One whole hand = 5 years old

My little man ... is 5 years old!!! I can not wrap my mind around it. To me ... he is still 2 ... well maybe 3 years old ... but he is certainly not FIVE years old already!!! That is one WHOLE hand ... FIVE little fingers!!! He is the one that I have gotten the privilage to stay home the longest with. Him and I have been home together since he was 20 months old. When Clint and I decided to try to have one more baby ... I woke up the next morning and looked at Clint and told him I was pregnant. He thought I was nuts. He did not believe me at all. BUT ... I just knew. I had that feeling ... and I just knew. Sure enough ... 6 weeks later ... I was telling Clint that we were pregnant with baby number 3. Clint so badly wanted a little boy. All I knew ... was girls ... I had no idea what to do with a boy. But the moment that I left the doctors and knew we were having a little boy ... I could not get to Clint's work place fast enough to tell him. In fact ... Clint did not even say two words to me at that very moment. He just took off running into his work place to tell everyone that he was having a son. It was such a proud moment for Clint. I have gotten to see so much through a little boys eyes. Now ... I have to admit that I sometimes have NO idea what is going trough his head to make him do some of the things that he does ... but ... he is still my little E-Man. He has alot of onery moments ... but that smile melts my heart and makes me forget all about his crazy adventures that he sometimes goes on. At times I wish little boys came with a book that had the answers in the back of it ... but then again ... where would the fun be in that??? From the first moment that they handed me Eythen after he was born ... and I saw his big blue eyes and curly hair ... I could not resist him. From Eythen getting his leg stuck in the bunkbeds, coloring with a permant marker on my walls, eating dirt, or screaming when he sees a bug, taking one bite of every donut in the box to see if it was a different flavor, burning his hand when he touched the glass on the fireplace, "Jayhawk" being his first real word, jumping off his bed after telling him not to a million times before, the zillion ER visits that we have taken Eythen to and my heart breaking the first time I walked him to his first day of preschool when he was 3 years old ... all of these moments (plus a million more) have kept me on my toes with Eythen. He is something else ... and is the reason I smile and laugh all day long. Bubba ... you are an amazing little guy. You are so darn smart ... it amazes me that when we got to Grammy and Papa Gene's house that you know how many more turns we have until we are at their house or how you look at the directions that came with your Transformers and know how to put them together. I love how you will try anything once and your passion for it while you are attempting it ... from soccer to basketball to gymnastics ... you go for it with all you have. You are a great brother and son!!! Daddy and I love you with every inch of our sole and heart. Happy 5th Birthday Eythen James Moore!!!

Harleigh & her handwriting ...

The other day Harleigh was playing with Eythen and writing things in a notebook ... she stood up, shook her head and said "Man!!!". I thought she was making a comment about Eythen or something. So I said to her, "What is the matter, Harleigh?" She looked straight at me and said, "Man, I have a nice handwriting!!!"

Harleigh ... 6 years old ... September 2009 ... 1st grade

A night away ...

Clint and I celebrated our NINE year wedding anniversary this past Wednesday. What a wonderful thing to celebrate! NINE YEARS!!! I have to admit ... we have had our ups and downs ... bumps in the road ... arguments and fights ... and things to over come. BUT ... we are stronger than we have ever been ... and I love him more today than the day that I said "I do". He is still the reason that I draw those silly hearts on my paper. I still get weak in the knees when he kisses me. He is my bestfriend and I love how we fit together. I suggested that we could see who could come up with the "cheepest date" ... and he was all for it ... or so I thought. I had a coupon for Buy-1-Get-1 hamburger and Buy-1-Get-1 ice cream. I actually thought I was gonna "win". Haa Haa. When Clint came home on Wednesday, he handed me a wonderful card and I gave him a card along with a candle with the number 9 on it and put it in a Little Debbie snack cake. Then ... Clint asked me what my plan for the "cheep date" was. Before I could even answer him ... he pulled out 2 boxes of candles and told me that he reserved a room at Embassey Suites for Saturday night ... just him and I. I was SO thrilled!!! Saturday rolled around ... and we had SO much going on before we got to leave for an evening away from reality. Eythen had a soccer game that Clint coaches at 9:00 am. The girls had to cheer for the little league football team at 10:00 am. Then Clint had tickets for him, Breeanna and Eythen to go to the KU football game that started at 11:00. Since the girls got done cheering at 11:10 ... I drove them to the game so Clint did not have to find a parking place. Then ... at 1:30, Harleigh had to go to cheerleading camp. FINALLY ... at 4:30 ... Clint and I were able to head out the door when my Mom arrived to stay with the kids. We got to the hotel at about 5:30 ... just in time for Happy Hour ... which is free drinks from 5:30 to 7:30. I have to say ... we drank way to much ... but laughed and talked the whole 2 hours without one kid saying "Mommy!!!" or "Daddy!!!". After we drank some yummy drinks for 2 hours went to our room and opened up a bottle of champaign. Clint went and bought the same kind that we had for our toast at our wedding 9 years ago. We had a little toast between the two of us and enjoyed an evening just being "Clint and Jill". I love you, Clinton!!!

Ashley's Spa Birthday Party

Breeanna's really good friend, Ashley, invited her to her 9th birthday party. It was a "Spa" themed party!!! I L.O.V.E.D. the idea!!! (I might just have to steal the idea for Harleigh's birthday that is coming up!!!) Anyways ... Breeanna was SO very excited and could hardly wait for the day to get here. So ... at 4:30 we dropped her off for her first "spa" experience.

I have to admit ... when my baby girl came walking in the door after the birthday party was done ... I caught a glimpse into the future. She looked like she was 8 going on 18!!! WHAT?!?!?! I sent her to the party with her sides pulled up ... and she comes out looking like she was heading off to college *sigh*.

I sat down with her on the couch and she told me every single detail of the party. She had so much fun. Her hair was stunning. They had it in a side french braid that had curls, glitter sprayed on her hair and cute little star pins throughout the braid. They had it all poofy up at the top ... for that "Hannah Montana" look. They even sat in pedicure chairs ... SO JEALOUS right now of Breeanna!!! haa haa I so baldy need a pedicure done. She had purple on her toes ... and a shade of orangish pink on her fingers. Even the good bags were full of "girly" things: nail filer, lip gloss, eye shadow, nail polish, bubble bath ... I am ALL about making outstanding good bags ... and these definately were perfect additions to the party.

The 4 year old kid and 100 piece puzzle

Eythen has always amazed me on his ability for detail. He notices your hair if you cut it, purchased a new hat, washed the car or simpy bought a new tube of toothpaste. He notices everything ... right down to the littlest detail. So, needless to say ... puzzles have always been a strong point for him. He has been putting 25 piece puzzles together since he turned 2 and instantly jumped to the 50 and 60 piece puzzle when he turned 3. I did not think he would be doing 100 peice by himself at the age of 4 though ... I must admit. This past week, Eythen had to stay home from preschool because he had strep throat. Luckily, he did not even act sick ... no fever or yucky feeling. He just had a little problem eating solid foods. So, Eythen and I spent 2 days eating ice cream for lunch and stayed in our PJ's all day long. I know what you are thinking ... what a good Mom. Not every Mom that would be willing to stay in her PJ's all day long, eat ice cream for lunch for two days straight!!! I do what I have to do. And if I needed to stay in my PJ's for the day ... so be it. haa haa Anyways ... back to my genius puzzle solving son. After lunch one day ... yes ice cream ... he wanted to put a puzzle together. Unfotunately, all we could find was one of Harleigh's Polly Pocket puzzles ... but it worked ... and he did not seem to mind that it was a girls design. When I pulled it out, I pointed out that it was a hard one and I may need to help him. He looked at me and said "I know this one." Well then ... if my 4 year old says he can do it ... who am I to tell him he can't. I went down the hall to finish putting up a couple of loads of laundry ... and when I came back down the hall ... HE WAS HALF WAY DONE!!! No freaking kidding!!!

Now, I have to point out that Eythen did not do this 100 piece puzzle like most people would. Find all of the outside straight line pieces and put that part together first ... and then fill the middle in. Oh no ... not Eythen! He started from one side of the puzzle and worked his way clear across to the other side. He looked acrefully at each and every piece and if he could tell that it would not fit in the slot that he needed it to ... he put it down ... and grabbed the next one. From left to right ... all the way across ... one piece at a time. All in all ... it took him a total of 32 minutes to put this 100 piece Polly Pocket puzzle together.

I am so darn proud of my little E-Man! A 100 piece puzzle in about 30 minutes at the age of 4!!! Way to go Eythen!!! You are one smart cookie!!!

Oh ... when he was all done there was one stinking piece missing. He instantly said "Oh man! I missing one piece. I bet Lucy ate it!" (Lucy is our dog).

Time to snap some photos ...

Breeanna Nichole

Eythen James Harleigh Jene

The Lawrence Park is a perfect place to take some photos of 3 adorbale kiddos!!!

This ended up being my all time favorite. I think it is perfect in every way!!!

Breeanna 8 years old, Harleigh 6 years old and Eythen 4 years old

This was our "little cliff" that we sat at and looked at the boats at Clinton Lake.

8 going on 18 in a blink of an eye ...

This little man has stolen my heart ...

ONLY Harleigh would do this!!! Do you notice that Lucy is buckled up??? Harleigh told me that Lucy needed to be safe as well. ONLY Harleigh!!!

Our annual photo that we take of the kids every year. This pose just never gets old in my eyes.

Last Saturday, I decided to play "photographer". I had bought these great white outfits for the kids LAST SUMMER, but never put them in it to have their pictures taken. Lucky for me ... my girls are short and tiny ... so their outfits still fit at the end of this summer. Although Eythen ... aka: the boy that grows like a weed ... his would not even have came close to fitting. So we had to make do with what he had in his closet and make him a model in training for the day.

The 5 of us had a great time taking the photos ... and laughed alot along the way. We even went over to Clinton Lake and spent some time watching the boats. When we pulled into one of the entrance to the lake, of course their is a big sign that says "Clinton Lake" ... Breeanna instantly says, "Mommy, there is the name that you call Daddy all the time." haa haa While we were on the little cliff watching the boats on the lake ... we all decided that we wanted to buy a boat and become lake bums every summer season. Breeanna was certain that she had enough money in her purse to help us pay for at least half of the boat. How thoughtful, but unfortunately I do not think her $80 will come close to paying for a boat. Harleigh told Clint that she wanted to be on a boat right now. He asked her if she wanted to go camping, also. She said yes ... until she realized that camping meant sleeping outside in a tent. She then looked at Clint and said, "How about I go on the boat, but when you guys go to the tent, Mommy and I go shopping and sleep in our beds." Like Mother like Daughter!!!

After having to pry the kids away from the little cliff that over looked the lake ... getting a boat got pushed up on our "hope and dream" list that Clint and I secretly day dream about together.

Mission number one: Staying clean for the WHOLE afternoon in all white clothing. Mission number two: Getting at least one good picture that I can blow up and frame in my living room. Mission number three: Being sure the kids have a good afternoon and enjoy themselves. All in all ... I will have to say ... Mission complete!!!

Will you marry me???

I was upstairs cleaning the kitchen, when I suddenly heard giggling coming up the stairs. As I began to turn around to see which one of my three munckins it was ... I heard Harleigh say ... "Don't turn around yet." So I did what she asked ... but still really wanting to turn around to see what was causing all of the whispers and giggles. I turn around and saw this ... Harleigh and Eythen decided to hold a wedding ... This was the hardest picture for me to snap. Everytime I tried to take the photo ... Harleigh would start to laugh and Eythen would leave her a really wet kiss on her cheek (on purpose of course).

Ahhh ... it is a mini Clint and a mini Jill!!!

Another school year begins ...

Three weeks have passed since the first day of school ... and I am just now having a brief moment to blog about the kiddos big day. Of all days for it to rain ... it rained on the first day of school. My sunglasses have always been what I hid behind ... you know ... for those "Mommy meltdown moments". The moments when you realize that you child is a year older ... another year has slipped by ... and you have no idea where it went. So when the tears would always well up in my eyes ... I would slide on my trusty sunglasses ... and "hide" my emotions until I made it back to the car. So, needless to say ... the moment I woke up and saw it was raining ... I was wondering how I was gonna "hide" my emotions. This was my hard one ... Eythen's first day of preschool. His preschool started one week after the girls started school. He was MORE THAN ready to go back, but I was not ready to let him go. I knew the moment that I dropped him off for his first day of preschool ... then in 365 days ... I would be taking him to his first day of kindergarten. And I am NOT ready for that. Clint actually got rained out from work on Eythen's first day of preschool, so he got to experience taking one of the kiddos to their first day. I was snapping pictures left and right (like I always do) and at one time Clint glanced at me and smiled and shock his head ... kind of like ... do you do this EVERY first day of school. haa haa After we dropped off Eythen, I walked out of the classroom ... no tears. I walked down the hall ... no tears. I walked out the front doors of the school ... no tears. Oh my gosh ... am I gonna make it without crying???!!! We got into the car and as we pulled out of the parking lot, I glanced to my right ... and there was the soccer field that Eythen has practice on. EVERYtime we drive past it, he says "Mommy!!! That is where I have soccer at." In a way, I was waiting to hear him say it ... but he was not in the back seat ... there was just silence. SILENCE!!! Oh my gosh ... in 365 days ... I will not even have my little Eythen at home half a day. OH MY GOSH!!! And ... then the tears began to fall. Good 'ol Clint ... just held my hand ... told me to go ahead and cry ... and that Eythen was going to be ok. Oh man ... my little Bubba is about to become a little guy right before my eyes. *sigh* *sniffle*. 1st grade??? Really??? I still can not wrap my mind around it. Ever since I had the chance to become a SAHM, Harleigh and I always had "Cuddle Bug" time every Friday in my bed while Noggine would be on the tv, while Breeanna was at school. I looked forward to that day more than she will probably ever know. Now ... those Fridays are long gone *sniffle* *sniffle*. Harleigh is just a happy go lucky kid ... and the first day of school was no different than any other day. She was grinning from ear to ear ... I could tell she felt like "a big kid". As I walked her to her classroom to drop her off, I reached down to hold her hand ... but ... I did not have a little hand reaching back this time. She looked up me and smiled and said "No. I know where I am going." Talk about ripping my heart out. It was at that exact moment ... I so badly wanted to hide behind my sunglasses. She is no longer my baby girl ... she is slowly turning into a little girl with big dreams.

I can hardly believe that Breeanna is entering the 3rd grade. I swear it was just yesterday that she looked at me on her first day of kindergarten and said "Can I go now" with a big smile on her face. BUT ... just like the first day of kindergarten ... she had a big smile on her face. Third grade is such a huge step in a child's school years ... it just not seem "little" anymore. It just feels like YEARS difference from having her in the 2nd grade ... to having her in the 3rd grade. Breeanna and I have done a little "special good bye" when I drop her off at school for the past 3 years now. No one knows what we are doing, except her and I. Just a little hand gesture exchanged between her and I that mean "I love you." And luckily for me ... 3rd grade must not be "to big" to do such a thing, because she still turned around and gave me the single letting me know that she loves me ... so I quickly did it right back!!! She has turned into such a good, smart and caring kid. She is always trying to make others happy ... and I love that about her. 3rd grade ... *sigh* ... my little girl is slowly turning into a little lady with a heart of gold.