Halloween and Birthday Parties, Oh My!!

We had a lot of fun this weekend! First of all we had a soccer game on Saturday morning. It was really good, the kids are starting to get it together. Next week is the last game, so then we will have our Saturdays back. I have been a horrible mommy, I have not taken a single picture of Emma playing soccer this year. Maybe because her heart just is not in it, but it is unexcusable, I am definitely taking pictures next weekend.( cross your fingers, that it is not canceled due to weather)

This is a picture from last year. This is Emma's favorite part of the game. The tunnel. I have to admit I really like the tunnel too. It is fun to see them running through 5 or 6 times, smiling from ear to ear.

Saturday evening, we headed over to the Reed's house for Grant's 6th birthday party. It was awesome, it was a campout party. Everything was just really fabulous, the games went really well, there was good conversation, and the girls got to play with their friends. It was a homerun all around. One of the things they did was a bug hunt, with flashlights, and glow bracelets. This was really the first time the girls had glow bracelets, and they loved them. So much so, that we started a new fun bathtime ritual. We snap us up some glow bracelets, and throw them in the tub, and turn the lights off. The girls love it. We have had so much fun, but now the girls do not want to take a regular bath anymore. Oh the memories.

Last night we had our Trunk or treat thing at church. The girls liked it, but of course Abbi was so cold, that the candy could not keep her outside. The girls looked really good as Butterflies, but when they took their wings off, Emma said that she was a caterpillar. Too funny. I am going to take some better pictures of them on Wednesday to post on here, but they really did look good. So now we have a halloween party Wednesday at school, and then trick or treating that night. Emma is out of school on Thursday, so we can go aroung the nieghborhood after church on Wednesday. I am hoping that it will not be very cold, but that means it probably will be. I cannot wait to post more pictures, the girls are getting so big now.

So many thoughts.....

First of all, October has a ton of birthdays to celebrate. Today is Rena's birthday, in 3 days is my brothers birthday, and 2 days after that is Judy Clark's birthday. Of course, I am a loser and have not bought any cards to send out. I will however send them birthday wishes via email, the easier way nowadays.

Today, Ms Meins(Emma's teacher) sent home a note, which is not out of the ordinary, but not usually a good sign either. Okay, so Emma decided to color on the floor today at school. Oh yeah, it looks like she has decided to be "that"kid. What on earth possessed her to do this? Upon asking her this question she said "well, someone else did it first(which I do not believe) and it was a yucky day today, and it needed some really pretty orange to brighten it up!" I am telling you right now, that I really do not know where she gets this stuff. I know that I did some things that were in the category of "that" kid when I was in school, but I am speechless. I guess that she is going to be a lot like me in the sense that she likes to make people happy. I was the class clown in school, and I see a little bit of me in that girl.


Abbi is still not quite the same since last Wednesday. She has started having this little evil laugh, that is kind of grunty and throaty, and totally funny. It cracks me up when she does it, but she tends to do it at odd times, like when her sister gets in trouble. It is almost like she has an evil plan, and laughs when Emma has misfortune. I spent the day watching her sleep today. She is fighting a cough and head cold, and when medicated that child can sleep. It was a rainy day too, so perfect for sleeping. When she woke up, she had a strange look in her eye. I asked her if she had a good nap, and she smiled and said "oh yes momma, I was oh so sweepy." Too sweet.

I have been slacking on my running lately, which is not good, but of course I have an excuse. It honestly feels like I have broke my hip. I know that I have not, but it hurts really bad. I have been such a lazy bum, and need to get with it, before the BIG RACE!! The second weekend in November is our annual girls weekend in Houston. All of the ladies in our family, go down to Houston and go shopping at the Nutcracker Market. It is so much fun, and i literally cannot wait. The most exciting part of it WAS that I was hoping that Kimberly was going to be able to ride with me to Texas. But since she is starting this new job in Arkansas, she may not be able to get off and come down. That is the sad part of having family things. You always want everyone to be there, I missed it 2 years ago and I called mom every 2 hours during the day. The good news is if you are unable to make it to Houston, you are always getting something from the day. The year I missed mom bought me a really cool snowman for my front porch. So now we will all try to find something for Kimberly to bring back. I am really hoping that she calls and says she got time off. I do not like to drive by myself into Texas, it just gets boring with noone to talk to.

Those are my thoughts for today, they are rambly. Oh, and I called Rena today for her birthday, and I gotta say totally jealous. It is soo cold up here, and she was off to catch a plane to Cabo San Lucas. Man, I would trade places with her in a snap. Happy Birthday Rena, Ron and Judy! Love you all.

What a great Ladies Retreat we had. It was so great to have 40+ people in Heber Springs. Of course it was my nightmare come true on Friday night with the devotional, but it went great. This past week has been somewhat normal, but busy. We had our very first parent teacher conference. I was excited to go up to the school for it, and was so relieved that Emma has done so well. She is advanced with all of her skills, bonus, she is cute and smart. I was laughing at her teacher, because Emma wants so badly to go to a class called Reading Recovery, but she does not need to go to it. I think the main pull for going to the class is that Mrs. Sonya from church is the teacher, and Emma loves her to death. We have had many tear filled days because she was told she could not go hang out with Mrs. Sonya.

We are having crazy weather right now, and of course we have all had our bout with the sinus and head colds that go around this time of year. Emma has had her normal, congestion and cough that turns into a sinus infection. She was out of commission yesterday, and today we are getting well. It is not as severe as it was in the past, and I truly think it is because of her allergy shots. We did get flu shots on Tuesday, and the nurses were amazed that neither one of the girls cried. I too was a little shocked by it, but not making a huge deal out of it in front of the kiddos. The nurse went on and on, and told everyone that the girls are so very brave, and then kept giving them tons of stickers. Emma looked at me at one point and said “I guess she does not know that I am going to be Supergirl when I grow Up.” I just replied with a straight face and said “ nope, I guess your secret identity is safe” She is so funny. I took pictures of her in her ballet stuff, and in one picture that I will add here, she is Supergirl as a little girl pretending to be a ballerina for Halloween. She is so funny, I find myself laughing at her all the time.


Wednesday, I went to Little Rock to return somethings to ToysRUs. It was a great outing, except for one little thing. Abbi and I had lunch at a Brazilian café down off of Kavanaugh, and I had a great idea to get her a Brazilian soda. Now, let me remind you that I have been in the states since I was 1, and so I did not grow up like most Brazilians. Okay, so I bought her a gaurana, which I was very proud of. But I also called daddy to tell him about my new find, and brag that I was eating the food of “my people”, I told him about the soda, and he started laughing. He then informed me that guarana is what they add to energy drinks like RedBull, and things like that. Needless to say, Abbi was OUT OF CONTROL. I have never seen her so hyper in my life. It was almost like she was a bottle of soda that had been shook up, so when the lid came off all of her energy had her going all over the place. Chase came out while putting the girls down Wednesday night, and said Marli, you are in charge of getting RedBull to bed tonight. And as soon as the words came out of his mouth Abbi came flying into the living room chattering about how she was not tired and wanted to go and play. We laughed at her for about 20 minutes, and then the funny wore off.

For the past month or so, I have been trying to get the girls to commit to a Halloween costume, and for some odd reason Emma had her mind set on being a Blue Butterfly. I am not sure why, but I made sure she was serious before I went out and bought her some wings, of course she has decided now that she is going to be an Orange Butterfly, after the blue wings were already bought. It is funny because the Orange wings were for Abbi Grace, but now the girls have switched on me. I am anxious to see it all put together. The wings are for adults, but I thought that they would look more realistic if the wings were ginormous on them. I will of course post those pictures when I get them. I guess that was our week. We were busy doing little things, and are still looking forward to the end of soccer. We missed yesterdays game with Emma being sick, and it was nice to be able to not rush around on a Saturday morning.

Yesterday vs Today

Yesterday was one of my emotional rollercoaster days, filled with tears. I could not make anything work correctly, I was all around in a BAD MOOD. It happens some around here, but I can usually fake at least a smile, not yesterday. I do not like being in a foul mood, there is not really any good that comes from it, with the exception of some really good sarcastic cracks. It all turned around when I went to bed. Apparently not enough sleep for me, is a bad idea. Luckily being somewhat caught up today, I could focus on the fun side of mommyhood.

Today had its challenges, I watched baby Christian (4 months old) and then had Ellie(4 years) for part of the day. They were of course fine, and no problem at all, unlike my sweet Abbi Grace. Today was the day, that I actually saw her get it. For those of you who do not know, I am very lazy. So much so, that I really did not care if Abbi ever started wearing panties. Chase has put me on a budget though, and the last thing that I want to buy is pull ups or diapers. But today she got it. Only one accident, I could not believe it. We even left the house with her in her little Tinkerbell panties. I was so proud, if I would have seen anyone I probably would have showed them how well she was doing. And yes that does mean going and looking in the potty for all of her wonderful makings. She was so excited too, she just kept telling herself run fast Abbi, as she bolted for the bathroom. The crowning moment for the day of Abbi’s accomplishments was that she went to bed at 7pm. I am telling you this kid was a true blessing today.

After the kids were in bed tonight, Chase’s phone rang. Of course I figured it was work, so I did not pay much attention, until he said “okay, so you killed a deer and now do not have anywhere to clean it? Well, you are more than welcome to do it here….” I looked up so fast, and started saying the usual, he better not, that will be gross. And then Chase starts telling him to take it to the carwash, or somewhere where he can wash all the insides down. I was not prepared for that conversation. And honestly, I just started to laugh. And thinking about it now just makes me laugh. You are probably thinking that it is Chase’s brother he killed the deer, but it was not, it was one of our new adopted sons. I am now picturing him at the carwash, with the big sprayer hose, cleaning the deer. It made my day. I laughed so hard about it, and consider it to be the perfect ending to my lovely day.

Tomorrow Allison and I are leaving for our Ladies retreat. I am so ready to go, but still a little worried. Mainly now, because I am losing my voice a little bit. The guy I dated in high school always liked to call and talk to me on the phone when I was like this, but I never really understood why until today. Emma said that I sound more fun. I guess it sounds like I have been cheering on the winning team. So, tomorrow night around nine-ish, say a little prayer for me, I will be getting up and doing my devotional right about then. I am taking two of my biggest supporters, so maybe they will lose their voices cheering me on. I finally got a picture of Emma in her ballet stuff, but have lost the camera in all of the many piles of laundry. The job never ends.

It is Crazy at the Tucker house!

Wow, things have been crazy this month. We decided to participate in the adopt a student program at church again this year. Last year we had Heidi, who is the sweetest, most quiet person I have ever met. I adored her. She was very polite too, laughed at a lot of my jokes, not all of them, but enough to where I was content.

This year we have 2 new additions to the family. Brandon and Tommy. I know, 2 boys. I am the mother of two young girls, and now I have two 22year old “sons”. The girls are of course happy to have college kids to give them attention. I like getting to know people from different families. Brandon is the oldest of 3 boys, and is a huge hunter. He is most like Chase in the outdoorsy since. Tommy is the youngest of 4, and is an intern for the CCSU. I am really enjoying getting to know the boys, becuase they are so different than girls. I am so impressed by how guys(Chase included) are able to be on their own. I of course hate to be alone too much, I get bored easily.

We are still in the middle of soccer and ballet, but Emma is starting to get really tired. She is having a hard time keeping up with the schedule. The other day I asked her to show me what she learned in ballet, and she said “we learned how to dribble and pass,”
I looked at her in confusion, and she added “momma, I do not remember what I learned, I have done too much learning today.” She was so tired, I just smiled and put her to bed.

This coming weekend is my ladies retreat at church. We are going to Heber Springs, and as of our last meeting I am still on the schedule for a devo Friday night. I will of course do it, but how scarey. I am taking what I have learned from our college students to help me have the courage to get up there. Just so you know, you can still learn lessons from those who are younger than you. Our experiences with the adopt – a- college student program, have taught me, to have courage. These kids are assigned to families that they do not know, and you are supposed to bond with them. I could not have done that when I was in college, I was not good at being on my own. Still not, but I am learning now that you need to make yourself uncomfortable to find the courage to do the things you need to. So I am doing just that, I am making myself uncomfortable, so that I can take the next step in the journey of life.