Peyton’s Prayer.

We have been working, trying to get Peyton to pray.

We have tried whispering it in her ear, which only results in giggles.

We have tried telling her to repeat us, and say it out loud.

We have tried to teach her by example.

The other day, while she was playing, the girls were at school, she began to pray all by herself!

It was a sweet little prayer. 

Cuter than that, she was teaching her doll.

This morning, it being an “odd day”, perfect for Peyton, I asked her if she wanted to say the morning prayer.

“I do!!  I do!!” was her answer.

I told her to say it.  “You remember how it starts?”

“Dear Fa-der..  we thank thee day.  Pllll-ease blll-ess day.  Plll-ease blll-ess be nice.  Plll-ease blll-ess be safe.  Pllll-ease blll-ess food.  Name Jesus Christ..  AMEN!!!”

She did it.

And I couldn’t be happier.

It just keeps coming..

So on top of it being Merrill's birthday yesterday, having a cake to make, a birthday dinner too (both my choice, Merrill was not in the mood to celebrate, for some reason..) the people buying our house wanted to show it that night to possible renters/buyers.

Great!

Cleaning and finishing the exterior paint to go on top of that..

I was tidying the house up before I began the painting, taking things that belong out in the garage, out to the garage. Ashley and Peyton were going back and forth, taking scooters and bikes out of the garage. I thought to myself, I should probably just back the car out of the garage and let them play in here while I am doing this. But I thought against it. There have been so many stories on the news lately of accidents with kids and cars.. taking my next load out to the garage, I hear a loud thud and Peyton starts to cry.

There is Nathan and Julie's ladder "JAWS" laying partly on the car. I think it scared Pey more than anything, but upon closer inspection, the car wasn't doing too well.

My new windshield, the one I HAD to get to replace the 12 year old one that was too chipped and dinged to pass safety, was smashed in the bottom corner. The cracks already spreading throughout the rest of the glass.

That was awesome.

After getting Lynn from school, I leave the car outside :) and begin painting the back man door to the garage.

Remember that all the exterior doors are now BLACK.

Well, Peyton decided to "help".

She took the roller, covered in black, and proceeded to paint the garage floor and part of her left side, BLACK.

I quickly got the roller away from her only to find her going after the paint pan, filled with enough paint to pour out all over the front of her body, which she was attempting to do.

We tried to celebrate Merrill's birthday.. again, he wasn't really in the mood.

30.. uh.. er.. um, I mean, 20 (again) has him kinda down.

I think you can tell by the cake..

On to today.

I had a list of things that need to be done (still things to do on it..) in order for this appraisal to go where we want it to. Mostly touch-up painting, fun stuff like that, you know, stuff that I am surely not sick of, at all.

So I set out and about my day.. painting and patching some dings that come out with nice, new, glossy paint. I also had some lovely artwork that the girls did pro-bono for us in the exercise room when it used to be the play room, all over the walls. That whole room needed paint in a bad way.

Funny as it was the only room in the house to not be painted by us, at least once.

I am quite the pro painting without tape. I use it around the door trim but not the ceiling or baseboards.. yes, I am that good. ;)

Total tanget that was.. I must be tired..

So while I am painting away over my precious artwork, Ashley and Peyton go upstairs. I hear the normal playing.. it goes on.. then I hear a thud. Nothing loud or out of the ordinary, but Peyton immediately starts crying. I go to see what is wrong, and she is holding her right arm. I start to drill Ashley. Let's face it, she doesn't have a very good record and with Lynn gone all day on top of that blemished record, Ashley has been forcing little Peyton to be her friend. Yeah, I thought she was the one who had hurt her.

Ashley performs a little re-enactment per my request, and the story is out.

Peyton was playing at the foot of her bed, stumbled, tried to catch herself, and fell, on her arm.

She wasn't getting any happier, so I called a friend to see if she could take Ash.. and oh, by the way, Lynn was due to be out of school in 20 minutes.

She took care of it all.. sheesh.. those mothers of 4. ;) (Thanks JuJu..)

Peyton and I took another trip to the IsntaCare over another arm.. were sent again to the X-Ray area (know how to get there with my eyes shut I do believe..) felt like a horrible mother to have let something like this happen AGAIN.. had X-Rays taken, then had Dr. Cardon (LOVE HIM!!) look over everything and tell us that...

She has a buckle fracture.

And then he put her in a hot pink cast.

There are still firsts for us.. first broken bone.

Please tell me there is a break (no pun intended) from all of this for at least one day?

Maybe it will break her of her finger sucking habit... she did need some drugs and a binky of all things to get to sleep tonight.

DO!

Not "do" as in the Nike slogan, but "do" like in "do, re, mi.."
That is Peyton's newest word.
Our house is well adorned with "Simpson's" paraphernalia, as Merrill's love (and the girls acquired love) had aided us in collecting our treasures, we assumed Peyton's new word was associated with the fact, that that is what we say when we see anything with Homer's face on it.
- The clock in our basement, where Homer's eyes move, following the can of Duff on the second hand.
- Merrill's slippers, made of Homer's giant head, mouth wide open as a place for you to insert your foot (I know a lot of people who do that in real life!)
- The plastic figurine that stays in the tub.
- Or one of many "Simpson" themed games that line the shelves in our game closet.
She sees it a lot, and we thought it was cute to hear her saying, what we thought was, "Doh!"
Not so much.
We discovered what she was really saying one night after dinner. Merrill and I were still sitting at the table talking, Peyton was in her high chair, and Ashley was behind it, bugging Peyton.
Peyton was repeating her new word over and over again.
Then we made the connection. She was telling Ashley, "DON'T!!"
Kind of sad that one of our sweet daughter's first words had to be "Don't".
I have to admit, she probably got it from me.
She has heard, "Peyton, we DON'T pull hair.."
"Don't get hurt!"
"Peyton, we DON'T pull mommy's hair!"
"Don't turn off the TV." (A favorite during our family movie night..)
Or a panic filled "Dooon't!" when she reaches down during one of our smellier diaper changes.
I have tried to be the positive mom who says things in a sweet, kind, and patient tone. Instead of saying "don't" I have said, "Let's do this instead of that.." as a way of re-directing her interest or "Let's please not do this".
But on those days, when it is frantic, and Peyton is trying to decorate the floor of my bathroom with all the items in the hair necessity drawer (i.e. brushes, combs, hair elastics which are small and clear, various bobby pins.. you get what I am saying, right?) like they are confetti, "don't" seems to come quicker to my mouth and rolls off the tongue much easier than my other options.
So she's picked it up by habit.
It was quite comical this morning, to have her standing on the stool in the bathroom while I was drying my hair, her chubby, tanned little hands, slapping the forbidden drawer front and yelling "Do!" or slapping her hand at the collection of toothbrushes, with another yelled, "Do!" She would turn to me and laugh after every one.
I love the little trouble-maker...

Playing...

While it was nice...
Outside was THE place to be.
My little ham Ashley..

Peyton loves the playhouse!
And her first time jumping on the trampoline..

What a day...

A first birthday..
A kindergarten Valentine's room party...
Valentine's to deliver..
And the party, for aforementioned first birthday.. otherwise known as a big deal...
We had a busy, full to the brim day today...
Thanks to everyone for their birthday wishes and visits!!!
Little Peyton is loved...
Pillowcase dresses and matching bows, because mom is crazy...
Where has the time gone?!?!?
We had dinner at El Matador, where they sang to Peyton with a sombrero on her head, and she kept it on!!
Then home, to cake and gifts...
Lovin' everything about the day.. cards too!
A little help from her sisters.. these are their new toys too, so they say...
She loves Tigger!!
Here's the cakes.. which I decorated last night, with Peyton on my hip, I might add...
Her own cake...
And.. the cake on her face!!
And to further prove my craziness.. I baked 48 cupcakes, at some point during the day... to be delivered tomorrow!!

Happy Birthday Sweet "P'...

As I am composing this, one handed, with a sleeping Peyton on one arm, again.. it is 1:04 am... funny to me, because one year ago at this time, Merrill was finally home from his concert, and we were getting ready to fall asleep.
But not for long.
I would wake up at 2:30, just a little over an hour later, in labor, contracting..
Our little Peyton, or "Sweet P" as she's known in some social circles, was well on her way...
Need a reminder?
How about this one with ALL the details?
I needed tissues.. these memories are so sweet! I wish I could do it all over again.. it really wasn't all that long ago..
So where has the past year gone?!
To answer that, here's 12 of my most favorite pics, and 12 things I love about my "Sweet P"..1. The sound of your little teeth clinking on a spoon when you eat.2. The way you pull my face to look at you, and to see that you are grinning.3. Hugs, that you give me around my knees, for no apparent reason.4. Our late nights together.5. Love the sound of you bossing your sisters, in your jibber-jabber.6. .. then hearing you giggle with them.7. Seeing you get so excited when daddy comes home.8. Hearing you say, "Mamamamama.." and you sincerely mean it..9. The smell of your hair..10. The way you wave your hands, frantically, in front of your face when you've had enough to eat.11. Seeing your cheeser grin.12. That you love to sneak into treats just as much as I do.
Love you little girl!!
Happy 1st birthday...

What a SWEET day...

To start the day off with these two...
Peyton is saying a few things.. most of them deciphered by super mom or super sisters...
- "whas dis" (what's this?)
- "hieee" (hi)
- and the newest, what made the beginning of this sweet day sweet...
"Ash"..
Her sister's nickname..
It made Ashley's day!
I had to explain to Lynn that it will probably be a while.. "L" sounds are very hard to say this early.. she'll probably call her "inn"..
Merrill has been a wee stressed with all of his responsibilities.. managing the warehouse, still has shipping to do, he has awesome brothers who step in and help where they can, but he has the hotel now too, in all of it's winding-down glory..
So, I, being the most awesome and wifely wife ever, ditched the kids on Grammy, went to the hotel, and helped him out.. some of the tasks at hand:
- vacuuming (gotta love the Dyson!!) the third floor.. 3 vacuums do make a difference..
- getting lamps and lampshades to the proper rooms
- getting garbage picked up
- and I even helped him with shipping! (My white shirt isn't so white anymore..)
He was proud that I spotted a 15 foot round safety pad that was labeled as a 13 foot round pad.. I am awesome!!
I think it's safe to say that I have been in every room of that hotel, now..
Ashley and Peyton more than enjoyed their day with Grammy.. Ashley even brought her baby and well-packed diaper bag..
Being a mom is so wonderful!
Lynn got her report card.. she is doing so well! I was glad to see she got 33 out of 36 of her sight words correct.. and apparently, she exercises self control.. at school at least. She is doing so well!
Finished the day off with some YO-ga!! and sweet, sticky, syrup :)

Piggy Tails..

Peyton has another first...
Piggy tails!
Okay, so there's not much hair there... the front doesn't quite look like pig tails are in there.. but, oh!.. hold on.. look behind those ears.... there they are!
So fun to have a little something different to do with the little hair we do have!

11 months...

Oh.. the picture taking event that it is.. you don't believe me.. This one (see above) was one of the cutest.. I love the look on her face!
She is the firecracker of the family, officially taking over Ashley's title.
- She has trouble holding still... if you couldn't tell..
- Shakes her finger "no no" at us
- Clicks her tongue
- Blows kisses (well, kind of..)
- Plays with Merrill EVERYDAY, touching his nose so he'll make various honking noises. I am amazed that she remembers this EVERYDAY..
- Is trying to overcome her fears of the gray exercise ball and the tickle me extreme Cookie Monster..
- She loves to move the chairs around the table.. showing off her muscles.
- Another first, that I must say I am not proud of, but is a first nevertheless, she fell down the stairs!! You can kind of see her little bruise under her right eye. Does that make her leery of the stairs? Nope..
- She also enjoys waking her mother at odd hours of the night for a bottle and then subsequent social hour and playtime..
On that note, I am feeling much better, not as congested, just draining (gross, I know, but you are the one reading it:)!).. I am sure the fogginess in my head is due more to the fact that I got one such "social call" early this morning.
Her favorite way to sleep, her two fingers in her mouth, and her other hand wound, tightly I must add, in my hair.

Snipperoo...

Peyton needed her "Donald Trump-like stragglies" trimmed... it was really overdue. I had a hard time cutting her hair! She had lost so much of her beautiful dark hair, that I didn't want to cut what was left...
Now we won't have booger clad straggly hair in her eyes anymore!

Christmas...

I am missing a couple of pics. I could wait, but I just don't have the patience... I need to post Christmas!!!
Christmas Eve, we spent at Merrill's parents home, eating yummy food; prime rib, shrimp, crab legs... see, yum...
We played Catch Phrase which was new and fun... then we played memory. We opened our PJs and it was such a fun surprise! Darlene had gotten all of us navy shirts embroidered with the Best Western logo. Our pants coordinated. We looked dang cute. You can see the girls on them in the Christmas Day pics...
That night, we got home, put out our stockings, put out the cookies and milk for Santa (forgot the food for the reindeer... hope they didn't poop on the lawn which was covered with snow during the night :0...) and the girls brushed their teeth and then they, well, Lynn and Ashley, went to bed easily.
Christmas day...
I woke up with Ashley and Peyton in my bed, so I put them back in their beds, that was around 6 am. I thought that would be enough to wake them up for good, the moving thing. But, no. They didn't wake up until 10!! I got all ready, got the kitchen cleaned, had the pull- a-parts all ready to go into the oven... those crazy girls. Lynn was the first one up. She told Ash what she got and then told her sister what Santa had left for her too... Ash had a look of total shock. He really came... It was so cute, as we got downstairs, Ashley saw the plate that once held two sugar cookies and the cup that had had some milk in it... "He really is real!! He ate the cookies and drank the milk all gone!"
Lynn got a bike from Santa, and we got her a easel with a chalkboard on one side, and a magnetic white board on the other side... thanks for the help Christie ;)...
Ashley got a princess scooter from Santa, which Lynn loves as well...
Peyton got a little rolling pony... Santa made this a Christmas on wheels!
Lynn LOVED her snuggie... I totally misjudged her size...
Ash loves her Word Girl cape...
Peyton loves this VTech microphone... she carries it all over the house with her...
We got Ash a "new baby with yellow hair and blue eyes than hers..." just what she wanted. I made a doll quilt and pillow for our new addition.
The girls spent the morning playing... Dixon, Darlene, Kaitlyn, MiKell, and Grandma all came. They brought the girls each a "Fur Real" and a little cheerleader outfit (pictures will come SOON!) Peyton got a baby that plays peek-a-boo... so cute...
Mer and I got a cocoa maker... we've been having fun with that.
Peyton found her favorite place... she loved watching the snow fall.
We went to mom and dad's. Mom loved her quilt... I forgot my camera... Jaclyn has a pic...
The girls each got a toy, but the funnest has to be Lynn's easy bake oven...
I hid some last minute gifts too well... I forgot about them. I was reminded of them when Peyton was walking so good for dad, he said, "Looks like you should put a tutu on that girl!"
TUTUS!!
The girls had fun opening up just one more present...
Mer got me this cute hat and a new printer... check out the before...
...and the after...
We have had problems with our old one... couldn't find a new color cartridge... the scanner doesn't always immediately initialize... so Mer got a new one... what a sweet guy. But because I am so cheap, well, non-wasteful, I won't change it over until the ink runs out :)...
We spent the rest of the night enjoying Christmas movies on the TV which we left in the front room for a little while longer. It was nice to be using that room, together as a family.. watching the snow blow out the window as the girls played with their new toys...
Hope you all had a Merry Christmas!