Violatte's Artwork

Violatte has done a lot of great artwork in her school lately. Here are some of the things she has done.

This is a cherry tree she made for Presidents' Day. It is made from her hand and arm.

This is one of my favorite things. She made a house out of popsicle sticks and the trees and flowers are made out of things she found outside -- like leaves and sticks.

This is a valentines day picture Violatte made. The poem on it says,
"A piece of me
I give to you.
I painted this flower
To say "I love you."
The heart is you,
The hand is me.
To show we are friends . . .
The best there can be.
I hope you will save it
And look back someday
At the flower we shared
On your special day."

This is a walrus. I love the whiskers and eyelashes!

This is a picture of a squirrel that she painted.

This is "Geri Girrafe"

A painting of a kitty.

A dog made out of hearts for V-day

A Polar Bear

A Zebra

A dreamcatcher

A spider

An owl

The Power of Pepper

I learned this week that pepper spray would be painful. And I don't mean a little bit painful -- I mean a whole lot painful.

It all started when I took a shower while the girls were watching a movie. When I got out of the shower Violatte was rolling on the floor screaming like she was in pain. I couldn't figure out was wrong . . . until I smelled pepper very strongly. I went on a search and found our large container of pepper dumped out and all over the floor and table. It suddenly hit me why Violatte would be so miserable. I rushed her to the sink to rinse out her eyes and mouth and face and while I was splashing water on her I saw Annalee rub her eyes, and before I could stop her she was screaming too.

I spent the next twenty minutes switching girls between splashing water on their faces and holding a cold wet cloth to their eyes while I splashed the other girl's face. It was a mess. We were all soaked. I stripped off their clothes since they were also covered in pepper, wrapped them in blankets, and had them lay on the floor in the front room with wet clothes over their eyes. I opened all the windows to air the pepper smell and taste of the air out of the house.

Just then the doorbell rang. It was a friend of mine. I debated opening the door, but since the windows were open and I knew she could hear the girls screaming and knew I was inside, I opened the door. Then, I realized I was in only my robe and I felt so stupid. She took one look at the girls' swollen red faces and me in my robe with my hair still wet and I knew she could tell it had been an insane day.

Thankfully, Jim came home to pick up some things. All the girls had wanted was Daddy and the moment he came they calmed down and everything seemed better.

All that night, while I was at work, I tasted and smelled pepper. I think I have a fear of pepper now.

Family Visit

This weekend my grandparents came to visit. It was so fun seeing them! Sadly, I didn't get many pictures, but here are some of the ones we did get.

Luke and his Great-Grandpa Walker.

Annalee with her Great-Grandpa Walker

Baby Boy!

We are home! After a long and crazy four days we are finally home with our son. He is doing perfectly well and we are so grateful after such a scary start. Here is the info on his birth:

Name: Luke Jefferson Sanders
Born: Thursday, February 12, 2009 at 11:18 am
Weight: 7 lbs. 8 oz.
Length: 21 inches long

And here are some pictures from when we were in the hospital. Most of them are when he has the oxygen tubes and different sensors on him. We will get more pictures soon and post them later.

I am so happy to have our son here!

Daddy and his little boy

I love seeing the two of them together!

We tried on this little fishing cap. It's too big but isn't it cute?!!!

Jim, Annlaee, and Luke

Jim, Violatte, and Luke

Little Luke -- poor kid had so many things attached to him!

Annalee, Luke, and I

Husband Tag!

I love writing about my husband so I am glad to have another reason to. :)

what's your husbands name? Jim

how long have you been married? almost 5 years!

how long did you date? 1 1/2 months before the popped the question -- hey, when you know, why wait?

how old is he? 27

who eats more sweets? we share . . .unless it's brownies -- then Jim doesn't even have a chance

who is a better singer? Jim! (but don't ask him)

who is smarter? He is! There is no way I could design a rocket motor

who does the laundry? I do

who pays the bills? He does usually

who sleeps on the right side of the bed? me

who mows the lawn? I love to, but I let him do the trimming around the edges

who cooks dinner? I usually do, but he is always quick to help me out by cooking when I could use the help.

who drives? I am now proud to say that I enjoy Jim driving when we are together. (I have finally stopped being such a control-freak . . . for the most part.)

who is the first to say they are wrong? Definitely Jim. He is so much better about not holding a grudge and making amends.

who kissed who first? That is a good question. I'll just say it was mutual. :)

who asked who out first? He asked me out. . . although it took him THREE WHOLE MONTHS after we met!

who wears the pants? We share, but I definitely look to him for the final decision -- he is, after all, my man.

I tag: Crystal and Chelsi

Yay for sticker charts!

We have discovered a fabulous thing -- sticker charts! Who knew that stickers could make such miracles happen?!?

After feeling like I was fighting the girls to do everything that they should do in a day, I finally decided to make them a sticker chart. For each day of the week there is a spot for them to put a sticker when they complete things that need to be done. These things include making their bed, brushing their teeth, eating their vegetables, and going to bed well.

And let me just say . . . that miracles have happened. The first day we added the potty sticker on there, Annalee went potty in the toilet! Annalee now also leaves her blanket on her bed (to make her bed) and hasn't dragged it around anymore -- at all! Amazing!

Violatte is really good at reminding us to help them with things (like brushing their teeth). She won't let me forget something. She is even very anxious to set the table or eat her vegetables so she can get that sticker. Speaking of eating vegetables -- they actually do it now! Wahoo!

Stickers have become my best friends!

Haircuts

My poor girls have to have me cut their hair. It always scares me to cut their hair, but Violatte has been bugging me for a haircut for a long time. So, I decided to just do what I can. Annalee's turned out really cute. She looks good with a short haircut, and she really needed it! Her hair was so uneven!
Violatte's turned out good, too. It was shorter than I meant for it to be (but, I cut one side shorter than the other and had to fix it.) She really seems to like it, and their hair has stayed much cleaner and nicer. I think we are all going to like this change!