Life Lately

Life has been SO busy the past few months with a lot of changes!! 



After my husband's heart attack in late August we were really leaning towards moving back to Texas to be close to family. After going back and forth, and really stressing over that for a few months we ultimately decided to stay out here in North Carolina! The kids and I are so relieved to be staying out here and my husband had been on the fence about moving back anyway. As my husband's condition improved over the past few months we decided we just weren't ready to leave NC after only 2.5 years. So we are staying and, Lord willing, will have some fun house news to share next week!!! 

A few weeks ago my husband had the big heart check-up we were waiting for. His heart looks good and he's doing really well!! I raced to get to his appointment on time after dropping off school kids because I always have a million questions I want to ask his doctor ha! But by the time I got to the hospital his appointment was over so we just went to Starbucks for a snack together (my husband normally does NOT snack at Starbucks.. he's changed his diet SO much since the heart attack) before we went our separate ways for the day. I love that gift card.. I had to get a pic! Definitely applies to both my husband and me haha!!

Our 2 year old Beagle was sleeping in a cage every night until just a month or so ago. Now he sleeps in bed with C and it's the cutest thing ever! I check on all my kids at night and it's just adorable to see the dog snuggled up next to C like this. 

Just a few sweet pics of S and our 2 year old puppy while he was still the only dog.

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L had her first ever playdate on her own (without siblings) a few weeks ago! Her little friend lives a few streets over and she and L have identical coloring and similar features. It was short playdate and they really didn't start warming up to each other until it was almost time to leave so we'll have to get together again soon! L has always been kind of a tag-a-long with her older siblings so it was nice for her to have a playdate with a friend while all the older kids were at school. 

L waiting for speech and during speech a few weeks ago. I thought she looked so cute with her ponytail! 



Lots more to write about soon including ups and downs with L and my decison (90% sure) to homeschool ALL FOUR of my kids next year!! And hopefully lots about house stuff!! :) 



Busy day tomorrow! Delayed school drop-offs because it has been raining like crazy!! House stuff, dropping off dogs (one to the kennel and one to a friend) and heading up to the mountains to camp (in cabins) for the weekend with C's Trail Life group!! 

Weekend Wrap-Up

Last night my sweet husband made yummy chicken wings and tater tots for dinner! I couldn't care less about football but we've kind of made a tradition of having wings and junk food on Super Bowl Sunday. 

 After dinner we had Rocky Road and cupcakes that J and C made. 

Saturday we went to look at another house (we've decided to stay out here in NC instead of moving back to TX and we've been looking at houses the past week or two.) Afterwards we had Chinese food for lunch. The kids had fun trying to eat with chopsticks!

L was super sick with the flu all last week. By Friday evening she was feeling a lot better after a bath. I thought these pics were really cute of her and her daddy. 

Three weeks ago we brought home a new little puppy for J! Roxie was only about 4 weeks old when we picked her up. She was so tiny when we got her.. less than 2.5 lbs. 

Several random pics of the new puppy! My husband trying to feed her a bottle was the cutest thing ever haha! She was already eating puppy food when we got her but then she was sick for a few days and the vet suggested puppy formula. She wouldn't take the bottle but loved the formula in her bowl or in a medicine dropper. Her she is at the vet, having her first bath, being cuddled. She's all better now and just the cutest little thing! Our 2 year old Beagle is getting used to her and I think he enjoys having another puppy around. 

S turned SIX in mid-January! We had a cake and she opened gifts after dinner and already had her pajamas on! 

I wasn't able to eat lunch with her on her actual birthday but the L and I took Chik-Fil-A up to school and ate with her a few days later. We're so sad that our Chik-Fil-A took chicken strips (our favorite!) off the menu. They're trying out spicy chicken strips in their place but we were perfectly happy with the regular strips. I hope they'll bring them back soon! 

J turned ELEVEN near the end of January! She has grown up so fast!! She looks like a teenager.

I didn't quite meet my walking goal in January. My goal was 33 miles but L was super sick the last few days of January and I was getting constant migraines so I changed my goal to 25 (and met that goal!) I have no idea if I'll get my bracelet or not.. kind of hoping I will but whatever. I feel like I cheated by changing my goal right at the end and I'm not sure if that disqualifies me or not. My goal for February is 35 miles! I'm still fighting migraines and flu like symptoms now so I'm not sure when I'll actually start walking this month but hopefully in the next day or two. L is getting better but isn't quite 100%. J and S have been sick but may be able to go to school tomorrow. Hoping we all get better soon and no one else comes down with anything. I would love ONE good snow this winter but other than that I am more than ready for Spring!! 



Linking up with Hello Monday today.

The day the whole town thought our 4 year old was missing

Last Monday was the most terrifying day of my life! It started out normal enough. I took the two older girls to school, came back home while C finished getting ready for school and made hot chocolate for himself and L. We took C to school then headed on to Target where L was super excited to shop around and spend a $25 gift card she'd received the day before! We shopped around a while and spent $20 from the gift card. 

I took this picture for the friend who gave her the gift card so she could see which toys L had picked out. Little did I know this photo would be shared all over the news and social media just a few hours later. (Remind me to always brush her hair!) 

After Target we headed over the chiro for my appointment. L knew she still had $5 on her gift cards and wanted to go back to Target for one more item. So we went in and bought the wrong surprise egg (totally different brand/item) than she thought she was getting. She opened it in the parking lot and was super disappointed so we went back in to Target (for the third time that morning), exchanged the open surprise egg for the brand she wanted (which I was surprised they let her exchange it after it had been opened. I thought that was really sweet of them!) and left the store. On the way home we called my mom and chatted with her the entire 20 plus minutes back to our house. 



Once home I brought the dog out front and put him on his chain, checked the mail and straightened up a few things in the front yard. All this time the front door was wide open and L was sitting on the bottom of the stairs, just inside the front door, playing with her new toys. 



I brought the dog in. Locked the front door. Fed the dog. Washed my hands. Made a peanut butter and jelly sandwich for L but she wanted to play with her new toys and wasn't interested in eating. She wanted me to pull down a bin of toys from the top of her closest so I did that. I told her I was going to the bathroom and then wanted to lay down and relax for a while before we had to leave to pick up the older kids from school. She insisted she wasn't tired, didn't want to take a nap and was just going to play in her room. I went to the bathroom in the next room over and when I came out I called her name and asked if she wanted [had decided] to eat her sandwich now. No answer. 



I looked in her room, she wasn't there. Ran back to my bedroom and looked in my bed because sometimes she does get tired and lays down in my bed. She wasn't there. Called out her name several times. Told her to come out if she was hiding. Looked in all the upstairs bedrooms and bathrooms. Ran downstairs calling her name and was met with dead silence. I looked in every room downstairs. Ran back upstairs and looked in every room again and again. Tore covers completely off most the beds, looked under beds, in closets. Ran back downstairs just screaming her name. Silence. I was totally panicked now and called my husband, hysterical! Then I called 911! Searched the whole house again and again. The back door and front door were both locked so I had no idea how she would have gotten outside but I ran outside anyway screaming her name. Knocked on the next door neighbors' door in a total panic. Police cars started showing up then. Several police officers and I searched the house again and again. They were looking in the garage, the attic, the woods behind our house, storm drains on the street and who knows where else. I was completely hysterical and kept saying I had searched the whole house and she just wasn't there. One of my sweet neighbors kept trying reassure me that L had to be somewhere inside the house because I had said the doors were all locked when I went downstairs. I was certain they had been locked but after searching the entire house thoroughly it was in my mind that someone must have come in somehow and taken her while I was in the bathroom. Maybe I had been wrong about the locked doors or maybe the doors had somehow been locked after she was taken? My mind had totally gone into hysterical panic mode. I kept telling the police officers that I just knew she wasn't in the house and they kept asking why I was trying to direct them that way but I was totally convinced I had searched every possible place in the house so she had to have been taken. (I watch a ton of true crime and have seen/read too many true stories of kidnapped children who were long gone while officers focused on the looking in/around the house.. I'm sure that's where that thought came from. I kept screaming at officers to stop every car on the street, on the highway, etc) I ran house to house just screaming, pounding on doors while the policemen were out front, stopping cars, on their radios, sharing her photo and info, searching the house. I hysterically stopped cars in the street and told neighbors to get out and look for L! The officers had L's most recent photo by then and it was all over the news and social media. My husband came home, church friends started showing up, so many neighbors were out searching. My mom, sister and brother back in Texas were hysterical and had called around to extended family and friends in Texas. People were praying frantically. Meanwhile I kept searching the house in between running around outside like a crazy person. Officers were all over the house. In my closet, in the garage. Someone was always searching around inside. I finally calmed down enough to sit down and started going through my morning with a detective. It was an awful feeling having to give an alibi and show all my receipts from that morning. I never thought I would be questioned like that in a million years. How I was able to sit somewhat calmly for a few minutes is beyond me. I just wanted to keep looking for L. After sitting down talking to the detective for a few minutes (she had been missing well over an hour by this time) I heard the sweetest little sound I ever heard in my life!! L was starting to cry and it sounded like it was coming from upstairs! I had no idea where she could have been because I swear I had searched the entire upstairs thoroughly! But a fire captain had found her with a body heat camera (lol!) sleeping towards the middle/end of our bed! Apparently she had hidden all the way under the down comforter which had laundry on top of it. She snuggled way down towards the center/bottom of the bed to hide and fell into a deep sleep. It's crazy that she never heard all of the chaos going on all around her. I had searched that bed several times by flipping the comforter back (just not back far enough) and patting the laundry but somehow we had all missed her for over an hour! So bizarre! I even saw one officer searching under the same bed. Why I never took the comforter or laundry completely off that bed is beyond me!  I guess I assumed if she wasn't sleeping in her normal position (head on or near pillows) she wasn't in my bed. In hindsight it seems absolutely crazy that I didn't tear my bed apart like I tore the kids' beds apart but for some reason I just didn't. I thought patting the comforter and laundry on the lower end of the bed was enough I suppose. L was just waking up when the fire captain found her and brought her downstairs. I had truly thought I may never see her again so you can't even begin to imagine the relief I felt! The relief my husband and everyone else felt! I found out later police officers from a 50 mile radius had been called in. The police dogs, police helicopter and drone were all on their way when she was found. 



Over a week later my emotions are still a little all over the place! The terror I felt was so, so real. I've never felt that sheer terror or hysteria in my life. I hope I never feel that way again. Even after she was found and safe in my arms I had a hard time calming down. I still feel a little terrified over the whole ordeal. I also feel really embarrassed. My child was in my bed while I totally lost my mind and upset a whole lot of people and wasted their time, energy and resources. My relief and gratitude far outweigh any embarrassment but I can't help feeling pretty silly. I realize my husband and multiple trained officers weren't able to find her for over and hour either but I was the one who was home with her when she "went missing" and I'm the one who set the whole search in motion. I feel so much overwhelming gratitude that I can't even express it properly. The police officers, fire fighters, emergency personal were all absolutely amazing! Our neighbors were amazing! Our community was amazing! The story was on several local news site and all over social media. I never saw or heard one unkind words toward me. Just others expressing relief and gratitude that she had been found safely. Others sharing stories of similar experiences they had had with their child or stories they knew about that happened to someone else. People could have easily made fun, been annoyed and unkind but everyone has been extremely kind and gracious. 

L and I took donuts to local police department the next morning and to the fire station a few days later. There's no way I could possibly thank them enough but wanted to extend some kind of thank you.

Several of the officers who had searched for L came out to talk to us at the police station. A few of them are pictured here with her. They gave her some stickers, a notebook, little bracelet and a few other things. So sweet! 

A couple days later we took donuts to the fire station but weren't able to see the fire captain who actually found her. Here are a couple of the fireman who were looking for L. Again everyone at the police station and fire department were so kind and gracious when we visited them and assured us they were just really relieved and happy with the outcome!



Of course this story would have happened to L! Everything seems to happen to this child lol! She has more stories in 4 years than all the other older 3 combined. 

Hello Monday

I'm so excited that all the trees are blooming! It's starting to look a lot like spring! I love seeing this tree right outside the window above the front door. It's been raining a lot and it's pretty cold today but we've had a few sunny and warmish days so it's starting to look and feel more like spring! 

L had a really rough week a couple weeks ago when we started potty training but she did so much better last week! I think it's safe to she's fully potty trained now.. although we're still using diapers or pull-ups at night to be on the safe side. She's staying dry at night though so we may not be using them much longer! After an unsuccessful trip to the dentist a couple Fridays ago she did much better last Thursday! There were some tears and screaming but they were able to clean and check her teeth (no cavities!) and she settled down pretty quickly afterwards. She wanted to take her doll with her and wanted to match her doll.. so cute! I don't know why she's making this face here... maybe it was too bright.

Her hip check-up went great last Tuesday too! They don't need to see her again for another year! Great news! 

L has been full of surprises lately! J put together the girls new bunkbed Thursday evening and L just had to sleep in it! I ended up laying down next to her until she fell asleep but she stayed in her bed until 5 o'clock the next morning and then did the same thing Saturday night. She has slept in our bed since birth so I didn't really expect her to adjust so quickly to her own bed. S meanwhile has yet to sleep on the top bunk even though she insisted she was going to love it. :/ 

I love S's face here ha! 

Friday evening the kids and I went to a birthday party for the little boy across the street. They're from a country near Russia (formly part of the Soviet Union, I think?) and all the other guests were Russian too. It was cool to hear all the Russian but of course we couldn't understand a word. Most of the adults didn't speak a lot of English but the kids all communicated just fine. My grandmother was Russian/Ukrainian and grew up speaking the language. I wish she had taught all of us!

S loves the door handles at Dunkin Donuts! Her expression cracks me up here and even though I just bought her a new pack of ankle socks she insists on wearing tall mismatched socks instead. Haha! 

On Saturday I took S out for donuts and we went to a few stores afterwards. I rediscovered a thrift store. The first time I went I wasn't that impressed but when we went Saturday I realized how clean and organized it is! We'll definitely be going back. I got a few cute pieces of clothing for L. I offered them to S first since they wear about the same size but she turned up her nose at all of them ha! You never know what she's going to like but it's usually not the girly girly stuff. She was excited to find a couple Ninja Turtle things though!

We walked over to the Tractor Supply store afterwards and she was so excited to see baby chicks! She begged to bring one home lol. 

We got our Disney Magic Bands in the mail Saturday afternoon! 

We went out to Cracker Barrel for dinner Saturday evening. We wanted Red Robin but could tell there was a long wait when we drove by so we went to Cracker Barrel instead. Cracker Barrel was packed too but by the time we got out of the car and walked in we just decided to stay and wait for a table. Of course the kids loved looking at all the toys. J and the older kids played a couple games of checkers while we waited. And the older kids were taking pics with my phone ha! J and I both had the chicken fried chicken for dinner. It was sooo good! 


After dinner we got icecream at a place called Brusters. This was our first time there. The icecream is good but they don't have a place to eat inside. It will be fun to go in the summer and sit outside! 


Sunday morning J and I volunteered in C's second grade class at church. We had picked up pizza for lunch then went to life group at four o'clock. J made yummy orange chicken for life group! It was delicious!! 

Afterwards we all went to Wal-Mart for a few things. I'm loving my new Wal-Mart wreath and porch mat! I love Wal-Mart ha!! 


I stopped by Dollar General for the first time in forever this weekend. I was surprised that they have so many cute things! I got a few pieces of décor for half off. I think I'll be going back again. I honestly had no idea they had cute stuff. I'm more of a Dollar Tree person since everything is actually only one dollar ha but looks like Dollar General may have some good deals too! 


It has taken me ALL day to get this post up. I need to work on focusing a little better. Since I started writing at 9 this morning I've done laundry, loaded/unloaded/loaded the dishwasher, updated my planner and calendar on my phone, worked on piecing together my husband's family tree (he's just connecting with his father's HUGE family on social media and we're trying to figure out who's who), made breakfasts and lunches, taken the dog out and brought him back in a few times, worked on cleaning the house, taken L potty several times, gotten her down for a nap, picked C up from school and more! This is the reason I don't blog more regularly. I can't focus ha! 


Anyway, hope everyone's having a great Monday!!! 

Weekend Wrap-Up

I'm linking up with Hello Monday today.



We've been busy as always lately!







J and JG went to the Daddy & Daughter dance a couple Fridays ago. This dance was through American Heritage Girls. Next year S will be joining them!

Poor C has been having headaches almost 24/7 the past few weeks. We took him to the eye doctor last Tuesday and his vision has gotten slightly worse since he was seen last summer. He got a prescription and picked out a pair of Nike glasses. The glasses should be in sometime this week. He'll only need to wear them for reading, classroom work and while he's on the tablet or computer. We're really hoping the glasses take the headaches away for good! My husband needed glasses at the same age due to headaches but only needed to wear them for a year or two. Hopefully that'll be the case for C too. I hope he doesn't have to wear them from here on out.

C is super sick right now with the flu. Poor kid can't catch a break. :( We just went to the doctor this afternoon and will get him started on a prescription. The doctor wants him home all week. Really praying the rest of us don't get it!

The sunset was gorgeous one evening last week! Of course my photo doesn't do it justice but this was the best I could get. There are deer that live in the woods behind our house. I had never seen one until one morning last week I finally saw three! Then I saw three again a couple days later. Our neighbors put food out for them every evening so we know there always around but usually it's well after dark or before dawn.

Saturday evening S decided she wanted her long hair (it was past her waist) cut a lot shorter. Her long hair was beautiful when it was actually brushed but she only likes to wear it loose and it was always getting really tangled. Anyway, I cut it the best I could. Her hair is pretty straight which makes it hard to get the ends looking all even. I think it looks "okay" from the back but from the front it looks kind of rough ha! I think I'll probably end up taking her to a professional to get the ends evened up a little better. It's much easier for me to trim Mar (Gabby) and Indie's hair since their curls are much more forgiving. Indie's hair has been getting pretty long and I could tell her curls were starting to fall out so I trimmed her hair as well. Her curls are much more bouncy now and the shorter hair keeps her looking a little younger. I'm having a hard time with my baby being three. I want her to stay little a while longer. I forgot to get a before pic of S and the pics I took of L didn't really turn out. 



The kids have been begging for a YouTube channel for months now. I'm finally giving in although YouTube is kind of outside my comfort zone. We've been making practice videos for YouTube and I'm looking for a good editing program. I haven't found anything for free (what I was hoping for) so I'm guessing I'll need to get a subscription for a program. If anyone has any great suggestions (the cheaper the better!) please let me know! My laptop has some kind of built in basic video editing program but I couldn't figure out how to piece clips together. Any tips on that would be great too!



Hope everyone is having a great Monday and hope you'll come back tomorrow for a review and my first giveaway!!

January happenings

I'm so behind on the blog! I still need to write about our trip to Texas and Christmas! I prefer to watermark all my photos but it can be pretty time consuming.. which puts me even further behind. I did find out that the program I use (BeFunky) just came out with a watermark program. Once I figure out how to use it that will really help a lot!



We got home from Texas on New Year's Eve and picked up our sweet puppy from the kennel. Poor thing had a bit of kennel cough and needed a couple prescriptions. Thankfully it wasn't too bad and he got over it pretty quickly!

S begged for a blonde, blue eyed Wellie Wisher for months last year. I asked her several times if she was sure she wanted a blonde instead of one that looked like her. She insisted she wanted the blonde. Well, she opened it on Christmas morning and set it aside. The next day she said she wanted to give the Wellie Wisher to one of her blonde cousins ha! We decided to sell it once we got home and I started looking for a secondhand, brunette American Girl doll. S turned up her nose at every single one I found on eBay or Facebook marketplace but ultimately decided this $24 doll from Wal-Mart was exactly what she wanted lol! She's hilarious! One of S's middle names is Isabela so she named her doll "Ella Isabela". :D

This little crazy is not interested in potty training. She turned 3 in October. We've bribed her with sweets, new toys and more. She'll be interested for a day or so and then want to go back in diapers. I told her yesterday that she'll have to stay in the baby (toddler) class at church and can't move into the 3 year old class until she's potty trained. It didn't phase her. She just grinned and said "Ok!" Ha! I asked if she wanted to be wearing diapers in kindergarten and she was like "Yeah." I don't know what to do with this child. The older three were trained the week they turned 3 and never looked back but Indie just does things her own way..



All our spring programs are just starting up again! S used to hate dance and begged to quit for months! I told her she had to try the older class before she could quit. She's gone to the older class (5 to 7 yr olds) for three weeks now and LOVES it! She was the one begging to go to dance this week ha! I knew the pre-k class was too boring for her. She does better around older kids (more of a challenge) than younger kids.

JG and I did a Girls On The Run 5K a few weeks ago. I walked the entire time but it was still fun! It was such a beautiful, spring like day! 

Both older girls had birthdays this month! S turned 5 last week and JG turned 10 this week! My mom flew out to surprise S for her birthday and stayed through JG's birthday!

S got another doll (Our Generation) for her birthday! She named this one "Honey Isabela" :D



Of course she had a to have a Ninja Turtle cake too!

JG turned 10 this week! I can't believe I have a ten year old! Her big gift was having her room redecorated. She got a dresser, desk, curtains and several accessories. I need to get a pic of her room. It's still a work in progress but looking pretty cute! She decided one a teal and coral theme.

The guys went camping with Trail Life last weekend so my mom and I took the girls to eat at Macaroni Grill and then over to the American Girl doll store. This was the first time the little girls have been since they were babies and our first time to the Charlotte store. This store is much smaller than the one we've gone to in Dallas but has a play area that I don't remember the one in Dallas having. The little girls had the best time playing with all the Bitty Babies for over an hour! Poor L missed her nap and was in meltdown mode by the time we left but they had so much fun while we were there!

With all this doll shopping/window shopping we've done lately we haven't seen a doll that really matches Indie very well until we happened to see this one at Target a few days ago! The curly, dark blonde hair, brown eyes and light olive skin are perfect for Indie! We've told her she can get this doll as soon as she's potty trained but even this bribe doesn't seem to be working right now. :/

The girls and I took my mom to airport Friday morning. It was really nice having her out here for just over a week!