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It says i blogged tuesday, but that's when i started the blog, just finished it today :) so check out my Independence day blog :)

It's Independence Day......

Well it was anyway. I'm trying really hard to blog better. The hardest part is when I usually blog, Bill plays his PS3 online and it messes with our connection and we both get slow slow signals and internet. :( I guess you can't have everything.

This year we went to Aunt Shirley's, still a regular thing for us. We didn't buy a lot of fireworks, just some for the kids to enjoy. Which is a tale-tale sign that we are getting older :). We had a good time. The kids, although mostly all SCARED-OUT-OF-THEIR-MINDS, did really good. They don't like the loud noises, plus if one is upset, Why can't they all be?

I enjoy Independence Day a lot and always take time out and think about all of our vetrans and those currently serving. My dad and grandpas were all in the service, I have 2 uncles that were too (one still is in and currently deployed to Afghanistan). I think on the freedom we have and political issues,where our country is headed especially as it relates to our Armed Forces. I have a love that only an BRAT can have. An appreciation that goes beyond what I can even say and begin to think. I remember a lot about moving around and my FAMILY being in Service to this great nation. I remember my dad being gone a LOT. I remember moving a lot. I remember getting to see my Mom everyday. I remember having patriotic programs in school. I remember standing and feeling very proud each time I put my hand on my heart and Say the Pledge and sing the National Anthem. (still am very Proud) I remember writing my dad letters while he served in Saudi Arabia during the Gulf War. I remember crying when we got to see him again. I remember the letter my dad sent me and the $ in the envelope to " please listen to and be good for your mother while I am gone." I remember this STRONG DETERMINED WOMAN sticking with it even though she was alone a lot and we never knew where the money was going to come from. I remember liking to move. I remember the Gummi factory. I learned Spanish, French and German (all before High School). I remember the joy of getting to live in Germany (a totally different country). I remember HAVING to make new friends. I remember not knowing anyone for more than 2 or 3 years and then moving on and never seeing them again. I remember vacation meaning going to Kansas to see our family. I remember my dad shot the cannons at the 4th of July celebration on Post. Yes, we called it POST not FORT. :). I remember not knowing what a grocery store was. "Is that like a Commisary?" I remember playing any sport I wanted to because on post no one got cut, everyone could play and no one lived anywhere long enough to be a Favorite. I remember not wanting to move here because no one would understand. I remember a lot and am grateful I got to experience a little part of it. Our service members deserve nothing but the best, but often qualify for state aid, food stamps, and can't even afford to live. They sacrifice on a continual basis and still LOVE serving our Country. This is a little, yes just a snipet of what INDEPENDENCE DAY means to me. I hope I can give my children a love of God, Family and Country that so fills me. :) Enjoy the pics.

Close to when it all began for my parents and us.

I could probably say a lot more, but for now I will stop :) This man and woman in the above picture are the reasons for all the memories and appreciations I have for OUR Independence Day. LOVE YOU! :)

Isaiah Surgery

Isaiah had surgery on his teeth, 5 caps, 3 fillings, ya I don't know what happend there, but apparently I dropped the ball on teeth cleaning. Needless to say we are brushing at the very least 2 times a day (which is what you are supposed to). Dentist says it has a lot to do with genetics. Isaiah had his full mouth of teeth at 12 months and was on the bottle until he was 17 months and breastfed until 13 months so no fun for his teeth there. Plus with him being my only baby, I didn't always brush his teeth ritually until we had 3 kids. Emily was a baby and Angel was just a few months younger than he and they always brush teeth and do it at the same times. The girls do not have any teeth issues. They all eat the same things and drink the same things, so I guess it's just sad for him.

He did really well and did better than we thought. Bill had the day off thankfully, Isaiah wanted to sit with Daddy after surgery which was a good and quite new thing. :) I'm ok with it. As long as he still wants me most other times. I do like them to want their Daddy too. It's just new to me and I'm glad Isaiah made that decision. When he came out of surgery the nurses were asking him if he wanted ice chips and he emphatically proclaimed " I want a lot a lot of food" , this much and he opened his arms as wide as he could. You see the night before he ate a snack at 9:30 and it was almost 1 by the time he got out of surgery. So he had jello within the first 15 min, which was hilarious to watch my sleepy boy try to eat jello and refuse to let us help him. Very Independent too... He had pudding in the van after we picked some up from Wal-mart. (btw...he had a spoon, just thought his tounge worked better ?) He loved it. When he got home he had a bowl of soup, a whole grilled cheese sandwich and another jello. Later that night, another pudding, another jello and two peices of pizza. He also attempted a small meal later, but did not eat as he was full......I wonder why???? LOL. He is doing much better now. Showing off his shiny pretty teeth to anyone who asks. Thankfully all the caps were in the back, so he doesn't have a whole "grill" of silver teeth. Still in some pain when we brush, but doesn't complain much. He ate ice cream yesterday and didn't tell me it was hot. So now that his teeth are taken care of we are all happy people with clean good teeth for now. :)

Please dont say NO-NO!

Well, this is going to be short but I had to post these pictures from tonight. I'll try to post about everything else that is so interesting later.

Thomas has got the cutest pouting lip ever. As soon as we say sternly "Thomas NO-NO or Thomas what are you doing or Thomas(works sometimes). Out comes the lip and most of the times the waterworks. We have a very sensitive guy on our hands and truly do get some smiles out of it and love the affection he "needs" after each pouting episode. Enjoy the pictures, I do. We love our little guy so much, and don't do this to torture him. :)

Isn't he the most adorable guy ever? I love him A LOT!

Well

I couldn't find my camera charger this week and my battery is dead. I deep (sort of) cleaned my room and finally found it in some of Thomas' stuff, so I will get new pics soon. I wanted to make it a little fun and post some old pics of the kids today. So there will be some older pics on here. :)

Just been taking the week one day at a time. Last week we had a busy week, Thomas' dr appt went well. He weighed 27 lbs, his ears were clear, he did have a little virus of fever and upset tummy for a while, but I think we are through that now. He is by far, my most high-maintence baby. He has always cried a lot I think from the reflux, that still has little flares now and again, but no more meds, Praise the Lord. He likes to fall asleep a specific way, he likes his bottles at certain times and he is picky about food and where he sleeps. He wants certain people at certain times, Me most of the time, but Daddy does the putting to sleep since he started that routine and I am not all for it. haha. He does play very well for his age. He likes to go in the toy room and sometimes the other 3 have asked me about 20 questions and been back and forth before he even notices I'm still here. :) He is a wanderer he likes to figure things out and has managed to tip-toe and learn to open and close our bathroom door. (One of his favorite rooms) He loves playing in the toilet much to my dismay. We have what we thought was an ingenious idea to put a pull down door handle instead of a turn-style one (so the potty trained ones would have an easier time getting in and out on their own), and now the not-for-a-long-time, un-potty-trained, play in the toilet one has managed to get in and out of there. He doesn't like to be told no and has a dramatic show of events when told so. :) Thank you for your prayers for him, they are still needed. Running a temperature currently too.

Emily is my dark baby this summer, having the most beautiful tan, her turning blonde curly hair and big brown eyes make her a heart breaker in the making. She laughs a lot and makes it hard to say no. She is still petite, but LOVES food, like nobody else. Asks for macaroni and cheese on an almost daily basis. She loves to do anything I do. Wants her hair like mine all the time, and makeup too, to which every once in a blue moon gets a little eye shadow. :) She loves wearing skirts and dresses to be a "princess". She loves her nails painted and shoes. If she does not like something she has on her 2.5 year old self will promptly tell you in her quiet voice with a frown on her face "I don't like this" and change. Yes, she knows where all of her clothes are and changes, sometimes several times a day, as she does not like to be dirty or wet either. She LOVES shoes too. A very girly girl, I am interested to see if she changes at all. She is my biggest helper and still loves taking care of her baby brother, who is almost the same size as her. She is loving and has the biggest heart. She is pretty shy too. I think Daddy's soft spot for her grows more every day as most questions he doesn't want to say no to, get referred back to me. :) It's ok though.

Angel is still very stubborn. UGH. I hate that that is one of her qualities I describe her as, but it is what it is. She can be sweet and loves to be the center of attention. She too is a girly girl, but I don't think as much as her little sis. Her hair is so thick and beautiful, a red blonde with some brown in there too. Beautiful big blue eyes. Still tall and skinny as a rail. She loves snacking. She is bossy and a follower at the same time. She likes to repeat a lot. Loves Flip-flops, dresses skirts, nails painted, and pink. She gets excited by a lot of simple things and loves screeching. loud clapping screaming is her favorite most days, which usually scares the daylights out of Thomas. She sure is a constantly changing little one. :)

Isaiah~my sweeet sweet boy. Has one of the most tender hearts ever imaginable. Which makes discipling him hard because he usually understands right away, but we know he still needs the discipline. He has a very very contagious laugh and enjoys a lot of everyday things. He is a fantastic artist or "drawer" as he would say. Spends a lot of time copying his favorite movies to paper. Finds some of the funniest details to copy down. Makes me laugh all the time. Would watch tv all day if it were allowed. Gets along well with just about anyone. He talks about school everyday. (even during the summer). He is a protector of all of us. He can still play rough, even though he is so sweet. Outside is his favorite place to be. Is thrilled everytime there is something new to pick in the garden. Lets me know his feelings about everything. Some of his quotes "That makes me happy to my ears!" " I love to sleep" "We went sailing in the sea" (never been on the sea). Growing up too fast.

Want to finish this post. Notice how the boys have the same pose around the same age. Makes them really look alike :).. Pray for thomas his temp is up to 104.6. It goes down, but poor guy takes the viruses hard. He has no other symptoms. Sorry I cut Isaiah's short b/c I want to finish and the kiddos need me. Enjoy! Crystal

Not much.

Not too much exciting this week :) Spent some time in the pool. Lots of bike riding for Isaiah (the girls are trying harder too haha)! I wish my days had more time in them to get everything done. I wish for lots of things, but don't have the time to put the wishing into action. Bill has been working overtime a lot the last couple of weeks, so that has been a little stressful at bedtime mostly. We have Great friends and family who love us and support us very much and for that I am very thankful and don't know where my life would be without most of you loyal readers and watchers. :) We would like to have a garage sale soon, going to get rid of all of the baby stuff. So very cautiously I am saying that we probably won't be having anymore kiddos. I am not saying that we are done, nothing permanent yet, but Bill would very much like to be done having kids, and at least for now, me and my body and our other children need a break from Mommy being pregnant. :) So we don't have room to store all of the millions of containers of clothes I have stored and all of the baby stuff and other junk. We would very much like to sell our 2 bedroom home and hopefully upgrade. So wishfully a garage sale with TOTALLY AMAZING STUFF is in store for us in the near future.

This past weekend we kept my BFF's (Rachel) 2 kids ages 3 and 23 months. We had a full house but a very good time and the kids all Loved spending so much time together. And happy to me, Elijah wasn't ready to go home after 2 days and nights, but he went home anyway. Baylie was ready. They both are so cute, and they love their mommy and daddy like our kids do, so them spending time with us and behaving like the little angels they are was a treat. They are definately different than when their parents are around, but who's kids aren't. And why is that may I ask? Why do they behave so differently when we are around than we we aren't? Oh well, I would much rather they behave for someone else and mis-behave for me right?. :) Elijah and Baylie I LOVE YOU! :)

Tomorrow on the list of to do's right off the bat is a dr appt for Thomas, which couldn't have come at a better time he has been running a temp since last night, no other symptoms, sleepy, but it's his 100th (slight exaggeration) ear re-check. The poor boy has been on too many antibiotics and frankly I'm tire d of it. I understand the dr's hesitation for tubes, b/c they do fall out in 6 months - a year, but Isaiah is on his 2nd set and hasn't had to be on an antibiotic in 2 years. :) So hopefully tomorrow we will have a better outcome for him. Pray for his little ears :). So I plan on doing that and having fun with the kids. Hopefully something cool.

I have tomatoes :)!!!!!!!!!!!!!! It's so exciting, and cucumbers. I have had lettuce too. Cilantro and green onions. I don't have a pic of the tomatoes yet, but one is surely coming. :) My prayer for an Awesome garden is totally being answered. :)

Bill had some lettuce He is hilarious! :) I love him so much!

Thanks for reading, maybe next time I will have a more processed thoughtful blog ;)

BALANCING ACT!!!!

Aren't are whole lives just a balancing act?

Well we have been doing a lot of falling off and a lot of balancing lately in more than one way. I'll talk about the best part first!

Thomas is WALKING! That's right, my 10 month old is walking!!! I am shocked still when I see him walking. He even stands up by himself without holding onto anything. He thinks it's the greatest thing ever, sometimes laughing so hard he falls over from the laughter of just walking and everyone being so excited about it. He LOVES walking around playing with balls, throwing them, holding balls bigger than himself and walking. Just walking. The kids like to hold his hands and walk around with them, but all of them hysterically laugh during the walking, so it doesn't always last too long. It is so Fun though. He is a huge fan of balls, Isaiah never was, so this is pretty interesting to me. He throws like a Pro, and again laughs whiile we do it. He still is shaky on the walking, but is doing so so well!!! I don't know if I have pics of him walking, but I know I do of him playing ball.

Isaiah is riding NO TRAINING WHEELS. Another of our balancing acts. He was SO SO SO Scared to do it. It was a very dramatic ordeal. (the first time around). This is the way it went.

As you all know Isaiah is no tiny boy. He is a big boy, he has broken 2 sets of training wheels, almost broken Angel's training wheels on her bike and the bike at my mom's house training wheels do not stay on well. With that said, I told him No more training wheels, we can't keep fixing, keep buying and keep repairing the training wheels. :( He cried lots of tears over it. After a few, "you'll be fine", "we will help you" and "it's nothing to cry over." He tried. I heard this a lot, "Mommy don't let go, Mommy don't let go, Mommy I said don't let go." Instead of using breaks he puts his feet down to stop. He was very dramatic, "I don't want to do this anymore" "I want the wheels back on" and " I don't want to try" . We still made him try and try again. Did not put the wheels back on and didn't give into all the tears. This was all the evening of my mom's birthday. The next morning he said to me "Mommy I don't want to act like a baby anymore, I want to ride my bike without training wheels, I won't cry, You will help me, It will be fun, You will let go and I want to try in the grass first." And AWAY HE WENT!!! First time "You can let go MOMMY!" :*****( (mine this time) and off he was, riding his bike by himself. We have had a few spills since then, but it has been GREAT for everyone. He is so proud of himself and we are very very proud of him. What a BIG boy I have!!!! I can't believe it. :)

We are also balancing life, the kids, the jobs, the bills, the activities, the birthdays, anniversaries and babyand other showers. Life can be so overwhelming sometimes, but I just look at it like my boys up here, sometimes we fall, but somehow, someway we ALWAYS get back up again. Being tired all the time and complaining doesn't help, just taking it one day at a time and trying to balance it all, not by myself, but with Lots of prayer and Lots of loving willing people to help me out. Thanks for reading, I will be blogging MORE!