I'm Sorry!

I usually do not do a blog post twice in one day.... but here goes... because this will be my last one for a while.

Okay I owe a huge apology to Kids World workers. I did not realize the impact and "translation" my last post would get. Everyone at Kids World is wonderful and I appreciate them more than anything. My word you all are the ones that raise my kids. You are doing what I want to do day in and out. You are teaching my children things I am supposed to be teaching them. I am a very emotional person and I take everything personal. Always have.... always will. So yes I am crying while writing this. I never meant to make any one at Kids World mad, upset, or angry. I never meant to make the workers think that I "talk" about them or dislike Kids World. My kids love it there. I'm sorry Pam, Lori, Anita, Robin, Jennifer, Hayley, Kim and Angie for the way the paragraph in my last blog was taken. I did not mean it cruel or rude or mean in any way shape or form. Thanks for all you do. I never knew I was going to become the mom that you all dreaded seeing every day.

Once again, I am sorry!

** Apparently more people read into my post than I think. So I think it is best that I just not blog for a while... maybe for good... I don't know.

Sickness.....

Well the kids stayed home with Kyle Monday. They didn't run fever all day... the last time any of them ran fever was Sunday.... but I still wanted to keep them out just to make sure they were actually better.

Well they managed to go fever free ALL DAY!! And seemed to act fine. Sophie just sneezes... but she's been doing that... and Heidi's still coughing some. I think Kyle enjoyed the day with them and vice versa :)!! It was nice because on my lunch break I ran to the store because I now have this mess minus the fever (but I'm so much better today). And when I got home Karter ran to me for about 5 seconds... then wanted down... then Sophie wanted me. I got her, changed her.... then tried to play, but she was sleepy. So I was able to rock her to sleep.... and Karter and Heidi hopped in the chair with Kyle and Karter was asleep in like 2 minutes... and then Heidi went to sleep right after I left Kyle said.

When I got home.... everyone was still asleep except Kyle *L*!! He was watching movies. Here are some pictures that he emailed to me at work Monday: (I wish KW would do that throughout the day.... it just put a smile on my face and reassures me that they are indeed okay)

So.... Netflix has most definitely payed off for us. So far anyway. Last night we started Charlie St Cloud and OMG I was already crying within the first 5 minutes. Maybe I can get caught up on One Tree Hill today. And I say today... because well I'm home with Karter. KW called me yesterday afternoon and said he had a temp of 100.8. He didn't feel like he had one when I got there to get him... and he acted fine all afternoon... BUT since they called me to come get him with fever, I have to keep him out 24 hours. I love them and appreciate them, but sometimes there is just nothing wrong. And yes he had been sick.... but he nor the other 3 ran fever ANY since Sunday.... and he didn't run fever all yesterday afternoon nor last night?!?!?!? Anyway.... that's all I'm going to say about that!

Check out this picture:

I was putting Sophie's baby food in the cabinet and I thought it would be neat for my followers to see how I have to keep everything. PS:Kyle and I were talking and we have been buying baby food since fall 2009!! How cRaZy does that sound? Karter wasn't a big eater early on as many of you know.... so I would still buy baby food after he was 1 just to see if he would eat SOMETHING. So anyway... the top shelf is where we keep the formula and cereal. The middle shelf of course is where all the cups go. I TRY to keep Karter's on the right, Heidi's on the left and Sophie's in the middle.... BUT it doesn't always work out that way. The bottom shelf is strictly Soph's shelf. Veggies/meats on the left and fruits/desserts on the right... and it's divided by oatmeal and puffs. She tried a blueberry puff for the first time last night and LOVED it!

Anywho.... I'm really looking forward to today.... I don't remember it JUST being me and Karter much at all.... if any... sad huh?? I used to have a GREAT memory and could remember (*L*) what anyone wore clothes wise for like a solid week and sometimes 2-3 weeks.... haha now I don't remember day to day. Well that was def. a random thought... but today should be nice.... I'm expecting him to be lost some of the time though.... just not knowing what to do without his sisters.

I'm using a vacation day instead of sick day because last year I didn't use all my vacation days... and those don't roll over. So if he acts fine and no fever then he and I might get out and about some. We have sweet Caroline's 1st birthday party this weekend... so we have to get her something. I went to the grocery store yesterday.... so that's taken care of. Heidi informed me to get her more biscuits on my lunch break *L*!! So that I did!

Enjoy your day blog readers as I am sure I will enjoy mine!

Birthday Weekend

The above picture is of the girls at my aunts house. Heidi has still been running fever since Tuesday... and Sophie's started Thursday. So my Sweet Aunt Becky kept the girls until about 2 Friday... and then I got them and my dad watched them the rest of the afternoon.

As many of you know, I am in Operations at the bank.... my supervisor's dad is having open heart surgery tomorrow to repair some valves... thankfully there are no blockages. Well I said that to say.... that I am "her" when she is out... so I can't stay with the kiddos.... and she's the type that if I even almost breathed a sigh that the kids were sick, she wouldn't go to the hospital and she needs to be there for her Dad. SOOO Kyle is staying with all 3 kids tomorrow.... should be interesting :)! Will make my lunch break fun :)!

Here's Sophie girl in her bumbo play thing.

Well I turned 26 years young Saturday. It's amazing how young that really seems to me. Ten years ago, I thought 26 was ancient *haha*! But I now realize how young it really is.... and to think.... I'm 26 with 3 kids *L*!! WOW! I'm sure I feel your age Valerie!!

Well my birthday was just like any other day.... nothing special. Friday night we were going to grill at my dads for my birthday, but with the girls being sick and Yana being sick, we (I) decided to post pone it. Saturday morning Karter started running a fever. Great huh?? So now ALL 3 have fever.

I did call the DR's office Friday and talked to the nurse. I told her what the children were doing and she told me she was pretty sure they had Type B flu. They had seen several patients that tested positive for that... and of course it isn't covered with the flu shot. The main difference in Type A and Type B is that with Type B, you just run fever, have a head ache, and possibly sore throat.... but normally carry on about your usual activity. With Type A you pretty well feel like a load of crap! She said that with Heidi being on day 4 of fever, if I brought her in they wouldn't give her Tamiflu because of the timeline... they would just tell me to give her Tylenol and Motrin just like I have been doing. If I brought Sophie in, they couldn't do anything for her anyway because she is under 2... all I could do is give her Tylenol and Motrin too. So the sweet nurse pretty much saved me a $70 co-pay ($35 each). When Karter started running fever Saturday, I knew what it was... and no sense in me taking him because he's under 2.

So that made for a lovely birthday. Kyle did manage to cook breakfast Saturday... eggs, sausage, pancakes, and muffins. HAHA the muffins were the only thing good... bless his heart. Granted, that and a piece of sausage were all I tried.... but he said himself the rest wasn't good. I told him that practice makes perfect.... if it weren't the first time he had turned the stove on it might have tasted better *just kidding*.... he hates when I say that!! He's cooked eggs lots he said *haha*!

He brought me a muffin and lit a match to put in it and they sang *L*! PS:There were candles in the cabinet.

Then he told Heidi that I needed my birthday spankings. The funny thing was... Kyle counted for her and well..... good thing he did one to grow on... b/c he skipped "21".... haha.... so I only got 26 really. Heidi thought it was the best thing ever.

Kyle made some yummy deer jerky. That's the only thing "deer" I'll eat... and it has to be flavored just right and has to be hard. I don't want to sit there and chew and chew and chew on something. So that's what I'm doing in the 2nd picture.

Of course we had to do "Monkey Pile"... what's a Saturday with out a big Monkey Pile?

Later that afternoon..... (yes Karter wore his pjs all day.... we can do that sometimes *L*!!) Karter and Heidi put on a show... and were singing. I tried to get it on video, but of course he wouldn't do it again once I tried that.

Here's the lovely hubby on my birthday..... I was sweet and let him nap :)

Sweet Sophie girl..... she spit up all over this outfit right after I took these pictures.

Karter and Heidi went to Meme's for a while Saturday.... oh and they spent the night there Friday night :(..... but anyway... it was just Soph and I for a while Saturday. Karter ended up taking a 4 hr nap at her house.

She and I did all sorts of things.... she even helped me with the laundry :)

Then she and Heidi Leigh played in the play room for a little while as I was washing dishes and bottles.... I "caught" Heidi playing with Karter's tools... she had no clue I was watching.

Kyle's mom cooked some yummy vegetable soup.... so we walked down there and ate and stayed for a little while before coming back home. Sophie Lynne was all bundled up..... :P

Today has been a lazy day. All of the kids had fever this morning... and at lunch. So I stayed home with them and Kyle went to church. This afternoon we watched movies.... and Sophie went to sleep on me :)!! She had a good nap.. and I actually enjoyed just relaxing.... that's a very rare occurrence in Toyia's World!!

We signed up for Netflix. They mailed us a free 31 day trail offer.... so we're giving her a whirl. So far I think we really like it. We did the plan where we get one movie at a time in the mail and can watch unlimited on the computer... which we hook up to the TV and watch it on the TV. It's only $9.99 a month and we would easily spend that at Movie Gallery because we always got more than one movie and sour patches. And this way we can watch an unlimited supply and not worry about it.

Heidi had been telling her Daddy that she and he were going to make me a Strawberry Cake for my birthday... well guess what.... that didn't happen.... SuRpRiSe!! So all day Saturday I read cook book after cook book trying to find something to bake that I had all the ingredients for. Well the only thing I really found was a pound cake. And although I like a pound cake, that's not my favorite. Out of all the cakes, a pound cake would probably be the last one that I'd pick to eat.

So this afternoon my mom brought me an 8 layer chocolate cake! SOOOOO yummy! And I made Apple Cinnamon Bars. I have a cookbook that's "101 Things to Do with Cakemix"... Super cool book. Here's a picture:... it's made out of yellow cake mix.

I found this picture of Karter last week.... he was so tired....about to pass out on the bike ride *L*!!

Anyway.... let's hope the children get better!! Oh and apparently I really need to relax?!?!? I got 3 pedicure gift cards, 1 giftcard for Heidi to go with me, some PJs, and a massage giftcard. Kyle got me nothing... not even a card :( .... not that I'm surprised.... okay maybe a little surprised. Oh well! He later said the camera was my birthday gift.... but that's what he told me at Christmas... so I'm a little confused. And I thought it was "ours"???

Oh well.... Happy Birthday to me!! Maybe next year will be better.... although my birthday won't be on a Saturday again for another what.... 7 years??? Oh and I am happy to say that this was the first birthday since 2008 that I haven't been pregnant!! YAY!! I know some women would do ANYTHING to be pregnant 2 years in a row, but I have enjoyed my break.

Good Nights.....

Heidi says that she is NOT an Auburn fan *L*!! She was asleep and didn't know she was under the Auburn blanket.

Okay... so let me explain the next picture... this was Monday night. And maybe all I need to say is.... sometimes.... you just do what you gotta do *L*!! I was so very tired.... and Karter was tired... so we crashed in his bed. Kyle thought it was the funniest thing he had ever seen.... I was pretty comfortable myself.

Well... Heidi started running a fever yesterday evening. Yana picked the kids up from school and we ended up eating supper with them. Heidi had a fever when I got there :( and ran it most of the night. It's the strangest thing because she feels pretty good.... just running fever.

Sophie on the other hand.... she's not running fever, but she's been asleep since about 5:30... I finally woke her up about 8:30... fed and changed her... and she's back to sleep. May be in for a long eBaying night *L*! Yes I am an eBay fanatic! I used to sell on there all the time... now all I do is buy.

When I got home from work today.... I found the cutest little boy ever in the flower bed trimming the Crape Myrtle with his handsome daddy. (He messed up his clothes at school.... so they had to change him).

He can be such a sweet and loving little thing!! I just still feel like my time was shortened with him :(!

Heidi took this of my mom.... I thought it was a great picture.

HAHA Kyle would probably have a duck if he knew I put this on here.... Heidi took it too :)!

Anyway..... we had a great evening. Heidi can't find Lola's (her baby doll since birth) yellow leggings ANYWHERE.... OH MY GOSH!!! You would have thought the World was about to stop turning. So I helped her try to find them and no such luck!!! So we spent a great deal in the playroom... which allowed K-Man to play with his tools.

While we did that Kyle fried them up some chicken fries, french fries, and deer meat. While he was finishing up, I went ahead and gave H & K a bath.... and I ate a bowl of Special K while they played. Everything was timed perfectly. By the time I bathed them, got them out, and dressed them..... Kyle had supper all ready for them.

After that they just played some... I took a shower.... and was able to write some recipes from Southern Living into my recipe book. I'm so sad because I am almost out of sheets for it.... and I love that recipe book.

Well...... Guess whose birthday is Saturday :)!!! We are eating at my dads Friday night to celebrate.... and Saturday Kyle and I are going to Dothan to Olive Garden, The Barn... to get him new boots, Target (diapers :) ), and Michaels. I'm excited. We haven't done anything just us two in so long it's ridiculous. I'm the type that ever since I had children I have always wanted them to be involved in anything that we do. I understand that we need "our" time... but in my eyes we will get that one day.... we get it now... just not the date night every month. Heidi has a birthday party to go to Saturday.... so I'm going to see if I can sweet talk sweet KyKy into taking her :)! My mom and Kyle's mom have offered to help with the children... so I think we are going to let one keep Sophie and the other keep the other two. Kyle just really seems to want it to be just me and him.

Anyway.... read Romans 12 :)!!

What will they say???

I thought I would take tonight and just talk about some random thoughts. Brother Garry was talking last night and he said something that really caught my attention.... he said that we preach our own funeral. Without a preacher even standing up and talking at your funeral, the people that are there already know you and who you were as a person. So then I got to thinking.... who am I??? What will people say about me when I go? So then I tried to think of just 10 positive things about me as a person that other people might think..... so here's my gander at it:
(1) Christian..... I hope that's the first thing people think of
(2) Try to be a great mom.... always trying to spend as much time with my children as possible and let them know how much I love them.
(3) Try to be a good wife....
(4) People pleaser... even if I may not agree or like something... I usually agree just because someone else wants it that way.
(5) Try to keep things as organized and clean as I can
(6) Positive person
(7) Not a me, me, me person.... I really try to leave "my" experience out of situations when needed.... and really listen.
(8) Love to cook and experience new things.... I just don't get the opportunity
)9) Try to be a great friend/daughter/person..... if you ask me not to say something, I won't say anything.
(10) I LOVE absolutely LOVE my children..... have I mentioned that??? wait that's some of #2, but that's okay.

*** That's really hard and challenging to come up with. It's hard trying to put yourself on the outside looking at you and coming up with 10 things that you think other people would say about you if something were to happen to you.

Something else that Kyle said last night got me to thinking.... think of the person that shared the gospel with you. Then the person that shared it with that person, and so on.... it's like a line that goes and goes and goes.... don't break the cycle (line). I thought wow. I can just picture this huge line of people wrapped around the Earth.... people witnessing to other people. Besides we are all disciples right?

And this is very random from what I have said... but I am so in love with my husband and children. I am unbelievably thankful for them and so very thankful that God chose ME to be Kyle's wife and ME to be the mom to Heidi, Karter, and Sophie. Although being a mom is very stressful a lot of the time, it is also rewarding. I love the way they light up when I enter a room.... it doesn't matter what kind of a day you have had, as soon as you see these human beings that YOU created (of course God did... but you know)..... your entire day and mood can change in an instant.

THANK YOU LORD FOR ALL OF YOUR MANY BLESSINGS.... BUT MOST OF ALL THANK YOU FOR THE SWEET BLESSING OF BEING ABLE TO BE CALLED MOMMY! THAT'S A BLESSING I AM ALWAYS GOING TO BE GRATEFUL FOR!!

Wonderful Weekend

Can I have tomorrow off too???

I love days off!!! We just stayed at the house.... played... I washed who knows how many loads of clothes.... what seems like an endless amount of dishes, and bottles all day *haha*!

KyKy and Babee came over at lunch and I cooked Spaghetti and peach cobbler for dessert. Tyler loves my peach cobbler.... so I try to surprise him with it when I can.


Here are some pictures of the weekend....

I don't have any of Friday night.... we hung out here at home.... and I put some barbecue chicken in the crock pot at lunch.... and it was sooo yummy!

Kyle left about 3:30 Saturday morning to go hunting. And he got home about 10:00 Saturday night. So it was me and the three kiddos all day. Very enjoyable day..... except for some excitement that afternoon.... details below :)


Sophie was everywhere in her lovely chair that Ashton and Meredith made for her.

She was twisting and turning.....

But loving every minute of it :)!

So Saturday afternoon we went to the Skating rink for Chandler's party. Chandler is one of Heidi's friends at Kids World.

Anyway when we got there Karter was asleep. So..... being that after almost 7 months of doing "this".... I've about mastered how to get all of us in with one trip. So.... I put Karter's bag, my camera, my phone, Heidi's 2 sets of skates, and my car keys in Sophie's bag and I was planning on letting Heidi tote the present. I went ahead and locked the doors because that's one less thing that I have to try to hold on to and do while holding Karter, Sophie, and all the other. Anyway.... I walked around to get Sophie out... well Heidi had to unlock the door because I forgot I locked it. So I got her out and locked the door back. Well on my way back around to get Karter and the bag Heidi hopped out and shut the door. My heart sank. I had a small panic attack because everything except my girls were in the car. Thankfully Karter was asleep and it wasn't freezing cold. So I went inside and used the skating rinks phone and called Kyle's mom. Long story short.... Heidi and Sophie stayed inside the skating rink and I went and stood by my car with Karter while Cindy brought me my spare keys. Everything worked out, but it was just a wee bit stressful. I couldn't even remember if my spare keys were where I thought they were. Thank goodness they were and everything worked out.

Sophie was not a big fan of Scooby!!!

We tried to get Karter with them, but he wouldn't get close to Scooby!!! Heidi said she knew he wasn't realy *haha*..... "his skin was white". :)

He's all about the games when we go to parties at the Skating Rink.

Tyler was on his way in from Troy.... so I sweet talked him into stopping by the party because he was going to my house anyway.

After the party we went to my house and mom came over too. I finally got the chance to ride my Christmas present for the first time!! We had a ball!! Here's my mom testing it first.

Heidi was ready to go!! She didn't want to ride with me..... she kept asking me if I learned how to ride *L*!! She remembers me riding my dads bike with Karter and anyway I couldn't get balanced and we fell over *haha*!

These bikes are very easy for me to control!! They are the "old school" bikes. There are no handle breaks nor gears to change.... I control everything with my feet :)!! I tell you though.... it's a work out!!! Which is a good thing.... but my legs will BURN like fire while riding!!!

Sophie kept wanting to ride... so we finally stuck her in the basket and just rode her around the yard. She loved it!!!

Of course her petite self fit perfectly!

I had planned on cooking Saturday night for Tyler since he was home.... and at my house *L*!! So I was going to cook spaghetti... something easy and the kids would eat it. Long story short.... Tyler and Heidi ended up eating Japanese in Enterprise with my dad, Karter ate chicken from Friday night, and mom went to Howard's. So there was no sense in finishing the Spaghetti.... I try not to eat supper. So that's why we had Spaghetti for lunch today!!!

Oh and Kyle killed a deer!!! 6 point.... 175lbs.

Heidi ended up staying at my Dad and Yana's house Saturday night because it was going to be late when they got in anyway. It's absolutely amazing the difference in Karter's behavior when Heidi is here verses not here. He was wonderful!! No whining what so ever. He and Sophie played and played before church. It's amazing how "easy" it seemed with two kids.

Sweet babies.... Karter is 21 months and Sophie 6 3/4 months (haha)

Cotton Top

After church Sunday, we rode to Enterprise and ate at Santa Fe. It wasn't "great" to us... we've given it several tries and have never just really liked it. So I'm not sure that we'll keep giving it a try. I just got a chicken salad... but it was just okay... anyway... we had to get formula at WalMart was the whole reason we went over there.

When we got home, we rode bikes over to Jonathan and Amanda's..... and anyway Jonathan was trimming their Crepe Myrtle's... and he knew I needed some of the branches..... so Kyle and Karter "drove" back over there and picked them up for me. Karter loves to "drive".

Us girls stayed back at the house while they did that.

This was Sunday night getting back in the car after service.

Sophie wore her "skinny jeans"!

This afternoon the kids settled down and we watched Toy Story 3. That's a really good movie!! I actually got nervous in some of it *L*!!

This was definitely a candid moment..... very rare event in our house!! Karter hardly ever wants to love on Heidi!!
Late this afternoon we went outside and I swept the carport and vacuumed out my car.

This was taken New Years Eve. I just found it and knew I hadn't shared it *L*!

Another old picture.... Sophie loves to bounce

Karter man and Stella Kayte

Ahhh..... Karter is a true Auburn fan (since I have said all that Kyle has taught Karter Roll Tide over and over and over)..... but anyway.... Karter done this one morning last week while I was in the shower. We joked that he was practicing rolling Toomer's Corner *L*!!

I also found this video that I hadn't shared..... Heidi taped it herself and anyway Tyler texted it to me. Some of you will have difficulty understanding her..... but she says it's a "singing video"... and she's going to watch Hannah Montana and Bluejeans.... Bluejeans is Hannah's horses name. Anyway... maybe you can pick up on the rest of her "interview".



I really hope this week goes well. Maybe the babies will sleep well?? HAHA!!! I will end on this note... Saturday Karter went to sleep early... and my mom said, "Is he down for the night?" and I laughed.... and said "He is never down for the night". **OH and I'm sorry but I'm not proofing this.... I have to lay Sophie down and rock Karter.