Thankful Day 15

Today I am thankful for our ability to give.
God has blessed us abundantly, beyond all we could ever need. We consider it our joy to share His blessings with others.

This morning, the girls and I packed up shoe boxes for Operation Christmas Child.


I really *love* giving that involves the kids. They really understand that we are wrapping up presents for someone else, and...who doesn't like to be the bearer of gifts?!


I only wish there were similar, kid-friendly programs the other 11 months out of the year!

Thankful Day 5

Today I am thankful that I get to stay home with my kids. More to the point, I am thankful that my husband values my ability to stay home and raise our children and works really hard to provide for our family. There are so many moments in my day that I wish I could just bottle and cherish forever. For instance, Tori was playing with my wrist watch this morning and it is now missing in action. I've been asking her for about the last 30 minutes to please look for it. Just now, she was standing in the hallway and said, "Mom, I'm gonna go get my baby to help. She has eagle eyes, I know she'll find it."

Where do they come up with this stuff?!

Oh, to see the world through 3 yr old eyes....

Ruth and Boaz

We have started checking out childrens' movies from our church library on a weekly basis, and the girls really enjoy them. Currently, we have "Bible Animated Classics: Ruth" on loan, and they like it so much we actually renewed it for another week!
Here's when you know maybe they have watched it a few too many times....
Tori walks around the house saying, "My God, MY God." (I don't think she knows how to say 'your'.)

"Where you go, I will go, and where you stay I will stay. Your people will be my people and your God my God." Ruth 1:16b

And the real kicker....
Lexy had a great suggestion the other night:
"Hey Mom, how 'bout we name the baby Boaz?"

Boaz Hughes.
Has a nice ring to it, doesn't it? :)

I had to laugh. At least they are hearing (and hopefully learning!) about trust in God, obedience, and kindness from the story of Ruth.

The New 'Do

In case you didn't crack the code of Bill's previous post (which he has now deleted), Lexy and her little scissors decided to cut all of Tori's hair off last Thursday afternoon.

I was tutoring, and the girls were both supposed to be asleep. I had left out Lexy's Arts & Crafts bin on her little table figuring she might wake up sooner and would need something to occupy her. Although she had a episode with a friend's doll's hair last spring, she really hasn't had any issues with the rules for scissors, so I didn't think it would be a problem.

So, apparently neither of them ever went to sleep, and Lexy had invited Tori out into the family room to do Arts and Crafts.... ON HER HAIR.

They both walked up to the table while I was tutoring with huge grins on their faces saying, "Look Mom! Look at Tori's hair!"

I was in total shock, as was the girl I was tutoring. We were speechless. Thankfully, I had just heard a talk that morning at MOPS about how we shouldn't be yelling/screaming at our kids. Since the message was still fresh in my mind, I heeded the advice and chose silence instead of screaming.

I took Tori back to bed. Lexy resumed her arts & crafts (ON PAPER, this time), and I finished tutoring (although my mind was a little preoccupied, as you can imagine!).

When I had finished tutoring, I made a 911 Hair Emergency call to a hair-stylist friend and she said she could try to fix it at her house right then. It was a tough fix, since there wasn't much hair left to work with.

So, here she is in her new 'do. It's cute.... but clearly, not a hair cut I would EVER in a MILLION YEARS give a 2 year old.



Since then, Bill and I have had plenty of discussion with Lexy about WHY she would cut her sister's hair. Bottom line, we think there might have been a touch of jealousy over her curls. Which is even a BIGGER parenting issue to tackle. Ugh.

We don't believe in the concept of karma, but we did end up in at Urgent Care on Friday night for Lexy, who jumped off the couch and hit her forehead on the edge of a chair resulting in a little, but deep, cut that, thankfully, didn't require stitches. She is currently sporting about 8 steristrips (sp?) on her forehead and has been told to keep in dry for 5 days. I guess swimming is out of the question!

The good news in all of this is that Tori seems totally unfazed by the fact that she now looks completely different. In fact, those pictures were taken Friday afternoon when she was looking at herself in our bedroom mirrors, admiring her new look. I think she might even LIKE it.

I just hope it grows a little before we take our family Christmas picture....

Hughes Look-alike Meter-- update

We tried this about a year and a half ago and thought it might be fun to see how things have changed....


Apparently, not much has.
Still not sure I buy it, though....

#3

Lexy and Tori are thrilled to announce....

They are going to be big sisters!

Our new Little Love Bug is due on February 14th.

Faces of Summer

Two

I guess this means you are officially not a baby anymore.
Not sure how that happened.... Time has a way of flying by.

We've had quite a year, enjoying your cute little personality. In fact, Daddy and I were just commenting the other day about how you have a certain charisma about you.... Hard to describe. Almost an "I know I'm cute" swagger, but in the most endearing way that makes you even cuter.

You've learned a lot in the last year. Walking, talking (kind of), and mimicking everything you see your big sister doing. She has been schooled in "being a good example" for you because you pick up even the slightest things. Maybe you'll end up being my observant child!

This was the year that you had tubes put in your ears, too. That was an anxious day for Daddy and I, but we are already seeing the rewards. Your vocabulary has EXPLODED ever since. You can't quite work out all of the letter sounds yet, but we understand you most of the time anyway. And you are much more willing and eager to sound words out, now, too.

You have become quite a little swimmer, too, which we had not anticipated since you never showed the love of water quite like Lexy did. But once you got your feet wet (literally!), you quickly got the hang of it. And we invested in ear plugs. Which you are quick to remind me to pack every time we head to the pool. (Good thing, too, because I seem to always forget them!)

You've acquired quite a few nicknames in your two short years, mostly from your Daddy who likes to abbreviate everything. :) Tori Toops has been around awhile, but "Toops" by itself is newish. And then there's "T-Bone" or "T-Bone Jones". (I have no idea). And when he's feeling REALLY rushed for time, he just goes with "T". Thank goodness you answer to all of them.

One of our favorite games to play with you is Pouty Face, which really speaks for itself. But the humor in it is that you don't ever use the pouty face when you are pouting.... Only when you are all smiles and game to entertain us with your antics. I was so excited to actually capture it on film for future generations to see. (And please note that as soon as the flash went off, you broke into a HUGE grin-- right back to the smiley Tori we all know and love!)

You are so independent, always trying to do things by yourself. Including potty training. What a joy it is to say that you COMPLETLEY trained yourself in how to go #2 on the potty. We're still working on #1, but even that is about 70% on the potty. If it were only this easy with every child.

I have so enjoyed watching your hair continue to grow in curly! I absolutely LOVE it. Especially when we go to the beach and it turns into ringlets. I hope it never changes.


We are so blessed to have you as part of our family, T. We love you so much and are cherishing every moment of your toddlerhood, knowing full well that the days may seem long, but the years are short.

Happy Birthday, Toops.
We love you.

Frozen Treats

All Tubed Up

Well, we survived the surgery this morning. Actually, TORI survived.
Thank you God.
She was a trooper! (As usual)**
We woke up at 4:30am to get ready to head down there.
A bit of the "airport anxiety" earliness applied here, too.
We got to the Outpatient Surgery Center at about 5:45am. Filled out some paperwork. And then waited. And waited. Meanwhile, entertaining a 21-month old girl with everything we could think of.

The hospital gave her a cute little stuffed bear. That was exciting for all of 2 minutes.

Then she moved on to the hospital phone and magazines. That held her attention for about 10 minutes!

Then it was on to Daddy's cell phone.... until she started calling people at the ungodly hour, so we had to take it away.

Really, we were just tired. No one should have to wake up that early. Ever.
(notice my watch says it 6:25am-- it's ten minutes fast, so really it was 6:15am)

Lovin' on my tired girl.

Finally, about 6:40, a nurse came out and ushered us back into the pre-op area. There was some discrepancy with the scheduled start time of the surgery. Our paperwork said 7:30am, but the hospital's paperwork said 7:00am. So we were kind of hurrying up just in case it was 7:00am, but thinking it was more likely 7:30.

We then began the fun game on entertaining a 21-month old in a HOSPITAL BED. We had a sweet nurse name Kai, mother of two little ones herself, who was super flexible in letting us get up and walk around.

It was very apparent that they'd entertained children once or 3 million times before.

They had puzzles. And stickers.

And bless nurse Kai, she let Tori's baby doll get her bold pressure taken too. So cute.

And the oxygen mask was a big hit. Baby doll got in on that action, too, although we didn't get a shot of it.

All of the staff was SO KIND to us. And everyone enjoyed Tori's joyful spirit. She definitely provided some much needed smiles to all of the other anxious patients waiting for their surgeries.

And then FINALLY, at 7:29 and 47 seconds, the doctor performing the surgery casually saunters in, as if it's no big thing. It probably was God's way of answering prayers, because by that point, I was more annoyed and frustrated than I was anxious. We had been there for almost 2 hours, and I was ready to get this thing over with already.

So we handed her off, which didn't seem to bother her at all. And about 25 minutes later, the doctor came to get Bill and I from the waiting room. Everything went smoothly, and the tubes were in. He mentioned that she had a lot of "thick fluid" behind her eardrums, which is just further confirmation that we made the right choice to proceed with the surgery.

She was really upset when we got to her-- lots of crying, and her body was sort of weak and limp-- but it only took about 25 minutes for her to come out of it. And I think the apple juice with a straw that the nurse brought was what helped her turn the corner. :) (Poor thing had not eaten or had anything to drink since 6:00pm the previous night. And this is my voracious eater!)

We got home at around 9am. She napped from then until 11. By noon, she was back to her feisty little self.

Thank you, Lord, for protecting my sweet Tori.

*Thanks to Grandma for letting us borrow her camera. Ours is in a permanent state of disrepair. :)

**I failed to mention that last week during her pre-op appointment, she had to have blood drawn at the lab. We had just come from the pediatrician's office, where she had a shot and didn't so much as blink. In fact, she smiled. The nurse couldn't believe it. So, we're in the lab and the lab tech's are all planning their strategy of how best to draw blood from her little arm. One tech said to the other "I'll hold her here, you hold this arm, and Mom, hold her body and her head really tight and don't let her move." I replied, "I'm not sure that is necessary... she's pretty tough..." But I followed their instructions anyway. And true to form, Tori didn't even flinch one bit. She watched the needle go in, she watched when they switched out the viles, and when they were all done, SHE LAUGHED. One tech looked at the other and said, "Did she just laugh?!? I think she just laughed!!!" That's my tough cookie. :)

Lexyisms and other notes

I feel like I am doing a terrible job recording the adorable (and not-so-adorable) things that Lexy has said over the last couple of weeks...

Purely for posterity's sake, here's a list of the ones I can remember:

During afternoon quiet time (and we use the word "quiet" very loosely), Lexy was sitting at her table playing play dough. Daddy unexpectedly popped in before he headed to the golf course for practice. As he was getting ready to head back out, he looked in the room to say goodbye to Lexy really quick, and in the most deadpan voice you'd ever hear, she says, "I didn't get my hug yet." Bill and I both starting cracking up. It probably was a "you had to be there" moment, but it was funny. ;)

Yesterday at school, the circle time question was "What do you want to be when you grow up?" The mom helper came up to me after school to tell me that Lexy said "I want to be a Mommy when I grow up." Apparently the other answers ranged from "Princess" to "Spiderman", so Lexy's answer melted that mom's heart. And mine when she told me. :)

A while back, we were getting ready to go run some errands-- can't even remember what specifically we were going to do, but Lexy was excited to go. I had both girls dressed and ready, and, as usual, was still getting ready myself. I had changed out of my pajamas into yoga pants and a t-shirt-- which on any other day could have been my pajamas, since that is a typical "pajama" outfit for me. But on this particular day, I just felt like being comfortable, so I was going to wear my "comfies". As we were tending to the last minute details before we walked out the door, I remember seeing out of the corner of my eye that Lexy had opened up my closet and was looking from left to right through my wardrobe. I think she had a little commentary going, much the same as I do for her when we are choosing what she'll wear for the day, but I wasn't really paying attention. So, I finished gathering all the essentials and announced "Let's go!" As I start walking towards the door, she gives me the funniest sideways look, sweeping her pointer finger up and down at my outfit, saying out of the side of her mouth, "Are those your pajamas??" As in... "Um, Mom? Hate to be the one to bring this to your attention, but do you realize you're about to walk out in public in your pajamas? Don't you think you'd like to change first?" Hilarious. I still crack up thinking back to her face as she said it.

We're in the stage of life that everyone we know is having babies... A detail that is not lost on Lexy, who announces almost daily that she's going to have a baby. The other day, the baby was going to come "in the fall." The due date varies. :) But she is very concerned about being prepared for the baby's arrival and is constantly plotting and planning. Specifically, she keeps telling me that she's going to have to sit in the middle seat (without a car seat) so that her baby can have room for his/her car seat in her old spot. Last week, she announced that she was going to have THREE babies, and she was planning to name them Sarah, Josh, and Billy -- a la The Cannons. (Only Billy is the DAD in that family. Not quite sure about that.) And you can tell that math runs in her blood because she pointed out that her three babies are NOT going to fit in our car, so we'll have to get a bigger one. Roger that. We'll get right on it.


In other un-Lexy related news, Tori is scheduled for surgery on Tuesday morning. She is finally getting tubes in her ears! Although I was super resistant to the idea of surgery early on, I have had a year to think about it, and all signs are pointing towards HAVE THE SURGERY, so that's what we're going to do. We have to be AT the hospital by 6am (should be a fun morning!). I've been told that the whole procedure will take less than 12 minutes, but I can already assure you that they'll be the longest 12 minutes of my life. If you think about it, please pray for all involved on Tuesday. I'm not worried, but there is definitely an element of risk whenever anesthesia is involved, so I'm trying not to be too cavalier about it either. It's a fine line to walk....between not freaking out, yet not being too unaffected. I choose to commit it to the Lord.

That's all for now. We're headed to the farm this morning. It's a cloudy day-- much relief from the hundred-degree days we had early in the week. Looking forward to the cooler temps as we pick strawberries! I'd love to say I'll post pictures later, but the camera is still broken. We're trying to decide whether to fix it or just get a new one. Stay tunned.

I'm debating between "I want a Re-do" or just straight and to the point wth "Lipstick"

It's been a day. And it's only 1:15pm.
Oh, there are MANY hours of parenting left today. Pray for me.

Whilst outside cleaning up DOG POOP that mysteriously ended up all over the patio instead of the grass, where it can usually be found, I realized that Tori was being strangely quiet, which is NEVER good thing with her.

I had already de-robed her outside since she has the uncanny INability to avoid dog mess if it's within 200 feet of her. I sent her inside while I tended to the 8 dog paws that needed to be cleaned off in addition to the patio itself, which could still use a good scrub down, but that will have to wait.

So I peak inside and find her sitting at the toy box holding a little tote of cosmetics (lotion, lipstick, chapstick, hand sanitizer, etc.) that I keep in my purse. This particular tote is a favorite of hers, and I've had to rip it from her clutches once or A HUNDRED times before. And just for the record, my purse, from which the tote came, was sitting on top of the kitchen table, in the very middle of the table, unreachable unless a certain little one climbed up ONTO the table.

So.... There she is sitting at the toy box absolutely COVERED in lipstick. It's everywhere. Hands, Face, Shirt, Hair. And remarkably, no where else. I may or may not have screamed at her as she walked toward the bathroom and started to try and touch things with her lipstick-caked hands. She may or may not have burst into tears. I feel/felt horrible, but my walls are still white. My sweatshirt, on the other hand, is now sort of mauvey-rose all over the sleeve.


This child. (shaking my head)
She certainly has a fondness for cosmetics.

And the funniest part about all of this (if you can even find humor in it) is that my FIRST thought was, "Oh my gosh, this is so blog worthy, and darn it, OUR CAMERA IS BROKEN!!"
So you'll have to forgive the grainy quality of the pictures-- they're from my cell phone. And they really don't do all the lipstick justice. Just trust me that is was ALL OVER her. In chunks, really.

But at least the moment was captured for your entertainment.

Tune in next week for 'Fun with Eye Shadow.' (Please God, no.)

Mascara, part Deux

I got quite a lot of in-person response to the original Mascara post, so I thought I'd keep my audience happy and let you know it happened AGAIN.

(I know, I know, I should have learned my lesson and put the make-up bag out of her reach. And I am hear to tell you: IMPOSSIBLE. She will find a way to get to it.)

This time she seems to have figured out that mascara goes on eyes.

And apparently she's taking make-up lessons from Ozzy Osbourne.


Babydoll also got in on the action. As did her cute little NON-REMOVABLE WHITE outfit.

Also lucky enough to be included in this make-up session (although not pictured): Doggie.

She had this big, black smudges up by her eyes, and I couldn't for the life of me figure out what she must have gotten in to. And then I realized what it was.
That poor dog puts up with a lot.