Today is the Day

First of all today is the day I downloaded and PAID For my first song...on amazon...we got "Today is the Day" by Lincoln Brewster (a great song!) and we have danced and choreographed the whole thing...so fun. Jeb loves to say o, o, o , ouh...and I think CAleb was even saying...00000...


Today is ALSO the day that Caleb CRAWLED on all 4's! He is doing really well...Steph (E) was here so she got to see it the second time he did it!

A praise--their cat Patch was locked in the neighbors garage for 9 days and SURVIVED! Reece is thrilled. He once was lost, but now he's found...Reece prayed hard about it and she got to discover he was locked in there while the neighbors were gone--neat! Greg called and actually got them on the cell and they gave him the code...she was beside herself..and well, patch was glad to see them and his water bowl.

Also, today is the day that Caleb crawled to our Highlights book we made out of the cut outs in the back and DESTROYED IT...Jeb is furious..I thing it's kinda funny...he is marching around saying it's my fault since i left it out..oh, boy, the first of many destructions!

Sarah is still doing well...she's destroyed 2 Christmas presents so far...I will blog about her soon I hope!

Off to grade research papers, exercise, while returning calls and doing my devo, and cleaning up around here before I leave for Charleston with Sabrina...and I need to pack...is all this possible in under an hour or two??

A Great Christmas Day

Can I just say I am so thankful to my hubby who works day in and day out to keep me up? I am thankful for what a great daddy he is and for providing for our family. I got a bee in my bonnet at 3am to take the boys to have Xmas pictures made....The boys and I got to Sears at 9:25 and had to sit in the car for an hour--first appt. was 10:30...I suppose I was overzealous! Caleb slept as I circled the lot a few times and then Jeb and I ate teddy grahams and chatted and watched 101 DAlmations in the back seat..that was even fun. Then, the pics are FABULOUS. I was thrilled with their smiles and cooperation.

THEN, Santa was walking around the mall saying Merry Chirstmas and Ho ho ho and we stalked him for awhile...it was an interesting note that Jeb heard someone tell Santa that he was being a "bad boy"...he got a kick out of that. Then, I got another wild hair to get my haircut...so I did...then we had the 5 buck gift card to Chick-Fil-A so we ate there for .27 cents and that was a treat...then we went and sat on Santa's knee and Jeb actually chatted with him for a while...about Sara and Cars....

I fed Caleb, Jeb rode 2 rides at the mall and climbed in a Big Bobcat and a lawn mower and a Bobcat tractor and we rode home...it was really a fun outing.

I feel so blessed to be home with them everyday and do things like that at the spur of the moment...They were so good...I enjoy them BOTH immensely.

Then, later that day Chelsea-cakes and Angela B. came over to play--just an FYI also a last minute visit and that was fun. So fun!

What's Happenin'

There has been so much going on (from big to small) that I am going to have to just spit it all out in this one post...

1. Jonas got his national boards! I am so proud of him and so glad that it looks like God has provided for another year for me to be HOME! A huge answered prayer!
2. The spec house is pretty much SOLD! We just are waiting on a closing date. All glory to God!
3. I got hired back for another semester at TCTC.
4. We bought a camper--it is just perfect for us and it was the perfect price! We can't wait to make lots of family memories in it.
5. Jeb ate a WHOLE ham sandwich...this is another answered prayer--I know that is odd, but the kid just doesn't eat and it bothers me. I do truly pray about it...not specifically ham or anything...just eating period.
6. Jeb turned 4 and Caleb turned 8 months old. Caleb is now eating mac and cheese and some meats. He loves yogurt (yo baby) and sweet potatoes the best. He loves pears, peaches and apricots, too.
7. Our house is all decorated for Christmas...I am glad that is over. I still want to drive out to the road ALONE one night and take it in in the QUIET.
8. Our family hosted Thanksgiving and my sister came up from Charleston!
9. At Thanksgiving, we hiked to the waterfall...
10. and Ashley told us she was PREGNANT with Baby #3! WOW! How EXCITING! Will it be a 7th boy for our family or the first girl???
11. We got a new puppy...see my next post for more on THAT! Can you believe that Jonas did that without asking me?? It was alright...really..I'm a vet's kid...bringing home animals was NORMAL for me growing up.

4 and never a snore...

Jeb turned 4 this past weekend! What a weekend of fun! We had a "small" family party of about 30 blood kin and crazy cousins. The kids had fun decorating bear, fish, tree, moose, star, heart shaped cookies and then we blew out the candles on his Tow Mater and Lightening McQueen cakes. They had a good time in the playroom acting silly. Jeb got many, many nice things!

The Ten Commandments...according to Jeb

Jonas and I have tried to "boil down" the ten commandments for Jeb to learn and then he has added his own touches...

1. Don't steal.
2. Don't Kill Anybody.
3. Don't tell lies..."some people just tell little fibs, though"--ha! We told him fibs are the same thing, don't worry.
4. Don't be jealous. "Like if you see someone has a nice tractor...you just say oh well..that's good...I like the tractor that I have."
5. Honor your Mommy and Daddy "that means obey."
6. Only worship "Dod" God.
7. Go to church on Sundays-don't work.
8. Stay "maweed" married. ...we were not ready to explain adultery ...it is quite an ADULT thing.
that's all we've got so far...

We have been quite busy getting ready to host T-giving and also Jeb's little family party. We have also been building "Lizard Houses" outside...they look great..

Adventures in cloth diapering part 1

About 15 minutes ago Caleb wore his first cloth diaper...


for about 8 minutes...


then he had the biggest poop I have ever seen come out...


I don't know if I am in this for the long haul?

My zeal lasted 8 minutes. It is drying on my clothes rack. I have 5 others..we'll see. My roommate from Mizzou is big into cloth diapering and she was so kind to make me some cute ones for cheap--so I am giving it a go! I need much encouragement from her now..I should have paid extra for some encouragrams from her or something. I know that this will eventually save money, and it is good for the environment but WHOA==this is going to be time-consuming. I'll keep you posted.

This may be like nursing...I'll do it as long as I can stand it and stay semi-sane. 6 mos with nursing...we'll see if I last that long doing this!

Another Great Hike

Our favorite family thing to do is definitely to hit the woods and be in the mountains...usually on a hunt for a waterfall. In the past 5 years, Jonas and I and sometimes Jeb and Caleb have hiked to about 30 waterfalls. It has been so much fun. We are going to have to start "repeating" now so that we can take Caleb and our friends now that we know where we are going. It has been quite an adventure to find that road names have changed, we missed many a turn along a hike, sometimes we had to send J to scout ahead b/c we thought we got lost, but overall we have had a BLAST. We have gone to waterfalls in Oconee, Pickens, and Greenville counties and discovered places that we did not know existed even though we have lived here and hiked here for our entire lives. I am so thankful that one day I picked up a book at our local bookstore called Waterfalls of the Upstate written by two Clemson students. In the summer, we have swam and Jeb skinny dipped a couple of times. We always take plenty of pics and we always stop and eat a picnic somewhere.
Yesterday, we visited Twin Falls. Although, it was more like sextuplet falls since we just had a great rain all week. There were plenty of rocks to climb on (see pics) and it was a nice hike for kids--not too long AT ALL. There were "caves" for the kids to get in and little pools for them to play around and throw rocks in. Jeb and Brynn (we took one of his buddies with us) picked up lots of souvenirs and walking sticks along our way. They were looking for Bears and deer as well--no such luck..I think we were WAY too loud! They were Dora and Deigo...Caleb was Boot, Jonas was Swiper and I was Alicia. Caleb rode happily in his front pack and enjoyed some milk and peaches in the wilderness. Jonas took the kids up to the top of the falls where they found a "God-made" slide to go down. I was freaking out and yelling for him to hold their hands...thank the Lord we all made it home safely. Jonas and I have differing opinions about what is safe sometimes.
I am continually blessed to have a hubby that loves adventures as much as I do. I can't wait to be in heaven finding ALL The waterfalls that God created one day!