well, let me just tell ya'll that it is still sitting half done on the table in the corner of my dining room. Don't tell my business partners but Gertrude is actually still in my garage where she has been since Sunday night and the embroidery orders are starting to accumulate! Yikes! So today is the last day for the dollar store puzzle. Maybe that is the problem - I bought it at the Dollar Tree! Maybe if I had spent $10 or $12 on it it would be easier to put together. Several of you all know how stubborn I am and it is just killing me that my stubborness and determination to get this done is NOT helping me to fit the pieces together! I tortured Kayla last night and made her sit in the kitchen with me and work on it. She finally faked bending over under the table to pick up a piece that had fallen and the next thing I know she has slinked off her chair and under and out the table and out of the kitchen! I guess I am on my own! Brian, when I get through with this thing I'm sending it to you!!! And I will get through with it!!!

Eye Boogers!!!

Okay, well, I have a confession to make - I hate eye boogers. You know what I'm talking about - those little pesky eye bacon bits that gather there throughout the night and even sometimes during the day! Well, my children know this about me and usually run when they see my fingernails heading toward their eyeballs. I cannot stand it - it just grosses me out. Well, yesterday, Tyler was playing "Batman" with his blanket tied around him in cape fashion. Of course the blanket doesn't stay tied so he kept coming to me asking me to tie it. Sure enough, at one of these requests I noticed a green bacon bit right in the corner of his eye, so, of course, I had to make a grab for it. Well, Tyler was quick to inform me:

"Mama, Batman DOES NOT have eye boogers!!!"

Okay, gross topic I know, but you have to admit - you've gone after a pesky eye booger a time or two in your life too!

Our Day in Review--

Well, we have had the laziest day ever! I told Kayla that after being away for the weekend that everybody could just do whatever they wanted today. So they have watched the "Hannah Montana" marathon today! Wow, I think I am sick of Hannah Montana at this point! We have worked on our jigsaw puzzle. I just want to know - when was the last time that anybody did a puzzle??? I mean one that was more than 100 pieces? It is hard!!! Little bitty tiny pieces that all look alike - talk about high blood pressure - it sure made mine high! I finally had to walk away from the puzzle! I think Kayla has given up on it. Anyway the puzzle is on a table in the spot that Gertrude sits when she is at my house (Gertrude is my embroidery machine - she spends two weeks with Holly and then two weeks with me). So, as much as I hate to give up on a project I think the puzzle is going to have to go! Unless of course any of my friends want to come over tonight and put this wretched puzzle together!!! It was fun trying. Hope everyone had a relaxing day!

Mexico

I'm going to Mexico!!! God has laid upon my heart to join a Missions Team from our church on a trip to Mexico in June. We had our first meeting last night and I'm so excited to see what God is going to do on this trip. There are probably close to 30 people going. We will be up in the mountains in Patzcuaro, about 7500 feet up! It is actually a medical mission trip and for those of you who know how well I do with doctors, you are probably wondering what in the world I am thinking! Well, I won't be administering any shots or drawing any blood or anything crazy like that, but for each doctor that goes they need about five people to assist that doctor. We have a podiatrist, pediactrics, pharmacists, eye doctors, and many more going. We will actually turn the church there into a hospital of sorts. This is all extremely out of my comfort zone, but God says "go" and unless he closes the door, I am going. I have applied for my passport and will begin to try to raise support very soon. I did find out a couple of interesting things last night though - nothing too scary, but it just kind of makes you go "hhmmmm". Like for instance, the physician heading this up has gone several years and he said that occasionally you will get "critters" that come into to hotel; nothing too harmful, maybe just a squirrel or something. Okay, I'm good with that. Then he told us that you cannot put toilet paper in the toilets ANYWHERE - not at the church, not at the hotel - it clogs their plumbing system. Yikes! Okay, well, I can deal with that. THEN (drumroll please), his wife proceeds to tell us that there may be several who don't get their luggage all the way there and you may be without underwear and clothes! I have to have clean underwear!!! So I will be packing my carry-on with underwear, scrubs, and hairspray!!! As long as I have those three things, life will be good. You do NOT want to see me without hairspray - just ask those who have been camping or boating with me - it is not pretty!
Anyway, I'm making jokes, but the truth is is that I am thrilled that God has presented this opportunity. My sweet Mother-in-law has already said she would come and stay with the kids since Craig will have to be at work. God has also given me a good friend who is going with me. My cell phone service should work over there. And I know God is going to provide the money that we need for me to do this. I always pictured doing this sort of thing after my kids are grown or at least older, but I guess God had different plans. I don't think I have ever been away from my children for more than a few days at a time, so that will be difficult. But, all in all, I'm so excited and just can't wait!

Brrrr!!!

For all of my northern family members, I just wanted to let ya'll know that it is ONLY 22 degrees here this morning! We are freezing!

Happy Birthday Joshua!

We had a great time this weekend at my brother's house. The kids had the best time playing together. Tyler and Noah were pretty much inseperable all weekend, and everyone played together so well. Five kids in the same four walls all weekend and there was hardly any fussing at all - it was actually quite calm!!! I guess they are all getting older and they play together much better. Saturday we celebrated Joshua's birthday - what fun! My sister-in-law had planned a skateboard party complete with skateboard relay and skateboard birthday cake. It even snowed there on Saturday and the kids got to go out and play in the snow. It was a lot of fun. Here are some pictures of the kids, wish I would have thought to get some of them all together!

Tyler doing the skateboard limbo!

Kayla was one of the only girls brave enough to do the skateboard relay! She has never skateboarded in her life.

This is my youngest nephew Noah and, boy, did he capture my heart this weekend! Friday night he came and crawled in bed with Craig and I - we were sleeping in his bed. It was pretty funny. He is Tyler's age and is a sweetie!

This is Joshua in the black and Clayton in the red. Clayton is the oldest and he and Kayla both had a great time playing on the computer and watching television. Joshua was the birthday boy and he is truly all boy! He is very much into skateboarding and got lots of fun boy toys for his birthday. Some of them were so cool that his daddy had to play with them first!

Back to Reality

Well, we had a wonderful day of rest and relaxation yesterday, but we have to get back in the swing of things today. I'm off to run errands this morning and then come home and pack. We are going to visit my brother and his family this afternoon and will be gone for a couple of days. We haven't seen them in a quite awhile and I am hoping that the kids will enjoy each other. They have three boys, one the same age as Kayla and one the same age as Tyler and then one in between, Joshua. Today is Joshua's birthday so we will be helping them celebrate at his party tomorrow. That should be fun - he is having a skateboard party - do my kids know what to do with a skateboard??? Tyler hasn't hit that stage yet and Kayla, well, she is a girl, and does not own a skateboard. Hopefully I will have some cute pictures to post when I get home. Please pray for Craig - he is sick as a dog, so I hope he will feel better and be able to enjoy himself this weekend!

A Day of Rest!

I have a friend who on her blog a few weeks ago declared a "Pajama Day"; well, I am declaring today as a day of rest for the Churchill family. It has been a busy week. The little bit of snow and ice that we had last night vanished pretty quick when the rain started, but it is still yucky and cold out today, so Tyler and I are going to curl up and just relax today, and when Kayla and Craig get home later today, we will curl them up with us! Kayla and I bought a 500 piece puzzle at the Dollar Store the other day and this yucky day is just the perfect day for a pot of soup and a jigsaw puzzle! I was hoping they would cancel school today but the snow and ice didn't hang around long enough. Oh well, we will just have to carry our fun, relaxing day all the way through the afternoon and until bed time!

Armed and Ready

Okay, so Tyler is going through this thing with his hair. We are trying to let it grow out and it is just wild in the morning so we have been having to go after him with the spray bottle! The other morning he came out with his "work" goggles on! Usually he pitches a fit; I guess he thought this would help the water not to get in his face!

Gettin' Ready to go Hunting

Craig and his dad are getting ready to go on a hunting trip in October, yea, that's right, it's ten months away, but they are getting ready now so they can catch all of this years end of season deals. So while Ruth and Ron were here at Christmas the guys hit every store that had any kind of hunting stuff at least once; some of them multiple times. But they had such fun! After each trip they modeled whatever it was they had bought. Here are some fun pics of their shopping adventures!

They both got these really cool jackets that are actually two jackets in one, waterproof, super warm, etc. etc.

New Socks to go in the new boots!

Definitely need the bright orange hat so you don't acidentally get mistaken for an elk!

Tyler got into the game too, although I'm not sure why he doesn't have a shirt on!

What's New?

Well, the answer to that question is not much of anything! I haven't posted in a few days because I don't really have any exciting stuff going on this week. Just the mundane! You know it is sometimes very hard to find joy in the mundane of life - the parenting and marital issues that arise that you just don't know what to do with, the walk with the Lord that somehow seems to have grown stagnant, and then just the other relationships of life that make you wonder, "what in the world am I doing here". Please tell me that I am not the only one who feels this way at times!!! It seems that Craig and I have fallen back into a phase of busyness and the end of the day comes and we are both in such a blur that all we want to do is go to bed. Well, I am on a mission for change this morning. I hate feeling this way and in the sweet words of my mother, "I have five minutes to feel sorry for myself and then I need to get up and do something constructive!". Don't tell her this, but I think I have spent more than five minutes! BUT, I am choosing joy today. I was just asking God this morning to please give me the ability to find joy in things. Things like last night on the way to Craig's basketball game when we had several things that we needed to talk about, but couldn't because every time we started one of the kids would interrupt. How to find joy in that??? I am so thankful that God has blessed me with healthy, happy children who CAN talk. I have precious friend who has never heard her son say I love you because he can't talk. Thank you Lord for my kids who sometimes have so much to say that my ears cannot hold it all. That is just one example and I thought of several this morning. So for today, I choose to find joy in what sometimes seems like the mundane of life, I choose to pray to be filled up and poured out rather than feeling sorry for myself that I am exhausted and weary, and I also choose to get up and be productive rather than sit here at my computer typing away! I hope everybody finds a little joy today - you don't have to look far!

Kayla's Shoes

Oh my goodness, my children are cracking me up this week! Kayla just informed me this morning that she needs new shoes. She wanted me to buy her a special kind that I have never bought before. I said, "okay, what kind are those?"; to which she replies "Nike". I said, "wow, I hope you have some money to help pay for those Nikes". Then she proceeds to tell me that everybody at school has Nikes and they are "like the shoe that never gets dirty". She told me about a boy in her class who is "the dirtiest boy ever and he has had Nikes for, like, three months, and their is not a speck of dirt on them!"

Anybody see any good deals lately on Nike shoes???

Tyler's Bible Stories

On the way to church last night, Tyler was telling us that Pastor Steve at school had read them a book about Jesus in chapel yesterday. I said, "really, what was it about".

"Well, it was about Jesus walking on the water, and he didn't even get swallowed by a big fish"!

Cracked us up!

Life In General

Well, we have entered back into the real world this week! Life has been crazy to say the least. Mostly because I have been sick and you know things never go smoothly when you are sick. Do any of you stay at moms out there ever wish that we had built in sick days? You know, where you could call in to whomever and say - "sorry, not coming to work today, I'm sick". And then, magically, here comes the temporary fly lady fairy to care for your children, clean the house, do the laundry, and cook dinner. Well, I haven't met any such fairy but thankfully, God has blessed me with a wonderful husband who helps out tremendously on days like that! And let me tell ya'll - I'm not a good sick person!!! When Craig gets sick, he is very quiet, doesn't ask for anything, he just kind of lays around and watches TV. NOT ME!!! I have to moan and whine! Oh, well, it's a good thing he loves me anyway! I spent the better part of the weekend moaning! On Monday I decided it really didn't matter how I felt, I had things to do! Today, I'm feeling a little better and I am so far behind that I will be spending the majority of today and the rest of the week playing catch up.

Tyler and I are starting something new today. They have been working on letters and sounds at "school", so we are going to begin today at home working on writing his name and making sure that he knows his address and phone number and we will also reinforce the letters and sounds that he is learning at school. I can't believe that he will be four in March and then I only have him at home for one more year! Yikes! I'm not looking forward to sending him off to Kindergarten. I remember when Kayla started school. For a week I would be at home going about my normal routine and I would keep looking over my shoulder waiting for her to come and ask a question and wondering why it was so quiet in the house. Eeeesh - it really will be quiet when Tyler starts school!

Report Cards

Kayla brought her report cards home yesterday. Did you know that they give a PE report card too - I'm so glad they didn't do that when I was in school! Anyway, Kayla did so good!!! She is such a great student. She got all A's and therefore made the "A" Honor Roll. She is reading at a 5.7 grade level and has moved up in the kinds of books that she can check out in the library for AR reading. She has set a goal for 85-95 AR points this grading period. I think she earned around 60 this grading period, so she is aiming high this time! They have to have 12 points per grading period. She loves to read!!! She also did very well on her PE report card - she is healthy!

On the healthy note - her and Craig went bike riding Sunday afternoon and he took her back into the woods by her school. He was telling me that we were going to have to trade her bike in for a mountain bike for her. Apparently she is quite adventorous! For those of you who remember the Drama Queen days - she fell in a mud hole and thought it was awesome!!! She is so well rounded - she can be out flying through mud holes one day and the next day she will want to be baking in the kitchen and then going to get her nails done! I hope she stays that well rounded.

GO BLUE!!!!

GO BLUE!!! Craig and I had a wonderful time in Orlando at the Capital One Bowl! What an experience! I'm convinced that there is no greater comraderie than in college football! We were surrounded by Gator fans, but everybody was kind! And check out the score board below - we won!!!

Notice that everyone around us is NOT wearing yellow???
I now know the Gator cheers better than the Michigan ones!

Craig laughed at me a little bit because I did cheer when I wasn't supposed to a couple of times; oh well! I will learn the Hail to the Victors song all the way through before we go to another game!