A week ago we lost Bear.

Yep, we really did.

Now, we've lost Bear before and have either 1~found her or 2~pulled out a Backup Bear and all was well.

But this time, that didn't work.
We could NOT find Bear anywhere and the only Backup Bear we have is one that she deemed for Caleb because the tag didn't work right (I'll have to go into the entire thing about Bear, about Bear's tag, and what it's all really about another time). SO, THAT Bear just wasn't working.

We tried to make do though..with Backup Bear (who is really "New Bear") and Pink Puppy. It was a long few days though. Then I finally gave in and took her to the store to find another lovie with a heart tag (it has to be the material/threaded TY tag) to see if that would help.
It did..sort of. She still really just had to have New Bear and still wished she had Baby Bear. We were making it though.

I had a friend that said "Maybe this is what she needs to break her of Baby Bear."
Nope, not so much. She just satisfied herself with New Bear and longed for her real one.

For the life of me though I couldn't think of anyplace we went last weekend and I could not find that darn bear!

Today we did what is usually our NORMAL SATURDAY errands. We went to Petsmart. We go to Petsmart almost EVERY Saturday. Maybe that's why it didn't even cross my mind that we had probably gone last weekend...

Anyway, there we were...went to get our crickets and then make the walk past the doghouses (the kids always climb into those) and then go to the front to watch the dogs play that are in the doggy daycare. We ALWAYS watch them through the glass walls. We sit down and just watch. ....
......
right next to the walls/windows are large shelves that have dog beds on them.
Georgia likes to climb into the dog beds and curl up...

and today she did the same thing...

like she always does...

(do you see where I am going with this?)

...and when she did she said "Momma, I have Baby Bear!"

I didn't catch on...thought she was talking about the bear we brought in with us, New Bear.

I said "Ok Baby."

She said "Baby Bear was in the dog bed!"

I again didn't really catch on and just gave her an odd look and said ok.

Then she held it up and showed me the tag and said "LOOK! It's BABY BEAR! Baby Bear was here!"

That's when it clicked!
We had apparently gone to petsmart last weekend, Georgia had apparently had Baby Bear with her, climbed into the SAME dog bed, and there we left Baby Bear! I had NO IDEA! (honestly I don't even remember going there!)

and praise God, there Baby Bear stayed.

and waited

and sure enough, we came back...unaware that Baby Bear was there waiting for us.

Thank goodness PetSmart doesn't sell too many dog beds!
(or clean off their shelves!)
and that we are creatures of habit!
:0)

It was wonderful!
We are all so happy that Baby Bear is back in the family.

Hi there! I know, I've been gone a long time! I kept thinking of all the things I would need to post whenever I came back and it was a bit daunting... so I decided that I am NOT going to try to catch everyone up. I post on Facebook a lot and there most people have been able to keep up. :0)

I just wanted to pop on and share something little but cute.

If you don't know how big of a deal a small cut on your thumb can be, check with Georgia. See, when you are a thumb sucker and you have a band-aid on your sucking thumb..it causes BIG problems.
We got to experience it today at nap time and it was NOT fun.
She was so frustrated and upset (being extremely tired added to that fun) and couldn't figure out a solution to the problem.
I of course shared some thoughts: suck with band-aid on, take band-aid off, suck your other thumb, etc. She was adamant though that none of those would work. I told her that she had another thumb and 8 other fingers she could choose from.
My frustration level was going higher and higher.
It's not often we still nap in this house, especially ALL of us.
But today was one of those times, or at least I was trying for it to be.

She finally said "I caN'T suck on that thumb (the other one) Momma! It doesn't taste good! This one tastes good, this one doesn't!" I asked her what they tasted like and she very seriously shared with me:
"This one tastes like strawberries. This one tastes like grape. I don't like grape."

so..there ya' have it!
She finally fell asleep (after probably 40 minutes of distress) without sucking on anything at all.

Hmmm...strawberry, grape.

:0)

I promise I will be back soon with a post. I've finally posted LOTS of photos on my Facebook.

Both of our main computers are down so I finally went ahead and downloaded photos onto our laptop. I'll go ahead and post soon too..

in the meantime though I couldn't help but to share this new favorite photo of my baby girl from dance class. :0)

:0)

Ok, so I meant to post this on a Wednesday but am just getting around to it.

I have done something lately that I came up with all on my own
(that's not saying that other moms haven't been doing it all along)
and it WORKS!

We go out to eat fairly often.

Not fancy places.
Not daily.

BUT often enough that sometimes it goes well and sometimes not.

We tend to always pick places that has things for the kiddos to do, play on, climb on, etc. just to keep them entertained.
NOW
I have a better idea.

My kids are LOVIN' Uno right now. Yes, Uno. The card game (thank you very much CBC Summer Adventures folks!). They are also new fans of Battle/War card game (thank you Taira). SO, I decided to put the cards into ziplock bags (those boxes never last) and take them with us when going to a restaurant... usually it's Uno because Battle/War lasts too long.
It is AWESOME!



They are actually so entertained that they are a bit upset when the food gets there!
Everyone has had fun.
Healthy, family fun, while waiting for the food.
It's perfect!

another option (that I tried this past week) was some cute little pattern manipulatives. I ordered them from Scholastic and they loved them! When they had finished all of the pattern cards they loved just playing with the cute little figures. Some examples are Bear Counters, Doggie Counters, etc. I got Halloween ones with cute bats, spiders, and ghosts WITH the laminated pattern cards for only $9. I am ordering a Christmas set too. They are GREAT!

YEA!
:0)

I'm not sure where my kids got this.
Not sure at all.
Seems like something they should desire when they are older
Or I have at least somehow warranted it.

But never-the-less it happened today.
I was just making dinner and suddenly Caleb said "I'm running away!"
Georgia responded with "Me too!"

I was shocked at first and didn't respond at all.
Then I said "Really? Where are you going to go?"
They replied "Dadaw's house. We're running away to Dadaw's house."

So they went and got their bags, packed them, and then headed for the door.

I was confused yet grinning.
I went to watch them (grabbed my camera first of course!) and asked them a few questions.
First, Georgia went to open the van door.
I said "Sweetheart, y'all can't drive. If you're going to run away, y'all will have to walk."
They said "OK."

They started to walk to the sidewalk.
I said "Ya know, it's a LONG walk to Dadaw's house. You may want to put on shoes."
Caleb agreed, Georgia said she could do it without shoes.

Then they were off.

I let them walk to the end of our yard/walk and said "You can walk. You can walk all the way to the bridge (it's just a part of our street about 5 houses down) and that's as far as you're allowed to walk without Momma. I don't plan on walking to Dadaw's house. If you walk past the bridge, I'll have to give you swats."
Caleb replied "But Momma, Dadaw doesn't live at the bridge!"
"Yes son, I know. You're not allowed to walk to Dadaw's house."





They were upset.
They came back.

I heard all evening that they wanted to run away to Dadaw's house.
I asked Caleb why and he said he wanted to live at Dadaw's house.

Simple response.
Simple reason.

When I asked why he said "Because Dadaw has cheese balls (cheese puffs he traditionally gets for the kids when we visit), he has the ball game (a pool table), and I love him!"

hmmm...makes sense to me!

I'm not sure how long it would take two kids to walk from San Antonio, TX to Slidell, La but I'm guessing it would take a long time.

I love that they love their Dadaw though.

Later I went to take a look in Caleb's bag to see what he thought important to take with him when running away... He packed: a coloring book, some HotWheels, our UNO game, a kaleidiscope, a bouncy ball, and a bottle of shampoo.
Nice to know he'll at least try to keep clean.
:0)

Put fruit on a stick
make probably anything into a kabob
and
it is SO much better!

While the kiddos and I were home (while they had the flu), I tried to find little things to do during the day that were fun and different (yet we had everything we needed at home already).

Caleb had been asking to make kabobs for a while
so, we did!

Here they are proudly showing their kabobs.

And they probably made/ate 3 each!
Healthy and fun
perfect!



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I really like to play with my kids, I really do.
But one of the things I seem to enjoy even more lately is watching them play together.
Really play together.
Talking to one another.
Planning with one another.
Working through ideas together.
It's precious.
(albeit rare too!)
And I love when I can sit by and watch.

I redid our playroom (AGAIN!) and really divided up the areas better. There is an art area, a dress up area, a play kitchen/home area (the kitchen came BACK in from the garage), and a "baby" area. This was designed with Georgia in mind.
Caleb doesn't usually play in the playroom much. He takes his HotWheels all over the house. Georgia though likes to "play baby" and it's adorable.
Once the room was rearranged it was brand new to them and therefore very exciting.
They BOTH immediately went in to try it out.

Here they are, both of them, "playing baby".
Georgia said that it was "the baby room" (which I guess she gets from my place of employment) and put all of the babies down for nap. It's funny...she has baby dolls but when she plays baby, it's with stuffed animals.






All babies were fed and had their diapers changed and then put down for naps.
Caleb helped out and even sang to his baby while he gave it its bottle.


Georgia patted one and kept saying "Shhhhh..." real softly while she rocked it.





So sweet.
So cute.

It's another one of those little daily things that I am so happy to get to see.
(yes, many of them really do have diapers on...the little baby doll kind you can buy. She loves them!)


:0)


Oh...and this is what happens when brothers and sisters play together...Bulkhead gets to come over the the dollhouse for a princess party!