The Mystery of the Missing Underwear

We had a rushed morning getting to church. Mostly because Mommy and Daddy stayed up way too late playing dominoes with friends and we did not want to get going this morning.

As I headed for a shower before church, I gave Layla her clothes and told her to be ready in 10 minutes. She did a great job with very little supervision. But, I had to laugh as she came into the bathroom and asked me if I had seen her jammie shirt, she was trying to find it so she could put her jammies in the laundry. She was looking everywhere before I pointed out the shirt was still on her! Then, in the process of finding her church clothes, she forgot the jammie shirt was still on and put her church shirt on over it.

When we got home from church, Daddy took the kids to the bathroom and to get their clothes changed while I started lunch. After going potty, Layla went to pull her underwear up and couldn't find them. She told Dave, "they must be in my jeans." She looked and no, sure enough, not in her jeans. "Hmmm, did they fall off me and out of my jeans at church?" She wondered out loud. Dave and I had to laugh, picturing this in our minds. Obviously, in the rush to get ready she had forgotten to put underwear on! But Layla is still sure she put them on and is still wondering where her underwear could be.

I love this picture of Layla. I took it a few weeks ago when she yelled from our bedroom, "Mom, get the camera and get in here!" I did and this is what I saw. She explained that she had been working on getting this pose just right and I had to get a picture of it. These are the little things that make me laugh. It's not the pose that cracks me up, it's imagining her, on her own, thinking about this pose, working on it and trying to get it just perfect.

Layla's Quotes of the Day

Today I heard Layla ask Cooper, "What inspires you today Cooper? Are you encouraged?"

At supper I was telling Layla stories about when she was a baby and I asked, "Can you even believe we didn't have Cooper then? What did we do without Cooper?"
Layla replied, "Well, I bet we had a lot more girl days."
And I said, "Yes, I'm sure we did, but we still get t have them, Cooper just goes with Daddy." I then reminded Layla how much we love Cooper and how funny he is.
I asked, "Who would make you laugh if we didn't have Cooper?"

Layla's reply......"Mom, you are plenty of funny for me."

Hmmmm, not sure how I feel about that.

Just an Update

What a week we've had and it's only Tuesday. More than once today I prayed out loud, "Lord, help me through the next 10 minutes." Between poison ivy, birthday, first day at a new school, ear infection, bad reaction to medicine, my work and Dave's work, I'm pooped!

Here are the updates....................
1. Poison ivy looks 70% better. I look forward to being able to shave my right shin for the first time in 3 weeks!
2. Layla enjoyed school and has made new friends. She did have a few tears yesterday, but the only tears today were mine. I think it's going well. ICA is a great environment and Mrs. McGrath is made to teach preschoolers!
3. Cooper's ear infection is not getting better. We started his antibiotic Sunday night and there does not seem to be any relief for him. He is now tugging at the other ear and his tummy is very upset. So, we're off the first med, have to wait 24 hours and will start another. I feel so bad for him, he just wants to lay on me. I cherish snuggling him, but at the same time, it's a challenge to get dressed or pee with 30 pounds attached to the front of me! ............."Lord, help me through the next 10 minutes!"

Layla Faye is....

....sweet, joyful, expressive and today, she is also 4 years old. Layla is very conscientious and obedient. She loves a party! She wants to be the first one there and the last to leave, and, of course, wear something fabulous. Her favorite color changes with the day. Her favorite things are Mary Poppins, Hillsong, Laurie Berkner, cinnamon rolls and when all four of us are together. She enjoys making up her own words and proudly telling me their definition. She also makes up songs and is enjoying her karaoke machine we gave her for her birthday. We fall more in love with her every minute of her life.

Here are pictures of her first day at school. We picked her up after school and took her to lunch to celebrate her birthday as a family. Daddy brought her four red roses and she got to drink orange pop. What a day!

The Party

Layla Faye turns 4 years old tomorrow, August 24th at 7:48 am. That will be the exact time that we load up in the car to take her to her first day of school at Iowa Christian Academy in Des Moines.

Yesterday, we celebrated with a Luau party at a park in Ames. Layla wanted 3 things for her birthday party. She wanted her extended family, she wanted everyone to decorate their own fancy cupcakes and she wanted a pinata. Mission accomplished on all three. We all decked out in our best Hawaiian garb for the shin ding and just enjoyed watching the crazy kids try to break the pinata open.

Today, Layla and Cooper both received a great gift from Papa, a dock for the pond. It didn't take long to get the first part set up and Papa and Layla were out fishing. It was a great weekend. The only downside was for Coopy. He and daddy are at the after hours clinic right now, seeing a Dr. about an ear infection. Poor Coop!

Disgusting, I know.......

..but I believe it's blog worthy. What is this gross picture? It's a picture of the front of my right calf. It is poison something (ivy, sumac or oak). Don't know, don't need to know, I just know it itches like crazy and, more than that, it HURTS!!! Believe it or not, this started as a few little bumps, 2 1/2 weeks ago, that I thought were bug bites. How did these two little bumps turn into this? A very busy mommy who was in denial and desperately hoping it would just go away so that I didn't have to haul two kids into the Dr. office with me. But, when I went to see the pharmacist today for some over the counter relief, he looked at for about .00085 seconds and said I needed to get to the Dr. So, I bit the bullet and went. The Dr. confirmed, yes, it is poison something and no, it should not look like this!! So an oral steroid, an antibiotic and anti-histamine later, let's all pray this goes away!!

A Beautiful Day in the Country

What a great day! The temp was just around 72, sunny and beautiful! There is nothing like having all of the windows open, feeling the cool, fall-like air and hearing only birds, bullfrogs and horses. I know that's a strange combo, but we do live in the country!

The kids felt it too, they were wild outside today. They went searching for night crawlers and squealed with delight trying to pick them up. Since Layla was old enough to explore outside, I purposed to never squirm or even flinch at bugs, frogs, even snakes (I draw the line at rodents). As a result, I've smiled through gritted teeth as I've held various worms, grasshoppers and frogs. My acting was far better than I anticipated because this girl will pick up and investigate anything. She has now started a worm town in a jar with mud. She has named her first worm Chilantcha, who she has checked on at least every hour.

Cooper showed much agility in picking up night crawlers, his cute little meat hooks are faster than they look! I also discovered that he delights in rebounding the basketball. I shot for at least 20 minutes today and that kid didn't tire.

We look forward to this weekend as we celebrate Layla's 4th birthday with a Luau party on Saturday with family. Her actual birthday is Monday, which is also her first day of Preschool at ICA. I'm sure there will be many pictures to follow!