Movies & Ice cream

We took Reagan to another movie today. We waited until we had Jordan so we could go as a group with both older girls. She was so excited about it all. We saw Madegascar III.  It was just adorable. It made us all laugh. At certain points in the movie, when they had some cool music, Reagan would get up and dance by her seat. Too cute.

On the way out to the car, we were all singing the circus theme song with their twist "Afro Circus..."

Way too funny.

Pills

Train your kids early on how to take pills. Tonight, I had to basically shove two pills from the first day of the zpack and yell at Jordan to swallow her pills. She has a huge mental block against pills for some reason. But I really didn't have a whole lot of patience for it.

After the whole thing, she hugged me a lot and told me how much she loved me. I thought that was worth mentioning considering how much a forcefully spoke to her and crammed food down her throat.

We tried water tricks, pudding, jello. The final thing that worked was jello. I put so much in her mouth she had to swallow it. She did eventually, but not before we had a volcano eruption of water (and jello), spewing of water and other things during the course of the event. I told her to think about her favorite things, including the possibility of kissing a boy. I believe that was the comment that made her like a volcano.  I also tried having her hold the spoon in her mouth to make her swallow (basically blocking her tongue from reacting). That didn't even work.

In the end, all is well. Jim is not too upset about my tactics.

She swallowed two pills.

Tomorrow, we have one more. :)

A fort in my living room

While I was feeding Maddy in the bedroom, Jordan and Reagan decided to build a fort with all the blankets and towels in our house. They used the back of the couch, three chairs and a ton of imagination to build this thing. It's HUGE...and just large enough to hold the dog bed and all the contents of Reagan's room. Literally. I think she brought all of her stuffed animals from her room into that fort and played all afternoon and evening. So fun. I decided to leave it up through dinner, even though two of us had to stand because of it. How can I take it down? She had so much fun in it.

Easter Egg Hunt

Today, we went to the church to celebrate Easter a bit. Each year, the church has an Easter Eggstravaganza for the kids in the area. They bring in a great entertainer - magician, singer, kid person. Most of the kids have a great time. Then they get to roam the halls in search of candy and eggs.

Reagan, this year, decided that she wasn't interested in hanging out in the sanctuary listening to the entertainment. She wanted to look for the eggs. That's it. Nothing else.

When the kids were let loose, she joined the orange group and found her eggs. Jordan actually walked her around - it was cute. Once we were done, we picked up the candy from the front and sat down to chow down on some sugary treats. :)

Giggle fest

Tonight, Maddy was sitting on Jim's lap just hanging out after her bath. Jordan came over and started playing with her. She got her laughing so hard that she was snorting some and just flat out giggling. It was awesome. All of us were laughing because it was so cute. :)

Snow day for the girls

Today is a snow day for Jordan, so I kept Reagan home too. That probably wasn't a great idea since she needs to be kept busy and I am so tired. That's ok. It's good for her to be home with me. Now how do I get some sleep?

New Christian

Jordan made her decision to follow Christ today. Jim and the two older girls went out to Graeters on Friday and came home with that news. I don't know all the details, but she was quite excited to tell me when she got home. :) I'm so happy for her.

Apparently, she told Jim that God had spoken to her on Monday and she wanted to make a decision. They called my brother, Chris, in Mobile and he walked her through the sinner's prayer, in the car, on the way home.

Yea Jordan.

I wish I knew the exact date that I got saved. I hope Jordan will remember hers. :)

Slumber Party for Jordan's birthday

We hosted Jordan's birthday slumber party tonight. It wasn't quite as bad as I thought it would be (I say that nicely becuase I was dreading drama from four girls). The girls arrived around 2pm and they played outside for the most the afternoon. Eventually Jim walked them to the pool. I hung out with Reagan while she slept. When she got up, I took her to the pool and ran out for kid food and ice cream cake for the birthday girl.

When I got back the evening really kicked in. We ate pizza and took off for Laser Tag. Jim and I bought a three hour pass for all four girls and us. Wow! I had never played before and had a total blast! We played five 20 minute games... I was worn out by the end of the fourth one. Surprisingly, my achilles held up great. It got tight in the third game, but it did great. I was sweating more than I had in a while and quite frankly enjoyed myself more than I thought I would. We will definetly go back!

After hours of running around trying to blast others, we came home with four tired girls in tow. All but one said "I'm staying up all night" and only one did. :) Jim and I wanted to wear them out and I think we did.

Jordan's birthday

Happy Birthday kiddo!

I love you

She actually said "I love you" to Jordan on the way home from LRS tonight. Wow! I didn't hear it, but Jim told me about it. How cool is that?

Catching a ball

This afternoon, we all packed up for the first time and went out to Jim's mom's farm. They have a large piece of property out in Indiana. While relaxing after dinner, Jordan and Reagan were playing ball. Jordan kept trying to get Reagan to hold out her arms. It actually worked. Reagan caught the ball multiple times for Jordan tonight!

Yea Reagan (And Jordan!)

Working from home

Today I worked from home. Between PT that lasts for about 2 hours and Jim being on crutches, I just stayed home.

Jim was cute. I have to say I got a kick out of watching him hobble around on crutches. Not that I was laughing at him, but it is interesting being on this side of things. That and I think he really hates being on crutches... but it doesn't take more than a day on those to really appreciate the ability to walk. :)

After work, Jim and I packed up the dogs and went to get both girls. It was really kind of odd having him in the back seat with his foot propped up with me driving. For so long, it was the opposite!

Our evening was much like the last. We ate, we played hard, I chased Reagan around the house for my cardio and dance in the living room for my PT. :) Gotta get it all in.

I think in the last week, she hasn't played once with any toys in the living room. Is it time to weed stuff out?

The zoo

Today we went to the zoo for the first time this year. We got to see some pretty cool animals and the girls even got to feed the giraffes. Jordan was pretty cool about it, but Reagan was a little timid. Reagan absolutely loved the rhino, the monkeys and the ducks (they weren't in cages). Jordan loved everything. We had a great time just the four of us!

Breakfast

So darn cute - Reagan and Jordan were both sitting at the kitchen table this morning eating donuts and grapes watching Bugs Bunny. :)

You're not my mom!!!!!!!!!!!!

So Jim and I made it almost five years of marriage without Jordan saying "you're not my mom"! This morning marks the first time she said that too me in a very angry and LOUD voice. But hey - she thinks that she's free and doesn't need to obey her parents at all either.

Ya know, I don't think I ventured down that path until I was in high school. But times are different. Too bad for her I am her step-mom. :)

So tired and exhausted

Tonight was very busy. I stayed upstairs with both girls after work until Grampy came over. Once he got there, the evening just started to roll along well. Grammy came over, dinner arrived. We ate. G&G took Reagan upstairs for a bath. I gave Jordan a flute lesson. Reagan pooped in the tub. Reagan hit my foot (not covered) with a toy and caused a TON of pain. Love that. Grammy went home. I got to hold Reagan in her rocking chair. We snuggled. Grampy put her in bed. Jim got home. I want to pass out.

That's it. I don't think I could do much more tonight.

The Tent

Jordan has a pink camo tent. Of course, she doesn't play with it anymore. But today, Jim went and found it and put it up in the living room. He heeee.

Jordan and her flute

Well Jordan has started playing the flute. The cool thing is that she had several options from her band teacher and she chose the flute. (awww). So I told her that I'd help her.

I am just amazed. She is really doing well on it. She plays clear and loves the challenge. Of course, I'm giving her a step up on some of the other kids I'm sure because I drill her a lot, but she asks me to. We have fun.

I am really excited and hope she keeps it up. She is doing great and some part of me thinks she might have some natural talent since it seems to come very easy to her.

Kicking the ball and other cool stuff

This morning we were all hanging out in the living room just waiting for the roads to get cleared. Jordan and I were watching Reagan goof off and watch Sesame Street. She dropped her ball on the floor that she had been carrying around and stopped to look at it. And just like that, she kicked it. Huh? She did it again. Odd I'd never seen her do that.

Just a bit later, she was playing with her basketball and did the same thing. Wow! Of course, I was thrilled and said "hey Jordan did you see that?". Apparently this news was old to her. She said, "yea she did that last week!"

What is it about the blocks?

Reagan is absolutly obsessed with her blocks. She likes to pick up the blue ones and smack them together while walking around the house. Her favorite is when Jordan follows her around. Tonight, all three of us actually sat in a circle in the living room smacking our blocks together. Reagan was completely amused, as were Jordan and I. :)