I love school programs...

....Especially since I'm not an elementary teacher any longer!

I distinctly remember not caring much at all for programs as a teacher;

but as a parent...well.....yeah, I LOVE school programs!

Thank you teachers for all the work that go into these programs!

Before the program, 

Lil' Miss Mae had to spend some time lecturing us:

"Please do no use the bathroom during the middle of the program, K-Rae!"

"Please do not talk..." etc... She got us pretty well lined out!

The 2nd grade program was patriotic,

complete with songs, choreography, and dancing.  

The teachers came up with a great way for Lil' Miss Mae participate .

She just had a blast up there....and cute, cute, cute......maybe I'm partial.

Anyhow, here's a few video clips...

you'll probably be partial too!

I think this one was her favorite...

the theme song of the Marines.  

She has been typing out the lyrics to it on 

her talker for weeks now!

Love how we catch a bit of her singing here:

 

And doing the actions here...

 

She's in the back for this one, but she had a great time with her flags!

 

And I'm pretty sure she's trying to be the center of attention here...

Bubba loved it too!

Well done kiddos!
 
And after the program, Lil' Miss Mae was way excited 

to show me how she can walk all-by-herself down the hall

at school now....

to be honest with you,

that is something I never expected to see!

I continue to be surprised.  

She is "training" to walk in the 

Special Olympics this year unassisted!

Can't wait to see it!

 A few pics from the evening:

 Talking with her friend "A" afterward.

 These girls have been friends and in the same class together since kdg.

 Dear, sweet Ms. Connie, Lil' Miss Mae's aide at school.

And proud little sissy---
her program will be in May for kindergarten graduation!!!!
Where does time go?????? Please stop growing!!!!

February or Bust!

So we survived a very long, very cold January.....

sort of....we're all suffering (except for Bubba---yay!)

with some sort of nasty respiratory virus stuff, but managing.

It's probably due to this nasty air we've been breathing in for way too long....

I knew we should have escaped to the beach for awhile! 

But I certainly don't want to wish away too quickly this 

adorable babyhood stage....

 This stage is passing way too quickly as it is!

I'm just wishing away the winter....

and then I'll be wishing away the spring, and the miserable

winds we get here, and then the blazing hot summer....

This desert is harsh.....fall is nice though, and still about 8 months away here!

Fortunately, we all like to read....

it helps pass the long winter days,the windy spring days, the blazing hot summer days,

and the "I'm sick again and staying home from school" days.

 Yes, even the dog likes to read...

Lil' Miss Mae helps out with Bubba on days she's home though...

And Bubba is trying to convince Mama on some days that he only needs one nap;

there is so much exploring to do:

Mama's not about to fall for that yet!

But who can resist that smile?!

And I don't know what lunches look like at your house,

but when the girls say "Let's have macaroni for lunch," 

it takes on a life (and 45 min!) of its own.

Shirataki (white yam) noodles with melted cheddar, butter, cream cheese and milk are Chloe's version, 

easy mac with mini pepperoni is K-Rae's version (at least one portion of the lunch is quick!), 

same for Bubba but no pepperoni, 

and Annie's Rice Pasta and Cheddar for me.....with LOTS and LOTS and did I mention, LOTS of pepper, 

and then I can manage to get it down about once a month...and it takes a LONG time to cook, 

at least for maco, in my opinion! ....lovely food allergies....

 And one more video clip...

one of those, do I post it or don't I?

It's kind of long, rather boring, I look fat...etc...

 It's mostly for me though, and if it's on the blog, I know where to find it, 

when these little moments of snuggle time are outgrown! 

Night! Night!

 

 

Is it Spring yet???

No, apparently not, 

but at least it has warmed up to just barely past the freezing temperature level for the past few days!

Now if this nasty air inversion would just blow away!

This has been a LONG winter!

I'm looking forward to my Fri. night date night with my hubby though.
It will be our early Valentine's date.

A local church babysits special needs children and their siblings once each school semester,

so the parents can have a date night.  It is an awesome ministry!

Finding sitters for a special needs kiddo, busy 5-year old, and almost toddler  
takes so much organization and about breaks the bank---
so we just don't get  to do it often.   

But the kiddos manage to keep us entertained and busy!

Bubba is trying out walking a bit...

And we got an interesting phone call the other night from a 

classmate in Lil' Miss Mae's class...

Anyhow, HE wanted to talk to Lil' Miss Mae, not me! 

 (Keep in mind she's in 2nd grade...

and seriously....who is letting their kid call

members of the opposite sex on the phone in 

second grade?....if you are...Stop It!  

...it freaks the rest of us parents out!) 

But apparently, little Miss Mae has fallen in love...

and not just love, but.....

oh boy....we have our hands full!

I love how our girls are best friends

and love dressing alike and spending time together though.

Finding the matching outfits is harder now than

it was a couple of years ago, 

but the little girl twinsie look is still my favorite!

I really don't care for most of what I see for Lil' Miss Mae's age in stores now.

I will NOT have my seven year old dressing like she's 17! 

Come to think of it, won't be letting her look like that when's she's 17 either... 

And there is no shortage of music in our house...

 If you ever feel like your house is too quite,

just come hang out here for a couple of days..

we can solve that problem real quickly!

On the other hand, if you're hoping for a peaceful get-away, probably should head somewhere else!

Valentine's are in full swing here...

since there are almost almost 30 kids in

each of the girls' classes, 

homemade Valentines have to start early!

And the "dog-dog" as Bubba calls him, is not having a food shortage...

Yes, eating takes up a lot of our time....
I LOVE these new pouches of baby food though...so much easier!

Cooking takes up its fair share of time too...
with lots of helpful observation tips!

This marinated pork tenderloin paleo dish I pulled together turned out really tasty!

We're not on a true paleo diet though...

Our diet is: Eat what doesn't make us sick! It tends to work out quite well!

And Bubba is trying to learn to feed himself....
and yes, that is a "tattoo" on K-Rae's forehead in this next video...
she got it at MOPS that morning, supposedly that was the "craft" for the day...
not being real big tattoos, I can't actually say that was my favorite "craft" ever!  

 
Well, that's about it for this week! 

January....Brrrrr!

So how are we passing these COLD 

(I mean REALLY COLD)  

days of January....?

We're staying cool....

and jamming out....

here's Third Day's Newest Fan...

And by the way....I'm LOVING my new Third Day Miracle CD (Christmas gift from B&T---thank you!)

and dancing a little...or anytime there is any sort of music!

This little guy sure loves music!

Baking some yummy food....

and the biggest dilemma about baking,

 is deciding which apron to wear.....

We have quite an assortment of beautiful choices made by Grandma Tree....

and the cute little vests (the girls have deemed these their "dinosaur exploring" vests)

were made my Meemaw.

 These are my current favorite treat....

Pineapple-coconut muffins, oh yeah, they are gluten-free....

Send me a message in the comments if you want the muffin recipe.

Another yummy dish....veggie/sausage breakfast casserole...

Sorry....no recipe for that one...just a hodge-podge of what we had in our fridge...

and it turned out really yummy!

Bubba turned 10 mos. old a couple of weeks ago....my how these months have flown!

Little Miss Mae is like another little Mama to him....

 One night when it was time for him to go to sleep, 

so she went in his room, turned on his music CD, 

found him a little pillow and started reading him a Bible story....so sweet!

K-Rae is never one to let herself get bored...

even if she is stuck inside for weeks on end.

One day she set up a whole float and sink experiment:

She's great about playing with her little brother too,

and being stuck inside has its perks of more time to practice violin--

and Bubba is always a willing audience, especially if he is contained!

 And Bubba has acquired a new growling "skill..."

K-Rae may turn into a country singer...

.....or a T.V. news anchor...

and can I just say....I'm pretty sure this is why I'm crazy....

I dare anyone to try being stuck inside this many weeks

with all this cold weather and NOISY toys and not go crazy!!!! 

And I would just like to note along those lines, 

any toys making noise and/or requiring batteries, 

 will be returned to sender this coming year,
along with the child, until Mom regains some sanity!

Stay warm!!!!

A little slice of heaven on earth....

Shhhhhh...it is quiet in my house---for the first time in about 2 & 1/2 weeks actually.

Oh yeah, everyone is BACK to SCHOOL! 

Except this cute little munchkin, who happens to be a good little napper,

as long as he has his "Ellie" within reach.

And I'm sitting in the dining room, (really the only room that gets any sun,) 

and drinking coffee and eating chocolate, and lots and lots of chocolate.  

Yes, I told you....a little slice of heaven on earth! 
 Thank goodness, I'm not allergic to chocolate! 

And as I sit here, I'm contemplating turning our sunny dining room into my office...

...shhh...don't tell my hubby that!  I really do miss having an office space though!

Anyhow, where was I?  Oh yes, Christmas "vacation" 

was about a week too long, in my humble stay-at-home mom opinion.  

This "vacation" seemed like an awful lot of work!

I do get spoiled a bit by having a hubby for a teacher though...

who also happens to be home on school "vacations...."
he lets me sleep in......and I LOVE to sleep in!

But, I don't think being at our house on "vacations," feels much like a vacation to him either actually,
or anyone else that comes to visit for that matter---
keep that in mind before you book a stay at our B&B!!!! 
Such is the life with 3 kids,
who get up REALLY early, even if they go to bed REALLY late!
Little Miss Mae has quadriplegic ataxic cerebral palsy (for those of you interested)
  and requires LOTS of extra care, doctor's visits, therapies, case management type details...
and just basic planning for "normal" activities takes on a life of its own for her to participate.....
she sure does have a great sense of humor though!
And our 10 month old Bubba is trying his hardest to be an early walker to keep us with his sissies, 
and our 5-year-old K-Rae is going on 15-and-a-half most of the time...
Yes, they keep us on our toes....and in the E.R....but that's another story! 

Anyhow, I decided to do one little last day of vacation "hurrah" activity 
with the girlies yesterday. 
Sugar them up and send them back to school was sort of the theme, I think.  

That, and gingerbread houses!

I've been making gingerbread houses since I was about their age.....

But I have to say, this year's was (and still is, as I'm eating it now!) my favorite.

Pure chocolate....yeah baby!  

Gingerbread houses have taken on a new meaning at our house. 

We may have to make one once a month!

So I actually made the house from scratch...rather unexpectedly.  I thought I was buying this nice little kit that we could quickly assemble.  God bless Wal-Mart, I opened the box and it was pretty much just bags and bags of candy, including small disks of chocolate to melt, and pour in the molds and freeze and then remove from the molds without breaking.....and then assemble. 

I started this project Sunday night about 10:00.  Finished it about midnight....wondered if the girls would be disappointed they didn't get to actually assemble the house, only decorate it.  Found out I shouldn't have been worried about that at all, when K-Rae piped up as "we" were decorating the house, "Mom, you can finish decorating the house, we only like eating the candy!"  Fortunately, as much work as the silly project was, the chocolate was a kind that Little Miss Mae can actually eat, and that is hard to come by, with her 120+ food allergies, and the cotton candy, which was supposed to be "smoke" worked out well for her too.....but the house ended up with very little "smoke" when she got done with it!

Oh, and don't forget the marshmallow Gingerbread Peeps....

those were a fun addition to this year's endeavor...

and much quicker than making gingerbread men from scratch!

At least that part of the project was manageable!

I'm thinking Hershey bars and Peeps for next years project?!?!

And now everyone is back to school...

and has left this nice chocolate house here for Mama to munch on--
and lots and lots of laundry for me to put away!  

Glad I haven't made any New Year's Resolutions, yet!
But I think my main resolution will be to just keep hanging out with these little ones,
who are growing up way too fast, 
teaching them about God and Jesus and how to show love and kindness,
and enjoying being at home with them, 
for just as long as we can possibly pull it off!