Why I say?...Why?

Today I had a few errands to run in Little Rock. I loaded the three little ones up (Drew 2 1/2, Halle 2, and Aiden 1) and headed out for the morning. Post office. Dry Cleaners. Target. Let me just say that trying to do those things was next to impossible with Halle. The boys were fine, but Halle was a disaster! She wouldn't hold my hand, she climbed out of the cart, and when I strapped her in, she screamed at the top of her lungs. People were looking at me like I was a crazy person. They are probably right!

It was getting to be lunch time and I thought, "I'll hurry and feed them so they will be full and sleep in the car, then I can just go park and wait for the big kids to get out of school." I was close to McDonald's and it was one with a playground (hard to find around these parts), perfect. I took the kids in, holding Aiden, Halle holding my other hand, and Drew holding Halle's. We get in with no problems. Then Halle runs. She knocks over a "wet floor" sign, and pulls down a poster hanging on the wall. I haven't even ordered yet! I grab 2 high chairs, put Aiden in one and Halle in another. Ordered. Got our food. And sat down. Aiden ate, but I think more food was on the floor than his mouth. Halle is mad because she can't get out of the straps on high chair. figures it out and is trying to climb over the bench and runs to the play area. Then there's Drew (he's a bit on the "different" side). He's sitting with his head turned to the wall staring at the bricks. He won't eat. he won't play. he won't talk. Just staring. Won't acknowledge me at all. Yeah, a little different. I thought he would be different at McDonald's, he's dad says he loves it. not with me.

Why do I do this to myself!!??

I called it a day. They did ALL fall asleep in the car, so I sat parked for an hour an a half. Made a few phone calls, read some scriptures. Enjoyed the peace.

Halle and her Princess Cup

Halle has become obsessed with her "pincey cup". She hasn't put it down since I gave it to her for our special Princess Lunch.

"Want moke in pincey cup"

(cough) "Oh, I choke on my moke, want choco moke."

"I yike choco moke."

Does he look SMARTER?

Not the greatest picture. I had to sneak up on him to get a picture with his glasses on. Nana has been asking. He can now see things much clearer and actually prefers to wear them even outside of the classroom.

Princess Day

Today is a special day for two special reasons. First, it is Vicki's birthday! She is the best Nana my kids could ask for. We are privileged to have her as our Mother and Nana. Secondly, Nana declared her birthday as the official "Gardner Family Princess Day". This day is a day to celebrate the Divine Nature of the princesses in our family. Last year she gave each of the girls a book called "The Parable of the Princesses" by Jenny Phillips. It is a book about a King who has three daughters, each one a Princess. He sends them out to a build their own kingdoms. They are faced with temptations and trials, dangers and deceits, challenges that will test their resolve and their commitment. Just like us! This is a book that every girl and women needs. It is a reminder that we are all Princesses of a King and we truly have a Divine Nature.

In preparation of Princess Day, I made the girls skirts. They opened a special gift from Nana.

Princess charm bracelets, of course. To remind them who they are.
Then Caite helped plan and make a Princess lunch. Heart shaped PB&J's, yogurt pretzels, and chips, and lemonade in their special princess cups. Isn't that what all Princesses want for lunch?
Halle thought it was really fun to eat on a special table in the living room. I think she liked drinking from her special cup the most.

We had a little Prince who felt a bit left out. So the girls made room for the Prince.

Even if he was a little silly and made some rude noises.

They got tiaras and candy necklaces

And some pink cupcakes for dessert!

Here's the book. it really is a must have.

We have had a perfect Princess Day. I hope as we continue this tradition and continue to read the parable, that my girls will develop a strong sense of self and KNOW that they are a Princess in every sense of the word. I know that as they grow and continue to learn, they will understand their relationship with Heavenly Father and their roll as His daughters.

Thank you Nana for giving us a WONDERFUL day to celebrate!

Funny Names

Since living in Little Rock our minds have been opened to a whole variety of creative names. The residents keep a running list at the hospital of "don't name your kid..." We also have some funny ones in our kids classes at school.

To occupy some of our "snow day" time we made Valentine's boxes and filled out Valentine cards. With class lists in hand the kids began writing. Here are my favorite ones.

Oseghale (pronounced: Osegley)
Cleon
Omar
Imani
Pashyon
Aine (pronounced: Anya)
Aliah
Terreicka
Tyran
Azarias
Q'Jayden (pronounced: Kuh-jayden, when you spell it you say "Q upper comma Jayden", it's not an apostrophe, it's an upper comma!)

Top ones from the Hospital are:

Shithead (no profanity please! pronounced: Sha-theed) His name has come up in several conversations among different doctors.

Iam (pronounced: Yum. His daddy is William, they decided to name him after his dad, just a shorter version on it!) Seriously, what's wrong with Will!?

Geronimo (like when you run and jump on something and say "Geronimo"!) yep, true story.

Chlamydia (aka an STD)

Nevaeh (Heaven backwards: these are usually premies, Aaron says if you name your girl Nevaeh, she will always die)

I'll have to have Aaron remind me of all the other ones and continue the post later.

Now that you are laughing, what are your favorite names?

Adding to the list:
Luscious (like when food tastes really good)
Gorgeous
Blaze (this is one I knew. When I asked his mom where they came up with the name Blaze, she said, "he's the youngest of 6 kids, our fire is still burning!") maybe I didn't want to know.

No School

So we are on day 4 of no school due to snow on the ground. The first 2 days were fun and understandable. Because Central Arkansas doesn't see much snow they don't have the equipment to clear ALL the streets and keep them salted/sanded. Fine. The problem is that Pulaski County Special School District takes in a HUGE area, a lot of which is country where the roads have never been touched leaving them very icy. So because buses can't get down some of the roads to pick up a few kids, the ENTIRE district shuts down. I understand it from a district point of view, but when our streets have been dry and fine for 2 days and we are still out of school ...it's frustrating. The news last night mentioned "Saturday School" (that's not going to work), cutting into Spring Break (people with vacations planned won't be there), or extending the school year. Either way...it's dumb! It would be nice if we could just do it on a school basis.

Isaac has been having fun outside and with his friends. The little kids had fun in the snow the first day, but it's now ice snow and not fun to be out in, so they are going stir crazy. I have tried to do a bunch of things in the house with them, but there's only so much that can be done, especially when I have 6 kids under 6.

So hopefully they can go tomorrow, Friday. It's their Valentine Parties, the little kids want to be there. But then Monday is a holiday, no school.

Snow...REAL Snow

We woke up this morning with over an inch of snow on the ground! What a sweet surprise. The kids were thrilled to spend the day building snowmen and snow forts and not be in school. I shoveled the driveway and walk way just to have it start snowing again. I just stuck a ruler in the snow piled on the deck...4.5 inches and still coming down. It's AWESOME! This NEVER happens around here. It feels like home.

I hope Aaron can get home tonight. They don't really plow around here.

I just posted a slide show of pictures taken this morning, before it started snowing again. I'll have to take more this afternoon and see how much we really got.