Miggity Mac Daddy

It's been all meat and potatoes at the Mark house.  I've taken on a lot with having 3 kids under the age of 4 (only until February) and if you pile on the Holidays, you have one big stress ball of a mom.  Don't worry.  The kids are clothed, fed, clean, we get to church, the dog is fed, got a bath, too, but the house looks like a war zone and every time I turn around dishes re-appear in the sink.  It's magical.

Adam says that as long as we take care of the big things (meat and potatoes) then all the side stuff will come around.  Thus, we are meat and potatoes.

Kyle in his jumper.  Sorry the picture is blurry.  He's so fast!!

Here is a hat I made for Emilie's friend Trace.  He didn't like wearing it as much as Emi did.



The weather has been mild and the girls were bored, so I gave them some beat up decorations to decorate their playhouse with.

But let's get to the awesome title of this post.  I don't know if you remember two little punk kids called Kris Kross (Chris "Daddy Mac" Smith and Chris "Mac Daddy" Kelly) who had a hit back in 1992 called Jump! Jump!  They were known for wearing their clothes backwards. 

Anyways, Chris Cross was at my house last week.  We woke up on Thursday morning and it was 59 degrees in the living room.  Luckily our upstairs unit was still working so the kids were fine, but we were sure cold downstairs.  When I say "in the morning", I mean 3 a.m. to feed Kyle.  We belong to a club for our heating and air company and we called their 24 hour line and locked in an early appointment.  I had my check book ready when Chris came and was prepared to choose between Christmas and repairing our unit.  So I took ol' Chris Cross upstairs and pulled down the attic door and I just couldn't help myself.  I said, "It's the unit on the left.  Jump on up there!"

Snicker, Snicker, Snort.

Kyle keeping me warm

It was a rough week.  Let's rewind two days.  Tuesday is trash day and Adam's job is to take the trash down to the curb.  It was raining and I was rushing to get the girls to finish their breakfast, and I still had to dry my hair.  I ran out to the garage to get the dog some dog food and looked out the side garage door to see that Adam had left the gate open.  I rushed back inside to get some shoes so I could run out and shut it because I had just let Petey out the back door and by the time I got shoes on and got back out there, Petey was on the loose.  Not only that, but the gate was open for no reason.  Adam never did put the trash out on the curb. 

Christmas Cards 2012!!!  Captain Christmas is all about it.  Just not all about shutting the gate.

So I carefully wheel the trash down to the curb since it's wet.  (Adam has fallen on his rear rolling the trash down our steep driveway when it was wet.)  I whistle for Petey and he won't come.  So I run back inside and check on the kids.  Kyle is laying and playing on his play mat.  Aubrie is washing up after breakfast, and Emilie's wrapping up her cereal and moving on to her banana.  So I grab the keys to the car and drive down the street and find Petey four houses down.  I get out and open the car door and promise him a treat and he bolts. 

I follow.
He bolts again.

I look at my watch.  The girls need to be to school by 9:15 and I've got a doctor's appointment downtown at 9:45 and it takes 30 minutes to get there.  It's five til 9.  Hair is still wet, girls bags are half packed.  I look at the house and decide to head back.  He'll follow me, right??

I return to find Emilie yelling that she wants down from the table and Kyle crying on his mat.  He's ready for his first nap.  I get the kids and bags in the car.  Unfortunately, Adam is in Memphis, so I can't call him to come home and help catch the dog.  And Petey didn't have his collar on because he's been itchy. (He's got a chip) So I tell the girls to look for Petey and we start driving around the neighborhood. 

We would spot him, I'd get out and walk after him through mud and he would bolt.  I'd get back in the car and follow.  Then get out and call him and walk after him and he would....bolt. 

I'm so angry at this dog.  I give it one more chance and I walk over to the door and open it and he comes running to the car.  Finally!  And he runs past me and jumps into the driver's seat.  Paws covered in mud.  Then he jumps into the second seat and gets mud all over the girls' bags and steps on their lunch bags. 

Petey and the girls with his new Christmas present.  A new bed.  We got this for him before his bad behavior.  Smart dog.

I made it to the appointment, but I sure wasn't happy with Adam.  He ended up getting me flowers two days later and posted a picture of them on facebook.  He was so proud. 

The Crescendo "I'm sorry" Bouquet from Kroger.  He was so proud that he brought me flowers that he told me how much they cost. 

We participate in the Elf on the Shelf madness.  Aubrie has proudly named our elf, Kibbler.  He's pretty silly but does a good job of keeping his eyes on the girls for Santa.  Adam and I have a lot of fun with it...trying to decide what to do next.  Luckily, there are a lot of great ideas out there shared by other families on Pinterest!  Please enjoy some of Kibbler's recent antics!

Bubble bath

He stayed up late and set the Christmas village up!!

Made his own sleigh

Friends stood in line to get their wishes written down for Santa

We went to a Belmont game and Kibbler is a fan, too!

Silly Kibbler!!

Love to all!!!

***Steve, please note that as I wrote this blog, Adam has played Kris Kross songs as well as MC Hammer, Spice Girls, and I'm a Barbie Girl and enjoyed it.***

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Philippians 4:4-7

I remember doing code red drills when I was teaching a couple of years ago.  Even though we knew we would be having a drill, I would still jump when it came on the intercom and we all started scrambling to secure doors, windows, and huddle with our students.  We would wait silently and someone would walk around and jiggle door handles to make sure everything was secure.  I was pregnant with Aubrie and remembered thinking about my own child having to go to school as a Kindergartner and how would I explain to her the reason for having these drills.  Who she was hiding from.  Why it was important. 

And I want to say this.  Every teacher I have ever known, worked for, and worked with, love your children and would do anything to protect them.  Teachers are selfless in so many ways and as these individuals in Connecticut have shown, teachers are wonderful.  Absolutely wonderful.

Like everyone else, my heart is heavy and I've been crying and praying A LOT for these families and community in Connecticut.  It just hurts.

Today is the day we light the Joy candle for advent.  It is hard to find joy in a time of tragedy.

One thing I was reminded of today is that God knows what it is like to lose a child.  He sent his son to this Earth to walk amongst us, live with us, experience the same temptations and pain that we experience.  He was later brutally beaten and hung on a cross and died a slow, painful death.  God knows this pain that people are feeling from this tragedy. 

As we all take time to think and pray, let's remember Philippians 4:4-7

Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say rejoice.  Let your reasonableness be known to everyone.  The Lord is at hand; do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God.  And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

We need to keep our eyes and hearts open to see this world through God's joyful eyes.  We need to be joyfully expectant of His coming into our lives and hearts.

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A dinner blow out

It's that moment when your son blows through his diaper onto everything in sight and you thought you picked him up for a quick diaper change and it turned into a full transplant with a need for complete disinfection.  Mid way through, the water boiling on the stove starts over flowing and I cringe because I know that means extra scrubbing and it also means that the gnocchi is probably done and bobbing on the top saying, "hey! hey! look at us!  get us out!"  The dog is now under my feet because he smells the disaster I'm dealing with and Emilie's crying because the lid to her fake make-up fell under the couch and she wants me to "Mommy you get it!?!" 

With Kyle only wearing a diaper, I step over the dog and run to the stove to save my gnocchi.  The blow out means I need to start a load of laundry and we all know that while I get a load of laundry done tonight, it won't make it to the dryer.  I'll be doing it again tomorrow morning and perhaps it will get in the dryer.  Thankfully my co-captain steps through the door to help save the day.  He grabs the naked baby and clothes him while I deal with Aubrie who is whining tbecause she doesn't like what I cooked.  I then move on to help Emilie pull herself together over the missing lid and get her to the table. 

Yes, my shoulders are a little tight and it was a rough 5-6:30 pm shift, but I found myself thinking about how thankful I am.

I'm thankful for the food on our table, warmth in our house, and a home full of young (whiny) children who are such blessings.  I'm thankful for our health, family, and friends.  Our friend's Jese and Casey had their little boy early this morning.  Baby Colton Snyder joins the group and we are so thankful for his arrival and for mama being healthy as well.  Life is good. 

Kyle's getting some sister loving.  He looks suspicious.

Eek!  Those kisses are toxic!

My baby boy.  This outfit is precious and he's only worn it 3-4 times.  He's been crotch busting his outfits.  I'll put something on him that I think he can squeeze into one last time and lay him on his play mat where he'll kick around.  When I go to pick him up, the snaps at his crotch will be busted open and we'll have to go upstairs to try another outfit.  Poor growing boy.

Here's my breakfast club.  We have two baby monitors broken and so Emilie has an old one and Aubrie is without one.  Now she gets out of bed for everything and anything.  She's also started to get out of bed to go potty in the middle of the night.  Scared her poor dad half to death this weekend.  She was up this morning at 7 and Kyle was up at 6:30.  They sure do look alike.

As you know, I tried making gnocchi tonight and I was pretty successful, but we weren't huge fans.  Most gnocchi recipes are made with potatoes, but this one was not.  I want to take another stab and try sweet potato gnocchi.  But here's the recipe anyway if you want to give it a try.  It was good, just not something I'll take the time to make again.

Gnocchi

Dough recipe:

2 cups ricotta

2 eggs

1 cup shredded Parmesan

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 tsp white pepper

1/4 tsp nutmeg

2 cups flour

 

Mix everything but the flour in a large bowl.  Slowly incorporate the flour.  You want the dough to be a little sticky, not super firm.  Roll out into long rolls and cut off little half inch pieces.  Roll the pieces on the back of a fork.  Place on cookie sheet lined with wax paper and put pieces of wax paper in between each layer of gnocchi.  Stick in refrigerator until you are ready for them.

 

Sauce:

 

1/2 cup butter

2 ounces of prosciutto chopped

10 torn basil leaves

1/4 cup pine nuts

1 cup cream

1/2 cup shredded Parmesan

Beat 1/2 cup of cream until whipped, set aside. Melt butter in a sauce pan, add pine nuts and cook until the nuts brown a little. (While waiting begin boiling a pot of water for the gnocchi.) Add 1/2 cup cream to the butter and pine nuts and bring to a light boil. Cook for one minute, then turn the heat down to low. Add basil and prosciutto. Then fold in the whipped cream and the Parmesan. 

Add gnocchi to boiling water. Once they float, they are done! (Happens quickly.) Remove and mix with sauce. Serve Immediately.

Emilie was screaming at the table, being silly, and Adam told her to stop.  All of the sudden she stopped and hung her head.  We got her to look up, but it was really weird.  She just hung her head, kept her face somber, and looked us like a poor puppy and stayed like that for two minutes.  Then all of the sudden she snapped out of it and she was back to laughing and being silly.  Adam said maybe her brain was finally processing what we were asking her to do. 

I've been busy with a Christmas craft project all day today and Adam distracted the girls with bouncy balls so I could finish it.  I could only hear what was going on in the other room.  Aubrie started whining because Emilie knocked the ball out of her hands.  Instead of getting on Emilie for taking Aubrie's ball, I heard Adam say, "Aubrie!  You've got to be strong with the ball, babe.  Protect the ball!"  And then he was coaching both girls how to hang on to the ball.  I probably would have taken away the balls.  What a good dad.  :)

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Eye contact

There are moments in your life when you make eye contact with someone and it is so meaningful. We all avoid people by avoiding eye contact.  You make your child look you in the eyes when you are lecturing them so you know they hear you and understand.   But there is a lot you can tell about a person when you look at them in the eyes.  You can see if they are happy, sad, in pain, tired, or nervous. 

Life is full of eye contact.

There is the first time you looked into your parent's eyes as a newborn. The first time you looked into your teacher's eyes when you were getting lectured.  There's the first time you looked in a friend's eyes and felt their pain.  There's the eye contact with your mom and dad as you say goodbye when you leave for college.  There's the time you looked into your best friend's eyes and knew they were the one and later, on your wedding day you look into their eyes and see a whole new chapter of life beginning.

But today I'm reminded of 3 powerful moments of making eye contact with someone.  These were meaningful times that flooded my heart with joy.  I still feel the emotions when I think back to these times and how joyful and life changing they were.   

It's making eye contact with my children for the first time.  They come out screaming, with their eyes clinched shut from the bright light all around them.  They cry, get weighed, measured, and poked.  Then they get wrapped in a warm blanket and get set on their warm mother's chests and they slowly open their eyes. 

Aubrie's first eye contact was with her father. I had a horrible recovery from my c-section and don't remember much from that first night.

 

Emilie's first eye contact was with me.  Great birth experience and I got to hold her and not let go of her for a long time.

 

 

Kyle's first eye contact was with his dad as they wheeled him down to the NICU. I later got to make eye contact with him that night when they finally brought him to my room. 

Our friends, Dan and Jenny, just had a baby boy today and the picture they sent out of him, his eyes are wide open.  Ready to make eye contact with mom and dad.  He wanted to know who those familiar voices were that have been talking to him all this time.  What a precious moment. 

It sent me back to those 3 precious moments of my own eye contact with my babies.  What a sweet gift they are and I'm so lucky to experience it.

One last thought.  I can't imagine what thoughts raced through Mary and Joseph's mind as baby Jesus first opened up his eyes and made eye contact with them.  I think of the song, Joseph's Lullaby by MercyMe.

Go to sleep my Son
This manger for your bed
You have a long road before You
Rest Your little head

Can You feel the weight of Your glory?
Do You understand the price?
Or does the Father guard Your heart for now
So You can sleep tonight?

Go to sleep my Son
Go and chase Your dreams
This world can wait for one more moment
Go and sleep in peace

I believe the glory of Heaven
Is lying in my arms tonight
Lord, I ask that He for just this moment
Simply be my child

Go to sleep my Son
Baby, close Your eyes
Soon enough You'll save the day
But for now, dear Child of mine
Oh my Jesus, Sleep tight

 

I bet it was hard to fully comprehend all that that little boy will soon accomplish with his time on this earth.  What a moment. 

 We have officially recovered from our trip to Texas.  Sweet baby Kyle is maxing out his 9 month clothing (he's only 15 weeks).  I took this picture of our big boy in his swing.  I had to change the batteries in it because it takes a lot of power to move his rear back and forth!

 We raked leaves one last time with the girls.  It was in the 70s this weekend.  They had a lot of fun outside and I put some lights up on our front bushes.  We also have our tree up.  Adam and I decorate it while the kids are asleep so they don't see that the ornaments are movable.  They always do pretty good, but day 2, I came downstairs from putting Kyle down for a nap and both girls were trying to pick up pieces of an ornament.  Of course, Aubrie quickly tattled that it was Emilie and they both got a lecture.  We've been in the clear ever since. 

Our other friends, Jese and Casey, are actually at the hospital tonight as well, getting ready to have their little boy.  How cool it would be if they had him tonight and they shared birth dates with baby Hayden.  I'm sure Casey could care less, because she probably just wants the labor to be over soon.  :)  Lots of excitement for us.  Hope everyone is doing well and taking time out to enjoy this time of year. 

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Home is where the heart is

I'm 31 years old and hot tears still sting my cheeks when I leave home.  Now that I have a large crew of my own, it's hard to make the long trip out to see Mom and Dad.  One of the biggest perks to going out there is that I get to see my two brother's and their families.  This Thanksgiving trip was well worth the expensive plane tickets and crying children.  I had so much fun and there is nothing like being around your family to make you feel thankful and loved.  It recharged my battery and I was thinking on our flight to Nashville, that it now feels like home to me as well.  It's where Adam and I have started a home and filled it with a large, spoiled dog and three beautiful children.  Family is so important and I'm grateful for mine.

 

The last evening we were there, Poppy commented, "look at all those boots!" in the mud room.  Of course, they were all jumbled up, but I lined them up from the smallest, Lindsey's, to the biggest, Poppy's.  What a shot.  :)



This lady right here (my grandmother) probably makes me the most emotional.  I love her so much and I'm so glad she makes the trip out to see the family and spend the holiday with us.  I'm so happy she's gotten to spend time with my babies.  I wish she were my neighbor and I could see her every day.

The kiddos stretching it out.  Don't judge Kyle for being super huge. 

The girls in the wagon

Cousin Dillon, helping the girls feed the goat

The gals having a snack

This is my oldest nephew, Dee.  I haven't seen him since Aubrie was a baby.  He was brave enough to bring his girlfriend, Jenny around.  She's a sweetheart.  They're a cute couple.

Aubrie took an interest in roping the dummy with her dad. 

And Emilie was more interested in riding the horses this time.

Folks, this CPA doesn't just audit, he can RIDE!

Dalton and Dillon getting ready to eat.  They borrowed a couple of bibs.  :)

Gram making Kyle smile with some patty cake. 

Poppy and Kyle.  His shirt says, "Grandpa's Little Buckaroo"

 Robbie, Mom, Dad, me, and Troy.

What a trip!  Lots of memories and laughs.  Thanks, mom and dad, for hosting ALL of us!

Back to the grind!
Love to all!

 

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Amazing Grace

We made it!  We flew out of Nashville on Saturday morning and flew to El Paso.  5 hours and 5 minutes.  Then we loaded up into dad's truck and drove 1.5 hours to mom and dad's house.  All the kids did well.  Adam sat in a row with the girls and enjoyed watching movies on the iPad and Kyle rode on my lap and slept or smiled at strangers.  We only had one difficult moment when Emilie got tired and decided she wanted mommy and tried to climb over Adam to get to me across the isle.  Adam tried to restrain her and keep her from me which caused screaming and crying and so Adam and I switched places and he held Kyle and I calmed the girls down.  In Emilie's defense, she's two.  And she was hungry.

As we were driving to mom and dad's house, it started sprinkling and all our bags are in the back of dad's truck.  We had the camera in one bag, breast pump in another, chargers and medicine in another.  Adam thought we should pull over and pull out everything that couldn't get wet and put it up front.  I just wanted to keep going and live on a prayer.  He got his way and we pulled over and he kept asking me which bag what was in.  I got mad and had to get out and dig through bags with him which caused me to get dirty because of the truck and I HATE...absolutely HATE when people rummage through my stuff.  I pack neatly and know where stuff is, so I KNOW when someone has been in my bag, diaper bag, purse, because everything is jumbled up. 

Anyways, we were biting at each other, RUMMAGING through bags and we both got on the truck and were buckling up and getting ready to pull back on the highway when out of the blue, Aubrie started singing a song to the tune of Amazing Grace.  The words were like, "I'm going to Poppy's house and I like to play.  At Gram's house is so much fun!" but it was all to the tune Amazing Grace.  I sighed big and said, "Amazing Grace..." and we both smiled.  How neat it is that Aubrie was able to diffuse our little quarrel and pretty much the tenseness of the whole day by singing that song.  Kids are so precious!

 

We made it!  I've got my Texas A&M sweatshirt on and dad's boots and I'm ready to help feed the cows and horses!  (By the way, I'm still giddy over the Aggies beating Alabama.  What a game!  I was an Aggie fan since my brother went to school there and took me to a game.  The fans are electric and it was such a fun experience.  I then adopted Adam's team, the Fighting Irish...but you all know how giddy we are about them this year!)

Here's the goat mom and dad got for the girls to enjoy.  They call it Rojo (red is Spanish) but gave Aubrie a chance to name it and she chose "Hella".  So we naturally chose the last name of "Goodtime."

Aubrie and the calves

Dad's got these old coffee canisters that the girls carry the feed in.  The hay makes poor Emilie's nose run.

Mom and I went for a run yesterday.  Don't we look fierce?

Gigi, my Grandma, got here on Sunday.  She was pushing Kyle around in the stroller to get him to sleep.

Adam and the kids.  I love the mountains.  The number one thing I miss about Arizona!

My brother, Robbie, can't make it until late Wednesday, maybe Thursday, so we convinced his wife Kasey to drive down yesterday with cousin Lindsey and we are so glad they did!! The girls were asking for Lindsey Lou every hour!

Bedtime story on Gram's bed.  Is it just me, or is Adam really into the story?

I wanted to make a new shower curtain for the kids' bathroom and last time mom was visiting in Nashville, she helped me plan it out and buy material and we did it while we were here.  I did the cutting, mom did the sewing, Gigi and Adam did the ruffling.  It was a lengthy project and I'm thankful for all my help!!

I hope everyone is traveling safely to their destinations.  I love Thanksgiving and spending time with family.  I'm anxiously waiting for a couple of friends to have their babies and counting all my blessings.  Hopefully I'll have time to post another entry before I go.  My brother Troy, his wife Tammy, and my two nephews Dillon and Dalton will be here tomorrow.  My nephew Dee and his girlfriend just got here and Robbie is hopefully coming soon.  Love to all! Pin It Now!