Two 8th Birthday Parties almost down... 1 more to go!!

We celebrated when Rachel was here, and we are celebrating today... then once more when we go back to Illinois w/ Family, and then we can officially say we Celebrated Allyssa's 8th Birthday :)
After Musical Practice at Church today Mycah and Olivia came home w/ Allyssa. We HAD to go to Ryans for lunch, because Allyssa wanted them to sing Happy Birthday to her and Mycah!! And they did :)
The girls have continued to sing the song like they did at Ryan's All Evening!!
They've played, we've had cake and dippin' dots icecream, Allyssa's opened presents, we've went to skate city and they skated and played in the play area, and now they are finally gettin' ready for bed....
But it's been FUN!!!!

E-Cards From Pawpaw and Mamaw!!!

Allyssa really enjoyed getting a couple of ecards from Grandpa and Grandma this morning!! She also received a phone call from Grandma singing Happy Birthday to her, and Hannah called and wished her a Happy Birthday as well!!!
Allyssa says a Big Thank You to all of the Family that thought of her today and called, text, left messages....
Like I said before... She's a Very Lucky Girl!!!! to have such a Wonderful Family!! We Miss you all!!!!

What a Sweet Daddy Allyssa has !!!

Allyssa was worried about not seeing her Daddy before he went to work the morning of her bday sooo he wrote her this note and put it in her Nintendo DS so that she would be sure to find it :) Isn't that just too sweet ! Allyssa also got up at 6:30 a.m. so she was able to have her Daddy tell her Happy Birthday before he left for work, then fell back asleep and found his note when she woke up for good and started her day with a game on the DS!!! She's a Lucky little Girl... that's for sure!!

"Friends"

Allyssa and Princess having snuggle time! It's not very often that either one of them are calm and still long enough to capture this on camera :)

Allyssa Ann Marie THEN and NOW!!!!

Here's our Little Allyssa 3 days Old !!!
And here's a random picture at 7 1/2 months Old!!
And Now Happy 8th Birthday Allyssa!!!!

If I Fail... I will Seek HIS Grace...

It's seems like these days it's not if I fail, but more like WHEN I Fail... and although I'm ashamed to admit this... I have also failed at seeking His Grace...

I'm just going through the motions getting more and more frustrated over the little things in this life, not feeling very patient or peaceful or joyful, not being very kind and gentle, definately lacking in self control, and although I do have a whole lot of love in my heart, I've been more than a little stingy in sharing that love here lately, just being a selfish little brat these days... and instead of turning it over to God like I know I should I've just kept it and dwelled on the here and now :(

Sooooo I have spent the last several minutes reading over and over my Words of encouragement on my blog... Love..Joy..Peace...Patience..Kindness..Goodness..Faithfulness..Gentleness..and Self Control.. To these I commit my day, If I succeed I will give Thanks. If I fail, I will Seek His Grace. And then when this day is done, I will place my head on my pillow and REST....
After reading this I finally had a little pow-wow with God and just released it all to HIM..
And I am feeling better :) No not just from reading those words, but from FINALLY taking the time to spend w/ our Amazing, Loving and Forgiving God, and while doing so I could just feel the weight being lifted off me, as He was Forgiving Me and Strengthening Me!!!

I Wonder Why sometimes I try to control every situation .. My Way, or get sooo caught up in dealing w/ frustrations, disappointments, worries.... and having a miserable couple of weeks and causing those around me to have a miserable couple of weeks.. then I realize that I've only spent a few sec. here and a few minutes there with My Savior and not once during any of those rushed moments have I actually allowed Him to do His thing....and once I finally do ...How everything goes much better and even when it gets crazy He gets Me through it...
DUH... I shoulda done this like 2 weeks ago!!!! :)
Well now that I've turned it over and God is In Control....
I'm off to place my head on my pillow and REST!!! Thank You Lord!!!

No More Bad "Hair" Days :(

 

 

 

Well.. rem. a few posts back when Princess was all dirty instead of White...WELL...she also had knots in it, soooo when she went for a little groomin' they had to shave her.. yeah..not good!!
She does stay nice and white longer...but I can't wait til it grows out !!!
Poor Princess!!!

Early Birthday Celebration for Allyssa Ann Marie!!

It was a MUST that we have a Birthday Party while Rachel was here!! Sooo we did :) And Allyssa was happy, she Loved the Frog Croakin' card from Rachel!!! But the next day Ally said to me "Mom... maybe my real birthday party will last a little longer and be a little more fun!!"
We just did this one so that Rachel could be here, it was before gymnastics so she just opened the two gifts and we sang Happy Bday to her, she blew out the candles, ate the two cupcakes.. and it was over... time for Gymnastics!!!
I hope her Real one is better for her too, I just don't know exactly when we are going to have it.. we will not be in Illinois the weekend of her bday (she has a musical here in P Bluff at our church) and so we will have to celebrate w/ family at a later date :(
I was thinking of having her friends here in P.Bluff come celebrate w/ her on her bday, but I only know one of her friends parents to call, her other little friends were just friends at school and I've never got acquainted w/ the parent's.. but maybe her teacher can help me out w/ getting their phone numbers or something... I Don't know... this is one of the things I dislike about moving to a new town.. getting to know people so that your child can atleast have a Fun Bday Party :) Ha That sounds sooo funny.. but true:)
Oh I'm sure it'll work out.. I'm just stressing... Nothing new!!

SISTERS

 
 

Even though Rachel wasn't feeling Good at All (with her strep throat) she still made a little time each day for her little sister... How Sweet! And this day it was spendin' time in the fort... well until it fell down on them seconds after entering :)
Allyssa really enjoys having her sister here :)

Soccer Camp 2009

 
 
 

Ally decided she wanted to try Soccer and She Loved it!!! She had all of the little girls cracking up during camp... trying to stop her ball w/ just her feet and remembering not to use her hands.. you know just some minor details when playin' Soccer....
With camp only 3 days last week, Ally is ready for the season to start, but we'll have to
wait until Fall for that. I'm just glad she's anxious for it to start up..Should be fun!!

And Now... The Rest of the Story

I've been whining in my past few posts and on facebook that I just really want a Do-over on this Week, it didn't start out good and it's just not lookin' much better yet. In addition to what I've already blogged about..Rachel being sick, The Fish Dying, Chris being an 18 yr old boy, Lack of Sleep, We FINALLY got an offer on our house... BUT .. it's way too low, there is no way we can do it, Sooo that was a real bummer! Then another person is supposedly really interested.. And then No he's not.. Sooo I'm just a little bummed about... well EVERYTHING!!!!
But it'll be okay, and there has been some good over the last few days, but I can't remember what it was now :) I just remember sayin' "Oh at least that went our way!" but it seems like as soon as I would say that then something else would not go our way...so I've ended up forgetting the good... I know..I know.. shame on me!!
No seriously, I'll stop whining... one of the good times was Ally started Soccer tonight! First time ever. So we got her all decked out in her new soccer gear and a new soccer ball and went to soccer camp this evening. She had Sooo much fun!
Rachel this evening is finally feeling a little better... poor thing... she had it bad!!! Hopefully the medicine is taking hold now and she will continue getting better each day.
Chris will be returning to PA this Sat. things just haven't went well this visit for him, unfortunately, but Rachel will be staying for another week yet, so hopefully she will be all better and can enjoy some family time w/ us.
Soo there you have it.. that's all I have to complain about for now... Happier posting next time!!!

Hmmmm... Does 1 Flushed Fish Really = 2 New Fishies????

Well... upon arriving back at our apartment in P.Bluff at 1 in the morning... Ally runs to the Fish tank.. and Big Eyes Is DEAD!!! We knew it was coming.. he's kinda had what you would call a Slow..Slow Very Slow Death :( Ally had been asking for over 2 weeks, "When Big Eyes dies can we have a funeral, and flush him?" And I had already answered "Yes" umpteen times...but didn't think that it was going to be at 1 a.m.... But it was and I said we would...So We Did...well ALMOST... As we were getting Big Eyes prepared for this Funeral..he started moving..AND Ally freaked out, she started bawling saying"We Almost Murdered Big Eyes!!! We can't flush him when he's still alive..that would be Murder!!!" And I'm thinking this Dang fish has come back to life more times than I can even count:(
Sooo back in the aquarium he goes... And now it's 2a.m. and Ally has to check on Big Eyes.. (He hadn't moved since we put him back in) So Ally says "OK it's time for the Funeral" So off we go to the bathroom, Ally, Bob and I are all gathered around the toilet and Ally says her prayer and tells Big Eyes Good bye and Bob plops him in the toilet and Ally is lookin' at him and sayin' another prayer and tellin' him bye
AGAIN.. so it's been a good 3 or 4 min. and just as Ally put her hand to the handle to flush.... Big Eyes Swam Around the Toilet... I'm not even Kiddin'.. Bob and I look at eachother.. AMAZED.. Ally freaks out.. It's Murder..It's Murder... And God Forgive Me for the Lie I told, but you gotta do what you gotta do at 2 am. w/ a 7 1/2 yr old hysterical, I told Ally "Oh no That's just air in the lines make the water swoosh around in the toilet so it looks like Big Eyes is Swimmin'.. it's ok.. he's dead.. really.. go ahead and flush..Come on just Flush Already !!!" And Thank Goodness.. She Did!!!
So Monday after tumbling it was time to replace Big Eyes, and that's where I'm still a little stumped because Bob and Ally went to the pet store and when Ally came running back in there were 2 fishies in the bag...not 1 but 2.. hmm okay she's happy!
So now we have Pizza and Goldie which we've had for a long long time now.. and the new ones are Big Eyes (Again) and vacuum .... betchya can't guess what kind of fish vacuum is..?? Yep.. he's suppose to clean the bottom and sides... we'll see.
So you now have a little more insight into why I want a DO-Over!!! :)

Dresses From Mamaw

How Adorable these girls looked at Church Sunday Morning... atleast the dresses that mom had bought for them to wear to the parade didn't go to waste...
Ally and Hannah are sooo funny together... trying to get them to be calm for these pictures was no easy task :) As the pictures reveal!!!! Silly Cousins!!

The 4TH of JULY..RAIN RAIN..GO AWAY!!

Our Annual 4th of July Swim/cookout at mom and dad's...just wasn't the same this yr... but atleast we were able to be together:)
We had planned on Ally and my niece Hannah riding in Mom's Mustang throwing candy for the Herrick parade...but IT RAINED!! :(
We had planned on swimming at mom and dad's in the afternoon...but IT RAINED!!! :(
Sooo we hung out inside and visited and the kids played :)
Normally Bob gets fireworks in Ohio and we set them off at mom and dad's...but this yr. with all the chaos of being in PBluff and the expense and all we decided to go watch the fireworks at Vandalia... just seemed simpler.. and we DID get to see the fireworks... the rain stopped :)
We had a good day together... Rachel missed most of it because of her strep throat but made it out to Mom and Dad's for the family group picture and to Van. for the fireworks atleast.

First Day of Chris and Rach's Summer Visit

Bob met the kids in Ohio on Fri. The 3rd to bring them back for a 2 wk visit!! And the first day was Wonderful :) and then Rachel came down w/ strep throat that evening and Chris well Chris is 18 and difficult. Sooo if you've seen my facebook status of wanting a do-over for this week, you now understand part of the reason :)
Ally had lots and lots of fun w/ Rachie on the trampoline and just hangin out w/ her every minute of the day!!!
Rachie had spent a week in Fl. w/ a friend before coming out and she was sooo thoughtful and brought back gifts for us all:)
Chris kept us entertained w/ his guitar playing and even sang a few of the songs.
We are all exhausted... Thurs. didn't get back to Il. until 2 am then Bob went to Ohio and got the kids on Fri. then Chris, Rachie and I stayed up until 5am... and then 4th of July and then Sun. didn't get to P.Bluff until 1 am.... and it's been just CRAZY...

White Puppy...doesn't stay white very long!!!

 

After all of the rain we've been getting poor Princess just doesn't stay white!!! Love her fluffy white coat when it's fluffy and white...not when it's a muddy knotty mess :(
oh well...guess we all have bad "hair" days.. right?