My Method to the Madness

It's been a beautiful month so far. We have enjoyed 2011, the kids are growing and keeping me busy, but I wouldn't have it any other way! Jason's sister asked for a new family picture, and I totally forgot, so we took one on our way out the door last Saturday, so now you can all enjoy the cuteness of my little family! :) Dana got Jason and Caden matching shirts for Christmas (kinda matching), and then Caden got some black shoes that matched Jason's Chuck Taylor's so, we got a father and son picture. They are the cutest! Two peas in a pod, I adore my boys. Then it was time for a mother/daughter picture. Of course Bailey looks adorable and I look funky, but I'm used to that. :) That's what happens when you have beautiful children! Another new thing we've been doing is playing hide and seek with the kids. We've done it quite a few times, but I finally got some pictures of it. The kids take it so seriously! They LOVE trying to find us! Bailey looks EVERY...

Yesterday, I woke up feeling pretty puny. My head was very congested and throat was hurting and I had that annoying itching deep in my ear. That itch is enough to make a perfectly sane woman cram a spaghetti spoon into her ear canal and try and make the itching stop! Well, anyway, that's what I was dealing with, but I made it through the day because Jason promised me a date night and when date night is on the line, I could lose a limb and still keep smiling! So, we made it through yesterday and all was well. Then we woke up this morning and little Caden has a cough and Bailey is really congested. I guess we really know how to share in this family! So, after a breakfast and lunch when no one really ate much, we decided it was time to cuddle up and watch old shows. We watched some old Inspector Gadget cartoons which the kids loved and now we've moved on to Fraggle Rock. Jason loved Fraggle Rock as a kid, so it's fun watching my children enjoy it so much. My kids are also expe...

Here are some new things I think you should know. Bailey- Bailey is now 3 and is quite the little lady. She sits with her legs crossed and says "yes, ma'am" and "yes, sir". She is also capable of cleaning her room all by herself, dressing herself (not stylishly but she can do it!). She is also a very girly girl. As you can see in the picture above, she loves to wear "princess shoes" which are her pink high heels. She also likes to do her hair and one of her favorite things is for me to paint her nails. She also painted my toe nails... there are about 12 layers of multi-colored polish on my toe nails that won't come off... I'm renting a jackhammer later today to try and get it all off. :) Caden- Caden is 2 and is growing so fast! He's also getting quite an opinion about life. Getting him dressed in the morning is quite a challenge! He doesn't want to wear anything that doesn't have either the characters from CARS, Toy Story or have a...

I realized that a lot of things make me laugh and I think I'll share some with you. 1. This morning I wanted coffee (I want it a lot but rarely actually make myself a cup). So, I ground some beans and realized that I ground enough for about 6 cups, so I made 6 cups of coffee so it wouldn't be too strong and had every intention of just drinking one cup. Well, 6 cups later I am so hyped up and jittery that I have done 6 loads of laundry, cleaned every room in the house including scrubbing the front bathroom tub (which really needed to be done!), I have also danced around with my kids, played "monster" which is extremely physically draining and I'm still going strong! While I would not suggest drinking 6 cups of coffee in one day, if you do, it can make you extremely productive! Just wait for the blog post when I crash tonight though, I imagine it's going to be pretty gruesome. 2. There is a game that I play on my ipod touch called "Words with Friends" ...

I have lots of hopes for 2011. 2010 was a hard year, a good year, but hard. So many plans for 2011 and we're starting with some simple changes. The first change was to finally sit down and do family hair cut night. Poor Jason hasn't had a hair cut in months, Caden had a hair cut a couple months ago, but I did it in a rush and missed some serious spots and Miss Bailey's hair was growing fine, but her little eyes were covered with bangs. It drove me crazy! So, now I'm working on just doing what needs to be done. Stop whining, stop rolling my eyes, just do it. So, last Sunday we pulled back the rug and I set up shop. An hour later I had 3 great looking cuties with 3 new looks! BEFORE (I just took her hair down from a pony tail... it doesn't usually look like that) AFTER BEFORE AFTER BEFORE AFTER Yes, I was proud of my little family. They all look so nice! Other things that I have worked on is getting organized. Since January 1st we have cleared out our kitchen cabinets...

I was cranky. I do that every once in a while. But long ago I learned a song based on a verse and it's helped me lots of time turn my little pity parties around. So, here it is. I just sing the song and think about each individual line and find an example of that truth in my life. Whatever is true. It is true that I am the daughter of a King and am promised eternal life because of the ultimate gift of His Son. Whatever is noble. My husband is noble. He puts my needs over his own everyday. He is chivalrous, kind, generous and treats me like a queen (even when I'm cranky.) Whatever is right. It is right that I am where I am. God put me here and here I intend on staying. There are amazing things for me here, I just have to put forth the effort to find them. God knows what He's doing, He's right, I trust Him. Whatever is pure. While my children are not perfect, I can see the purity of their spirits in how they see the world. It is both an honor and a highlight of my li...

I'm watching my nephew, Hunter, today and he is right between Bailey and Caden age-wise. So I have a two year old boy, a two and a half year old boy and a three year old girl. I thought I might share some of the things I have said today watching 3 toddlers. 1. Get that out of your mouth. 2. Monkeys are for hugging, not hitting! 3. Socks go on your feet, not your hands. 4. Get that out of your mouth. 5.Kicking someone's face isn't very nice. 6. We don't need to take every single wipe out of the package... just a thought. 7. Get that out of your mouth. 8. I know I put Bailey's hair in pigtails, but I can't put your hair up too, it's just too short and you're a boy! 9. When I say gentle, I don't mean to sit softly on Caden's head, I mean don't sit on his head at all. 10. Alright, when I say get that out of your mouth, what does that mean to you? Luckily, I love it. It's a happy chaos. But I will always be happy that God didn't give me t...

Christmas at the Clark household is always quite a to-do. We take celebrating Jesus pretty seriously and plan many things in to one action-filled month. It is delightful. Christmas this year began with a Skype Christmas with the Keenas. The Castles came over and we enjoyed talking to the family over Skype on our TV. It was fun seeing my dad on our wall. It was such a fun evening. Danae decorated Christmas cookies with Caden and Bailey. They both had sooo much fun, and I think she did too. Bailey wore her apron, Caden wore most of the frosting. It was so fun to watch and needless to say, neither one of them ate a very good dinner afterwards... We used some sprinkles we got from Granny and Grandpa awhile ago. Caden was a big fan of the dinosaur sprinkles. I personally liked the stars. :) After Christmas with the Keenas we headed over to Chuck and Dana's to spend the night and the kids (Bailey, cousin Hunter and Caden) all got matching jammies and Christmas socks! They were so precio...