The Hot Peppers 238/365

Tonight we got Papa John's carry out for dinner.  Hunter always smiles when we are getting Papa John's because he knows the peppers will be in the box.  He always claims them (like everyone else is just dying for them.)  It is always the same scene.  He takes a gigantic bite....

 panics a little, while his eyes start to water....

then he drinks tons of water.  My grandfather on my dad's side always claimed the peppers too!  It is fun when I see things about my grandparents and parents in my kids.  He is definitely one of us!

The Thundershirt Rocks! 237/365

I have to do a quick commercial tonight for the Thundershirt.  First of all, I wish I had invented this!  Rags has been getting increasingly worse about thunder storms.  For some reason he thinks he needs to pace back and forth across my head.  He pants heavily and is just agitated.  After having a few nights of storms back to back, I was losing my patience with the lack of sleep I was getting because of him.  I vowed that if I did nothing else that day, he would have a thundershirt.  I kept my vow and got him one.  I can honestly say that was well worth the $40 I paid.  We have had countless storms since I bought it, and he has done great.  He simply lays down during the storms.  I'm was so impressed that I went and got Pippa one too.  She also does great with it!  So, we are ready for Tropical Storm Isaac, and whatever he decides to dump on Alabama.

Sleepy Head 236/365

Three of our four have no problems jumping out of bed to get ready for school.  However, this new school year has been hard on LeeLee.  LeeLee has never been a morning person.  She is a late night person.  She is also spending increasing hours at the gym so she is quite wiped out after a full day at school then an entire afternoon at the gym. So when she wakes up in the mornings, she walks downstairs and grabs some food, then finds a comfortable spot.  This picture has become a regular scene.  She will actually sit there a sleep eat.  She will put in a piece of cereal, then pause, then somehow her brain reminds her to chew.  Then she repeats.  When I catch her, I have to wake her up, because it would probably take an hour to eat at the rate that she does. Hopefully she will get into the groove of things as the weeks progress into this school year.

The Monkey Dentist 235/365

So for the local folks, you will know from this picture exactly where we were today.  We had to make yet another visit to the monkey dentist.  It's a good thing that he loves my kids as much as he does, because we sure to spend a ton of time there.  Oh, and it is only Hope.  The others just go for regular cleanings, but Hope has a mouth full of problems.

I guess I had one of those not so bright mommy moments on Friday after the kids shopped with me.  On our way out of the shopping outlet, I let them each pick out some candy at Fuzziwigs.  Hope picked a Sugar Daddy.  It made me think of my own childhood and I agreed that it was a good choice.  I would teach her how to suck on it until it melted like butter in your mouth.  However, I stopped at an outdoors store to let Hunter run in the get something.  He took longer than I thought, so I had Noelle watch the little girls while I fetched Hunter.  Next thing you know, Noelle is running into the store with Hope's teeth in her hands.  Yep, you guessed it!  That Sugar Daddy that I had approved of had been torn into and she had tried to bite off a piece.  She ended up losing two crowns.  So today we went to the dentist.  He put one crown back on, and decided that we would leave the other space empty.  He tried to numb her, but she is stubborn like her momma and kindly asked him not to.  She said she didn't want her mouth to feel funny and her lip to swell up.

I do pray for my sweet girl that when all these big girl teeth come in that they are stronger than the baby teeth she has had.  Her little mouth is a mess, and I know it would be a tremendous blessing to her to have a mouth that doesn't hurt all the time.

I just have to rave about Dr. Greenleaf and his staff for a minute.  They are amazing, and they always go above and beyond for our family.  He will be the first to admit that LeeLee has made him money since she was the main picture he used for advertising for years. She is still on his website if you just sit and watch for a second.  He said that not a day goes by that a child doesn't look at her picture on the board and say, "That's LeeLee."  So, he has always for some reason been super fond of our family.  He anticipated the arrival of Hope with us, and looked at pictures we got out of China and prepared and coached us on what to expect with her teeth.  He has been so gentle with her that even if she is having major work done, she doesn't dread going.  He has been a blessing to our family!

Matchy Matchy 234/365

I have always let my kids pick out their clothes.  Okay, let me rephrase that.  I have let them always pick out their own school clothes that are within reason, and yes, I have vetoed some interesting outfits over the years, most of those being Hope's last year.  However, I really like for them to take the responsibility of picking out their outfits each day and putting them together.  I like to call it "life training."  So, I just had to smile today when these three all picked out clothes, that just so happened to match.  They are such a bonded little trio.

This face which has now been on here two days in a row is an inside joke with our family.  LeeLee starts it, and it is kinda funny.

I Only Shed a Few Tears 233/365

 I seriously dread the first day of school!  While all the other parents are rejoicing because their kids are finally out of the house, I am fighting back the tears.

Look at mess of double trouble. They got the same teacher for 2nd grade.....I know, don't you feel for her already.  This was by my design though, because I think they will actually be good for each other.  LeeLee can really help Hope, and they are NOTHING alike, so I think they will be good.

I'm positive that their teacher has been fully warned about this one.  Hopefully she will heed all of the warnings and reign LeeLee in before it's to late.  

 My Hunter man moved on up to 4th today.  Just doesn't seem right at all!

Speaking of things that just don't seem right, my girly girl headed off the middle school today.  So far, she is not a fan.  However, she did love her book bag that I made her last night.  She was so excited when she saw it this morning.  It was my sweet girl that I shed the tears over.  I put her on a bus (which was forty-five minutes late this morning) and sent her off to school.  I had to really trust in the Lord, and I will have to continually pray each day so I don't worry.

Love these precious kids, and I sure did miss them today.  Pippa and I worked all day for Paul to try and keep busy.  I just don't think I can handle the quietness of my home yet.

Don't worry about anything; instead, pray about everything; tell God your needs, and don't forget to thank Him for His answers. If you do this, you will experience God's peace, which is far more wonderful than the human mind can understand. His peace will keep your thoughts and your hearts quiet and at rest as you trust in Christ. Philippians 4:6-7

School Madness 232/365

It's the night before school starts, and this is what my kitchen table looks like right now.  Maybe just another hour or so and I will be done.  This particular item is for Noelle.  Since tomorrow is her first day of middle school, we decided that she probably is getting to grown up for a hand made outfit from me, so we had to try and keep the tradition alive by making her something special.  You will have to wait until tomorrow to see what it is.