Today was busy, busy, busy for the Watson clan.  We started with the final basketball game of the season and went straight to a "banquet" with the teammates.  We left there a bit early and went straight to the first of our birthday parties.  It was for Ellie's friend at daycare, Layla.  They are exactly one week apart and are truly the best of friends.  It was a Frozen party, and Elli was beside her with excitement to have met Elsa! We left the Frozen party and drove straight to Chuck E Cheeses for a Super Hero party for Eli.  Again, a daycare friend.  It's funny how these childhood relationships stay so intact.  I love seeing their friendships grow.  After the party we went home to change the kids' clothes for the WKU because the Beckhams were blessing us with a date night.  They stopped by to get Eli and Ellie for the game, and Eric and I left for our date.  We ate Sushi at Yuki and then went wild and crazy shopping child-free at Cab

It's 4:20 AM making it exactly FOUR HOURS that  I've been up with Ellie. Four hours of patting, rocking, soothing, and pacing. Four hours of frustration and four hours that will chip away from my productivity tomorrow-I mean later today. There is not a word that comes to mind that is strong enough to coney how much I despise these nights. These nights that happen at least once a week robbing me of much needed sleep and seriously questioning my sanity. The only thing that gets me through is realizing that when Ellie finally starts sleeping like a normal child, I will never have to consistantly lose sleep again. That's because we will have no more children. For me, that decision was based on the issue of sleep alone, and I don't feel one bit of remorse for that.  I don't think my body could handle another bad sleeper, and I am confident that my emotional well being could not either. It's brutal, ya'll. The silver linking is that I am my own big

Today was fine because I got to go back to my old stomping ground for an interview this morning.  I actually sat in the poor hosts seat out of habit.  I felt so bad, but he was really nice telling me to move . Of course I got to catch up with my colleagues and friends too.  I think Radar was really excited to see me.  I mean, he was co-host of 4 years.  We are bonded! And in case you are wondering, I do not miss the early mornings at all. It was good seeing everyone it TV Land, but getting to spend my mornings with a view like this is a dream come true.  

Kids say the darnedest things, do they not?   Eli keeps us rolling with the stuff he comes up with, and we can’t wait for Ellie to talk so that she can contribute to our amusement.   Last night we had the funniest conversation with Eli that I just had to document. As mentioned above, Ellie is fairly non-verbal.   A more factual statement would be that Ellie is non-verbal unless she is singing in which case she know every word. This rule of thumb also applys when she mad in which case she speaks very clearly! With that being said, she is still an excellent communicator making it very clear what she needs with or without the use of language.   Last night was no exception. She was told that she could only have a “coo-coo” (a.k.a cookie) after she ate her yogurt.   Prissy Sissy showed her dislike of the situation by proceeding to throw the yogurt at my head. After a 32 second time-out, Eric and I were explaining to her why this was unacceptable behavior.   That’s when Eli chim

As if swallowing a penny wasn't enough to constitute a wacky day, the whole weekend was just kind of off.  Eric was sick with more sinus crud, and it just a slushy mess outside from all the melting.   Saturday after Eli's ballgame, we went to the grocery store in Glasgow and literally soaked ourselves getting to and from the car.  I have never been so thrilled to have Eric with me.  I could not have braved the weather with the kids and the groceries.  Clearly Saturday night was eventful with the whole penny situation, and Ellie topped it off by breaking two china tea cups and pulling the cake stand off the hutch in the dining room.  Praise the Lord that it didn't break of her, but the poor girl got scratched up from all the decorative pinecones that hit her led. Today I took the kids to just alone because Eric was just really puny with the cold.  I tried to get pictures of Eli and Ellie, but that didn't work so well for me.  We ended up stayin

It’s been a while, so I think it’s about time for another edition of “Story Time With Eli.”   As a child, I  can remember thinking that Dennis the Menace was really a bad kid. But now that I’m raising a Little Dennis of my own, I’ve come to realize that sometimes boys are just “spirited.” Ha! Eli doesn’t mean any harm, and his little shenanigans aren’t always a product of disobedience. (Although sometimes they are, but we chose not to discuss those.)   Anyway, Eli just doesn’t always think things through, a trait that keeps me in hysterics half of the time and leaves me wanting to pull my hair out the other half. I was reading to Ellie tonight in the family room when I heard a commotion and hacking from my bedroom where the boys were watching a basketball came.   I could hear Eli gagging and Eric asking him what he had swallowed. As you can imagine, my heart sank.   Terrified, I sat Ellie down and ran to the back of the house with a bottled water only to find a crying

This time last week I was hoping beyond all hope that we would get our "one big snow" for the year. Now I am so.over. it.  Even though I don't want to see another snowflake for the rest of my life…ok, I'm being dramatic…for the rest of the year, I do want to document a few things for this week.  One day I'll be telling my grandkids about that"big snow" in 2015, and I want to have details.  It takes an extra 30-40 minutes to get anywhere we want to go.  First we have to dress everyone up to look like the Marshmallow Man. Then we have to load the car very, very slowly.  Next we have to fight the seat belts and car seats to strap in across the layers upon layers of clothing.  Of course we can't forget driving at s snail's pace to our destinations, and when we finally arrive, we have to allow a solid 3-5 minutes to take off all of the winter gear.  This was our road on Wednesday afternoon on my way home from work.  For records sake,

We are trying to make the most of all this cold weather nonsense, so we decided to whip up a batch of snow cream last night after I got off work.  Eric and I were texting back and forth and decided that Eli would probably not eat it because he had gotten sick from digesting dirty snow earlier in the week.  As predicted, he wanted no part of it.  After a little basketball one-one-one time with him, I got busy making my little lady this winter treat.  Ya'll, she was thrilled!  It wasn't the best recipe, so next time I'll use a different one, but the sugar and sprinkles were enough to win this girl over.  Eli and Eric even tried a spoonful, but neither were fans.  Oh well, more for the ladies of the household!    I ended up having to take away the bowl from Ellie and bribe her with a sucker.  Only a small meltdown ensued when she realized the snow cream was gone.  Ha! I read online that snow cream if a southern thing, but I'm skeptical.  I mea

My alarm went off this morning just as dawn was breaking.  My bedroom was freezing, and I could hear the wind howling outside my windows.  A peak outdoors revealed freshly fallen snow and two cars that would have to be buried out…again! I was so tempted to grumble and complain about braving the roads and the cold temperatures, but the Lord quickly changed my heart reminding to "give thanks in all circumstances."   So today I am choosing to be thankful. I am thankful for my home , for a warm bed and for food to eat.   We have students whose last full meal was Friday at lunch.   Those children probably aren’t as thrilled about a “snow week” as mine are as they wonder when their tummies will be full again. I am thankful that I have a roof over my head, and I pray for those who don't.  My heart truly bleeds for the ones left outside during the harshest of conditions.  I am thankful for two days at home with my babies.   Two days to laugh, and play, and cuddle

This is a snow day that we won't soon forget.  Eli woke up around 1:00 throwing up.  We haven't been out of the house, and as soon as it was off of his stomach he was fine.  We determined that it was something he ate which was later confirmed when he admitted he had tried some dirty snow! Meanwhile, Ellie was busy hacking up a lung.  She has battled this since probably November off and on.  Despite being puny early in the day, she bounced back by late afternoon. Let's review.  One kid ate bad snow and puked.  One kid has the black lung, ok not really, but it sounds like it.  Oh, and did I mention that my car battery was dead?  UGH!!!  Eric had to make a trip on the treacherous roads to get me a new one so that I can make it to work tomorrow.  Good times, ya'll! The good news, is that both kids were feeling well enough to play out in the show this afternoon.  Above is the ramp Eric built for Eli.  It's snow stacked up to the patio tabl