Monday

Hello again darling. So I have the most adorable picture of Madi to show you. Sometimes I just can't believe she is mine, or rather, ours. She is so stinkin cute I could die!

I love how she just tries to keep up with her big brother and sister. I always forget how big the gap is at this age between what they understand and know, and what they can communicate.

She just wants to be one of the big kids, and she knows exactly what's going on all the time. She didn't even want to get in the stroller to go walk down to the park today. She just wanted to walk like a big girl. And for a long time, I let her. But she also doesn't understand that the street is off limits, so she finally ended up back in the stroller, kicking and screaming about it.

Ty got a little practice on his new scooter. He sure loves his snow boots, and calls himself a Sergeant when he wears them.

Brynlee was pretty difficult today and threw more tantrums than I care to think about. That girl has no sense of obedience, and is so independent and stubborn sometimes I just honestly don't know what to do. I think she could run the world someday if she can figure out how to channel all that strength in a positive manner.

I was supposed to have a dr. appt. this morning, but I had to cancel it again because the kids have all caught the stomach bug we had. Brynlee was throwing up and Ty and Madi both have diarrhea. So we ended up going to Wal-mart instead for a few essentials: Coke and crackers for their tummies, A&D ointment for Madi's poor bum rash, and some chocolate to help me get through the day :). We also picked up the movie, Mr. Popper's Penguins. I really can't stand Jim Carrey, but Ty and Bryn liked watching the penguins. At the end during the credits, we were all up off the couch dancing to the song "Ice, Ice Baby". I decided it was a great theme song for our family this year. Don't you agree?

I had Tyler writing some numbers today and he did more than half of them backwards. I realized we have been focusing on letters and neglecting numbers for several months. Good reminder for me.

I'm glad you weren't really affected by the tornado down there today. Scary stuff those Texas storms. I checked the weather here and it was 40 degrees. I looked up what it was in Anchorage and it was a whopping 1 degree. I'm sure going to have to change my perspective on what "nice" weather is. I think what we had here today is going to be balmy weather in our near future. Crazy. I kept having the quote from Charles Swindoll come to my head..."The remarkable thing is we have a choice every day regarding the attitude we will embrace for that day." I love that.

Well I miss you and love you so much. Good night.