So, it dawned on me yesterday that I should have listened to my parenting advisors when my kids were young. Aunts and Uncles and seasoned adults always told me, “write that memory down, because you won’t remember she said that ten years from now.”

Well here I am 18months from my last blog and I can’t remember what we had for supper last night....much less what hysterical things Case said when he was three, and he said some hysterical things!!! Anna was talking about their first words on the ride home from a basketball game the other night and I almost cried because I can honestly say, “I haven’t a clue what Case’s first word was. I know he was a late talker, but I don’t know what he finally came out with.” I sure don’t have a baby book! Blogging was my attempt of record keeping, and I let that go the minute life got crazy! 

Well, I’m bound and determined to get back to blogging! Life is insane right now, but isn’t that what you like reading about?! Everyone else’s chaotic collaboration of their 24hr day?! Well, with three kids 9, 7 and 4 that think they are 30, 3, and 12- life is full of chaos. I have plenty to write about- I just have to make myself do it! I’ve said it before, but that was for my readers. I’m sorry to say- I quit on y’all. This time- I’m keeping up with it for myself, and my mindless memory that drives off on a three hour weekend trip without  my purse! I don’t want to have forgotten my childrens’ whole lives at the end of my journey!! 

So to recap-

These are my three little hearts. 

Anna is 9. 

She is in third grade. She is a total and complete perfectionist. A true first-born daughter! If you want to feel like you really know all about her, go read about first born daughters in Birth Order.  She is large and in charge. Sensitive and sassy. She takes care of her siblings as she aggravates them to no end. She is an old soul. Her perfect day would literally be spent sipping sweet tea on the back porch swing and talking to her friends about anything and everything under the sun. She should have been born in the early 1900s, and I love her for it!! She is all about friends this year. She is playing every sport she can. Soccer is her favorite. She swims, plays basketball, rides horses, and she’s starting tennis this spring. A true perfectionist. She’s super hard on herself. For instance, earlier this year told me she was having “major trouble” in math and needed extra practice sheets. “I’m awful at math, mama! I’m gonna fail! It is so hard.” So, I listen to this maddening tearful garbage for a few weeks before stopping in with her math teacher. “Anna says she is struggling in math. Anything we should be focusing on to help her?” Her teacher looked at me like I had a hole in my head! “Anna?? I think Anna is doing great.” She pulls out her gradebook. “Anna has a struggling 99 average in math!”

This kid is gonna be the end of me. I never cared that much in third grade. In fact, I truly failed third grade math! I got to go to fourth grade, but I had to go to the computer lab and do math remediation for the whole first semester! But- that’s Anna! She is like that with everything!! Everything!!! It will be her faulty strength in life!

Then there’s Cliney Bug!

Caroline is 7. 

She is my look- alike, mini-me! She is my most sensitive child. She’s no doubt the middle child, and she wears the hat perfectly! She is comfortable in her own skin, wants to do anything and everything, and doesn’t care how well she does it. If she does it- she can mark it off her list and move on! She’s my list maker. At seven years old, I can give her a list and she is going to do everything on it just to have the pleasure of checking it off! And yes, I take full advantage of this disorder! Ha! 

She’s my creative soul. Always drawing, building, creating, and she’s my hoarder! Like, it may be a true disorder, we’ve yet to decide!! She wants to keep everything! Little tiny pieces of paper wadded up in a perfectly “folded ball,” have some sort of sentimental memory. Everything holds value! We have lots and lots of battle over trash! I mean, LOTS of trash tears!! But- this also makes her a saver with money. She has more than me! She is also a true athlete. She loves sports and she’s good! She plays soccer and basketball, she rides horses and she’s a cheerleader. She is my lover of life! She is just happy being happy, except when she isn’t. Then she is crying because she has done something to hurt someone else. She is sweet and enormously empathetic- which I love about her!! But don’t get me wrong, she still really, really, really loves herself, a LOT!! We are constantly working on the selfishness around here. It’s tough for us all!!

Case is 4!

Case is our silly, costume loving comedian. He is our little prankster. Everything is a joke to him. He’s been telling jokes (and funny ones) since he started talking. Clearly, I can’t remember when exactly that was. He loves costumes. He has an active imagination, and he is constantly pretending he is someone else. Normally that long list includes Ole Miss football player, AJ Brown, Captain America, super man, Batman, Gecko, Catboy, Lions, tigers and bears! Lately, his new hero is a boy named James E. (A fifth grader he has become buddies with.) He only answers if we call him James E., and he is asking for a “James E. Costume” for his birthday! In March!!! He is obsessed with two things right now! James E. and his birthday!! It is all he talks about! 

Case is our little love-bug! He aggravates his sisters by karate chopping them to death, and then cries when he isn’t getting devoted attention from one or both mama-sisters. He’s the biggest baby, but he thinks he’s twelve. By baby I mean, he wants everything done for him. He is happy to have two big mama-sisters taking care of his every need. At four years old, we could have left Anna home by herself for a week, and she would have not only survived, but she would have taught herself to read a cookbook and text messaged all her friends to come sample her first attempt of Boeuf Bourguignon or something! Caroline was making her own peanut butter and jelly sandwiches at three. Case won’t turn on the tv, pour himself a cup of milk, buckle his car seat, wash his hair, or put on pants by himself! But, I let this all go because you know what he will do? Go upstairs and play the “James E. meets AJ Brown in the Batman Cave and needs his help destroying Joker to save Batman” game he invented for five hours! He is my entertained entertainer! Never does he need a playmate to be satisfied. Don’t get me wrong, he LOVES his friends, but he can entertain himself for hours on end, as long as he doesn’t need a sip of water! 

Did you hear me say, “upstairs”?? Yup!! We moved in 2017. Loaded up the cattle trailer and headed down the road a few miles!

We now have a spacious house! All the kiddos have their own room, and that has been nice for us all. We also have a pool!! So summer posts should be loads of fun!! 

I’m ready for 85 degrees days!! 

Today, well, today we are home having our fourth snow day. The weather is freezing, and the kids are stir crazy. Thankfully the snow provided an opportunity for the girls to meet kids in the neighborhood, so they’re not driving me completely nuts! I’m headed to read a bit... I’m on to a new author, Leila Meacham. I you check her out, start with Roses. 

I’ll be back!!