Simply Malorie

Ok so, you have watched the video, I hope, and are sitting on the edge of your seats. The tooth came out about 2 seconds after the video shut off. Unfortunately for us, my card was full and the camera shows no screen at all, so you really have no idea what you are shooting and well, it just sucks. The great thing is that it is still kind enough to let us shoot anything at all. So back to Malorie!

She has been so excited about this loose tooth that she has had and today she was showing Darren and I how much looser it had become. I was so excited and told her to sit down with me and let me play with it. She is such a good sport she actually let me! I pushed and pulled and attempted twisting and she sat there just letting me do it. Then I told her to go show her dad how much more it was loose. So when she visited him in the other rooom he proceeded to wiggle and push and pull as well. Each time she would come back I would say, "This tooth is coming out tonight, look how loose it is!" I continued to show enthusiasm which I must say was completely genuine. Not like the enthusiasm that we sometimes show them just to please them. I WAS STOKED!! At one point, to mess with her, I shouted to Darren to "GET THE PLIERS!" He retorted with, "I can't find them". She looked at me and her eyes all wide and said no way! I assured her that I was just kidding and we would just do it with our fingers. So about 5 minutes goes by and I can tell she is getting tired of me having my fingers in her face, not to mention, dad, Jasmine, Lucy AND Kennedy. That's right! GROUP EFFORT! She looks at me and says, "get the pliers". I cocked my head and raised my eyebrows and said, "what?" She shouts to the other room where Darren is, "GET THE PLIERS!" I follow up the request and make sure that he knows this time it is not a joke and per his daughter's request he should get the pliers. Which led to where the video was shot.

I was so disappointed that the video shut off because when that tooth came out, the look on her face and the laughter in the back ground would have been hysterical to watch and hear. She was so excited. I asked her a little while after if she wanted to call anyone and she said she wanted to call Zach. Zach is a boy from church who also goes to her school and they pretty much have the hots for each other. Cute, I know. So, being the wonderful parents we are we let her call him and they talk for a few and then it is off to bed. Of course we are searching for the tooth bag that came with a tooth fairy book that she had recieved about 2 years ago. Now this evil purple bag with pretty yellow strings has been nothing but a pain in my butt since it was taken out of the cubby spot on the book. When I douche this house, each and every time, I find that bag. It has been all over this house. I know, why not have a permanent home for it? Well, the answer is, they won't let it have a permanent home. They? THE GIRLS! The have radar for certain things like scissors and glue and make-up and apparently this bag. I swear the last time I had the bag in my hand I looked at Darren and told him that we would be needing it soon and I am pretty sure that I hung it on a tack somewhere, or in a basket? The funny thing about that whole escapade is that every where I looked, it felt familiar and that is due to the fact that it has been put almost everywhere!

Let's get back to Zach. Earlier in the day Malorie said, "you know what mom?' I said, what? She said, "At school, Zach(insert air quotes here) chases me(end air quote). " I looked at her and with disbelief said, "What did you say?" She said, "At school, Zach(insert air quotes here) chases me(end air quote)". Can I believe what I have just witnessed? NO! I CAN NOT! My six year old just used air quotes and used them in the proper sense. How bizarre is this. I tell her that she must go tell her daddy what she just told me and she does. The exact same way, air quotes inserted properly and to top it off she proceeds to tell him that she doesn't "chase" Zach, she just talks to her friends. THE MADNESS! What are we going to do? This is a thought that crosses my mind more than I would like to admit but in all reality.....

What Are We Going To Do? One thing that I did learn tonight, but I also already knew, is that Malorie is one tough cookie. She can take a lot! She falls and she falls some more and she gets her hair nearly pulled out by Kennedy and she can just keep taking it. I think we might be doing something right. I mean when your child is not scared to let you stick a metal instrument in their mouth to remove a tooth and all the while knowing that you, are NOT a dentist. Hopefully she will remain fearless and keep her head strong. Literally.

Oh and Thank Heaven For Little Girls.

Preschool, Attitude, Soccer and The Love of My Life

So Lucy started preschool and if you call it preschool she will gladly correct you by saying, "I don't go to preschool, I go to Head Start". Which is a true statement, but it cracks me up everytime. She loves school. On a sad note, I had no idea that my daughter could count to 25 and the girl can. I must admit, that with each child I seem to slip just a little more without even realizing it. I guess I just think they will pick it up from each other as they go on.

One thing I am sure that they pick up as they go on is attitude. Little Miss Fireball Malorie is quite the force that can not be reckoned with. Just this moring as I was handing her clothes, she is talking in the most firm voice that she has, which is pretty scary at times, and telling me, "I don't like these and I am NOT wearing them". I proceed to tell her that she will be wearing them and she says, "I don't care then!" at this point I inform her that when she comes home today she will go to her room because she is grounded for the day, and then she strikes back, head moving while talking and saying, " FINE, I DON'T CARE!, That's STUPID!!!" Grrr, I think to myself as I know it is talking all the energy in the world to NOT reach over and pop her mouth. My gosh! When did this happen and why is it getting worse? I am at a loss with her at times. She is so FIERCE!!! Kennedy is catching on to it so fast. She actually walks around the house ordering people around. She told me one day when I had shut my door, "Mommy, let me in right NOW." I opened the door in shock but with a huge smile on my face because, oh my gosh that was hillarious. She likes to tell people when they are being bad, and when to stop doing something and when she wants something she usually says please but sometimes it is NOW. These kids, my precious angels, are most definately going to be the death of me or at least what is left of my sanity.

Jasmine started soccer this year and loves it. She has improved so much already. Her team won their first game on Tuesday and it was so exciting for them. There were not enough girls that signed up for soccer so there are actually 3 schools on her team which has made it difficult for them to pull together, but they finally are. I am so glad that she has found something that she enjoys and is good at. It has definately had an impact on her attitude and the way she treats us. I like it and am so proud of her.

Then there is Darren. The man that makes it all happen for us. He is such a great husband and father. He busts his butt for us and I can not express to him how much I appreciate it. He is a magnificant father. He is so great with helping the girls with their homework. I think they like it better when daddy helps them more than me. I know Malorie does. I am so very thankful for him being in my life. He is a blessing to me. Sometimes when I look at him, I am just so overwhelmed and take that time to thank God for bringing us together and staying with us so that we were able to remain together. We have shared so much, bad and good, and to still be together is just amazing. I love that man!

With that I will close and let you back to your day. Thank you Sarah for inspiring to write on my blog, for I too have neglected mine.

What We've Been Up To

This is a video of Kennedy Jumping off of the couch in to Malorie's arms and off the chair into Malorie's arm. The video is very dark but the whole point of it is the laughter and the fact that they were bonding and building some trust. Kennedy absolutely loves Jasmine and really like Malorie too but she pretty much screams if Lucy tries to hug her or pick her up or anything. I think she is just tired of being man handled.

Things are going ok here. The kids are getting ready to go back to school on the 17th and I can not wait! Lucy will be going to preschool Tuesday thru Friday from 12 to 4 and will be able to ride the bus, and I can not wait!! I am so excited for her and me and Kennedy and the time that I will be able to spend with her alone. Malorie is so nervous about going into the first grade and I assure her that I or her daddy will help her with her homework. Jasmine is going into the 6th grade and is pretty excited about it. She is growing up so fast and it concerns me from time to time. She is a good kid with an attitude of a 17 year old but with us as her parents, it is pretty much expected.

My family is getting ready to take their yearly beach trip and I am undecided if I am going this year. Darren will not be going he has informed me but assures me that the girls and I should definately go. We shall see and if we do go I am sure I will decide about a day before we leave.

This past weekend we got to go camping again with the Hildebrands. VERY COOL! They moved to Virginia about 2 years before we moved to TN and we finally got together after being here for 2 years. It was an amazing time and we have vowed to do it more often since we have realized that we are only 2 hours away from each other.

The Rodeo is still not fixed and that is driving us absolutely crazy! However, I did run into one of my brother's old friends the other day, looked him up on facebook and he actually has a grage down from our house AND he works on Isuzus and told me to bring it on down. That is very exciting to us since it has been sitting there for over a year now.

Anyways, not much else to report really. Except that Jasmine did get to go to Florida this summer and had a blast hanging out with her cousin andmy cousin. They absolutely spoiled her and she got to do so many things while she was there. Other than that the kids are great, Darren is still sexy as ever and I am just as insane as I was a few years ago; well maybe a little bit more insane but you get the picture.

My Apologies

I am so sorry about my playlist. I think I have fixed it now. There were a few songs on it that dropped a few f bombs. I did not know because as I was updating yesterday I got tired of listening to the whole song and just added so that is how that happened. Please forgive me! Oh and there is a song on here that is nothing short of wonderful called I AM by Mark Schultz. It was one of the songs the choir sang at my cousin's church. VERY AWESOME!

Ramblings

Ok, so it has been forever since I have blogged. Well, as you all know Jasmine and I got Baptised into the church and we would like to thank you all for the scriptures and Jasmine's Baptismal Bag, very cool. Since then, I lost my gandmother to cancer last month and was pretty upset with a higher power for a while, but I think I have moved passed it. I really struggled with her suffering and watching her wilt away drastically on a daily basis. Darren was so sweet, he was a pallbearer for her. On a happier note my brother Bobby has returned to the states from his tour in Iraq, YEAH!!! He is in New York and I think we get to see him in about 2 weeks. The kids are doing wonderful, full of energy and what would life be without the daily trials of motherhood. I have been doing better at housekeeping which I am sure all of you know is my very weak point. Darren is still working at his job but is growing very tired of the same ole routine but struggles because as we all know now is no time to quit a job....if you have one then you count your blessings. Kennedy is SO dang smart and acquired quite a few bad habits in short life's journey. Of course she does have 3 wonderful teachers and, well, she pays attention at school. She climbs up on the back of the couch where she is not suppose to be and looks at me and says "GET DOWN". Now how do you not laugh at such a personality?

Yesterday was Easter and what a good day it was. Malorie and Jazz woke up at 7 and proceeded to wake up the other two, which was a bit much for Kennedy considering she sleeps till 9 on most days. They ate candy for breakfast and I began getting them ready at around 9 to go to my aunt Brenda's in Morristown for Easter Dinner. They all looked very lovely and so did that sexy man of mine. I showered so quickly and asked Darren to part my hair so I could do pigtails only to find that I had forgotten to rinse the conditioner out of my hair? Talk about a brain fart! So I had to go re-rinse and finish getting ready. We had a great lunch and my cousin Karen made this delicious cake, I believe is was called Mile High Chocolate Cake...oooohhhh it was sooo good at 11:30 last night. And then of course I wonder why on earth I weigh what I do. Get a clue Alley! Me and the 3 older girls stayed and attended my cousin Karen's church to watch the Easter play they were doing and let me say OH MY WORD it was sooo wonderful! I was so moved by it! I cried and oh the music was soooo goood! The sang their butts off and I do not know about the rest of you but music reaches me better than anything that can be told to me. It was by far the best church program I have attended and I have been to quite a few of them.

So today I wanted to start off a great day, the girls are out of school one more day. It started off okay except for my ever so reoccuring headache and of course Malorie and her terribly stubborn personality. I swear that girl has more of Darren and me put together than any other child, so far anyways. She is currently in her room for slinging her bowl back and forth across the kitchen table. Sometimes I just don't know what to do. Well, I hope that this has caught you guys up and lets you know that we are all doing well.

Oh wait! My camera! Let me tell you the story real fast. So our camera went M.I.A. for about 2 weeks or so and then we finally found it, Yeah! So one night we were putting together bunk beds and Darren hears this splashing noise. OH YES.....Kennedy was dunking it in and out of water. She is so precious! So of course I salvage the memory card and wait for it to dry out praying that it will work. NOT THE CASE! It would not turn on at all but it would make a noise. I even opened that sucker up to see what I could do and the answer to that was nothing. So I let my children have it as a play camera. Then Friday they were playing with it and Jasmine whacked Malorie upside the head with it. Nice sisterly love I know. Miraculously it knocked it into working order again, sort of. The screen is glitchy and it looks all alienish, you can not delete any of the pictures you take nor can you "play" them,and you really have no clue to what they are actually going to look like, but as you can see above, they turn out great! Yeah. The only thing is the memory card, how do we empty it? Darren is so genious. He said this is what you are going to do, take it to Walmart and look at cameras, stick the card in the camera like yours and delter that sucker. LOL, oh he is so wise and I think I will let him do that. Anywasys, that is the story of our camera. Everybody have a great week!

Peace

Video Fun!

This little piggy.

Wrestling Fun

Run kitty Run

Well, I tried to upload a different video as well but it has been trying to upload since about 5 and it is now 9. I think that is a little too much time if you ask me. I will try to get somemore on here another day. Enjoy!

Kennedy Talks

Her is a list of words that little miss Kennedy has mastered.

Momma
Daddy
Mamaw
Papaw
Owie
Ow
Get Down
Night-Night
Meow
Bottle
Diaper
Muah
No
Love You
Bye-bye
Hi
I did it
Who's that

and she can almost say her own name, in syllable form of course. It sounds like de-duh-de, pretty cute if you ask me.

She can also blow kisses, wave hi and bye, give real big, wet kisses, and make the kitty run the other way.

She is such a character and not to mention a climber. Move the chairs away from the table all you want, she will push them back over to the table and be in the center of it before you know it. She is soo curious and is absorbing stuff left and right. She already knows how to throw a fit, thanks to all of her older sisters. We are trying to get them to grasp the fact that she learns by example. Something we are all working on here.

Hope you enjoyed the update!

Something To Think About

Ok....I must say that I am finding myself disappointed by people who disappointed me long ago. People who would smile to my face and couldn't wait until I turned my back so that they might pull out the knives. I don't understand it really. People are suppose to be good. Especially people who claim that they are good Christians and strive to be righteous. People make mistakes, some make mistakes often. Some people continue to make the same mistakes over and over just because they need a little help. Some people just need to say things outloud so that it can be heard through their owns ears to realize what they are REALLY saying. Other people say things out of anger or on the defensive. I am so very guilty of that. I am not perfect by any means, but I am sure trying my best to become a better person. I struggle everyday with things that have followed me for years. I have demons that want to show their faces again but I beat them down daily. I have made horrible choices and each day I have to live with those choices. I have not forgiven myself for some of the things I have done and truely do not know if I will ever forgive myself which means, that at some point I will stop growing as a person, which is really scary for me. Through each one of my hardships, I have been judged, quietly to my face or loudly behind my back. It literally nauseates me to think about certain times when I was standing in front of someone baring my soul that they were putting on a show, waiting for the curtain to come down so they could begin the process of unjustice. I can clearly see certain moments like this in my head. Sometimes at night when I lay down on my pillow and my life begins to run through my head, and sadly it is mostly the bad parts, I get physically ill and then I get sad and then I fill with disappointment. It is a horrible process that I feel I have no control over. I have been put through hell by myself and others wether they know it or not, more than likely they know, they have to know. I struggle with forgiveness because if I can not forgive myself how can I forgive others? I just think that we should remember who we are and that we are not here to judge. That is not one of the duties God gave to us for it is his and his alone. So with that I will leave you to ponder. May your day be full of blessings and fabulous Karma.
Peace

A week without church

So this past Sunday we did not make it to church. Darren and I both knew that our week was going to be a bit harder because we did not go and sure enough it has been. Darren started feeling a bit ill on Sunday but when he woke up on Monday he was wishing he felt like he did the day before. Tuesday was no picnic either. When he woke up yesterday he was still still quite ill. So finally last night he was feeling much better. We had put the baby down and she was asleep until Lucy so graciously woke her up by climbing into her crib with her. Thanks Ladybug! So Kennedy finally goes back to sleep. Then about halfway into our movie, Pineapple Express, Kennedy starts to cry again. What on earth is going on in this house! So Darren makes his way to check out the situation when I hear my name. I go to see what is going on expecting to find a child naked in her bed expecting, well you know. But no not this time, this time it was vomit. So about 11 o'clock Kennedy is in the tub getting all cleaned up for bed, again. She fell asleep in our bed for the 2nd time in the past two weeks, which compared to Lucy when she was Kennedy's age is not too shabby! So needless to say, but I will say it anyways, Kennedy does not feel well today with a low grade fever and will not let me put her down for more than 10 minutes before she wants to me to pick her up again. Bless her little heart. So the moral of the story is.....

Do not miss church unless it is absolutely necessary or unless you are willing to put up with the bad that is SURE to follow you throughout your week. Happy Hump Day Everybody!

NO SCHOOL!!!

There will be no school tomorrow, January 16th due to extreme temperatures and for the health and the safety of our students and staff. We are also closed Monday, January 19th because of Martin Luther King Jr. day.

This is the note that was sent home with my children today. The temperature is suppose to be around 5 degrees tonight. For all of you that have or do live in Idaho, you can appreciate the humor that I felt when I read this. Seriously, what are these people thinking?

Catch Up

So this is the third time I have tried to publish this blog. The video of Jasmine's solo is refusing to upload and keeps freezing me up so I will not be trying to upload it again. Sorry guys! Anyways, let me start with Malorie's birthday. On her birthday we went to Cici's pizza but actually had her party on Thanksgiving. We thought it would be nice to have my brother and his wonderful family here to share it with us, after all the more the merrier! It was great.







The girls went to the Christmas Inn in Pigeon Forge to sing with show choir. They have a beautiful clock above the fireplace that chimes on the hour and follows the chimes by playing a Christmas song. It really is beautiful and it is Christmas time there all year long. Google it if you ever get bored. The performance was a success and as I stated before I will not be uploading the video. Malorie has since decided that show choir is not for her and Jasmine is really not enjoying it as much as I expected her to. Malorie needs to be in gymnastics so Darren and will have to work that out for her and Jasmine really likes to sing but this choir is just not what she thought is was going to be I guess. What do you do?

Moving right along. Thanksgiving and Christmas all went great. We tried not to spoil the kids so much this year and thank goodness we didn't because everyone else did. Darren finally recieved a powertool for Christmas. I think that is the most excited I have ever seen him. Our Christmas started at about 5 in the morning so it made for a very long day. At one o clock we proceeded down to the river where we had a great Christmas feast, the missionaries joined us and I believe they left pretty satisfied. From there we went to my mother's to open more presents and then we stayed the night there. What a day it was. You will notice the pictures of Kennedy. That is the face she use to make when she was about 10 months old then she mysteriously stopped and we are happy to report that she is back to making that cute little face.

So it snowed to day and this is what it looked like......for about an hour and now it is gone. I know you are all so jealous right now. But just think that you all get to go create wonderful memories with the white stuff while the rest of us get to keep our heat turned down and walk around in short sleeved shirts.

Now I must wrap it up for I just recieved a call from Jasmine's school saying that I need to pick her up due to her vomitting. That's right...it is in fact on of those days. Peace love and a great day to you all!

Up and somewhat running

So our computer is finally working again. I am so stoked about it I have been on here for 2 hours! Sadly, we lost all of our pictures and videos because I am a ding a ling and did not put them on disc. We have no fun games or cool programs on our computer anymore and all of our music is gone.....soooo sad. The good thing is that our computer has a fresh brain. I can not believe that I was so stupid not to put everything on disc. We had almost 2000 pictures and such on it. AUGHH! OH WELL! That is life isn't it.

So the new year is off to a great start. I stopped smoking on December 10th and couldn't be happier about it but to make that an even greater experience you will all be happy to know that Darren also quit smoking about a week after I did. That's right people! SMOKE FREE! Now to stop being a potty mouth...that is going to be a big chore. As ugly as it is, I do like my swear words. I have been trying to stop by just saying, what the, but as it turns out the kids pick up on that A LOT easier than any old dirty word. Funny how that works. One thing at a time I guess.

I told Darren I was becoming a prude and he gave me a strange look. Imagine me a nice girl...can you imagine? It makes me laugh just thinking about it.

We all had a great Christmas and as you noticed did not send out cards...I am a slacker what can I say. The kids were very happy with their presents this year. I think Ladybug was the most excited because this year Santa brought her a guitar, the one thing she really wanted. Now we hope that she is able to learn a little something and become a famous musician..wink wink. Jasmine is growing up and has informed me that next year gift cards will be what she is expecting. Ahh the joy of girls.

Anyways, I am glad to be up and running again and will try to post some pictures soon. By the way I loved catching up on all the blogs, I really missed being able to check up on the family.