Silver Dollar City

A couple of weekends ago we got to take the girls to Silver Dollar City. We go just about every year with Greg's grandparents and Aunt and Uncle, but this year my parents came down and went to SDC with us as well. It was so much fun. Jadyn is a SDC expert. She has been many times and is starting to ride some of the bigger rides. It is so cool! She loves the wet rides and rides them multiple times! This was the little girls first time. Unfortunately, I had the camera on the wrong setting and didn't know it so most of the pictures are blurry, but I did get a few that aren't and are very cute. :)

The little girls get to ride 2 rides - the frogs and the butterflies
Greg, My Dad, and Joey all crammed into the rides so the girls could ride.

Daddy and Jaycie on butterflies

Jadyn, Jemma, and Daddy. Jadyn and Jemma fought over who got to hold the button to make them fly. Haha. 

daddy and Jaycie on the butterflies

Before the frog ride started I caught this little beauty! Look at Jadyn's arm around Jemma. How sweet is that! 

 Jaycie loved the frogs. They are really bouncy and I may have threatened Joey to hold on to her tight. He obeyed. :) 

This one is before it started. I don't think she was quite sure what to expect. 

Jemma loved the frogs too! 

Oh and here's Papa. Watching him get in to the butterflies might have been more entertaining than the girls. The ride isn't exactly built for a 6'2'' man. :) 

We had a fabulous time! 

yesterday

Yesterday, I had a rough day. It was one of those days where one thing happened and it sent me into that nasty downward spiral of emotions. You know, the kind where the ugly cry happens frequently throughout the rest of the day. The kind where you go to bed exhausted. It was that kind of day. On top of it all, Greg had parent-teacher conferences and didn't get home until 8:00.

Thankfully, I have 3 amazing girls. My girls had no idea what was going on but knew that Mama was upset and spent lots of time snuggling with me. It was awesome.

I'm grateful that even in the midst of a trial the Lord sends us blessings.

(One of my blessings - Jemma - Playing in her toy basket!) 

A Fancy Nancy 5 year old!

Jadyn is 5. I just can't believe it. She is a fantastic 5 year old. She is smart, funny, kind, caring, a great big sister, and an awesome daughter. She loves Fancy Nancy, so we had a Fancy Nancy birthday party. Apparently we are a couple years too late on the FN bandwagon because there is a lot of party supplies but only available online.
I am really really resisting the whole friends party thing. I'm sure it's my own personal issue but I am hoping we never jump on that wagon. (A girl can dream, right?). I'm perfectly content with Jadyn and the other girls having family parties for the rest of their lives!
Here are a few pictures from this years party.

Jadyn's fancy cake

 See Mom's new curtains? She made them herself. Aren't they cute?!?

 My sweet girl! 

 Presents! She was so good and thanked each person after she opened the gift. 

Her birthday crown! 

She read each birthday card. 

 Happy birthday sweet thing! We love you to the moon and back! 

Pumpkin Patch - 2013

We headed with the family to the pumpkin patch. We went to Johnson's Family Farm. They had tons of activities for the kiddos - well the older three. The younger two mainly had to watch from the wagon. It was the first chilly day of fall and the cold crisp air felt pretty good!

The older three flying the plane.

The older three in the wagon

 Cousins!! Everybody is kind of looking at the camera and looks happy! I say... SCORE!! :)

Jaycie and Papa on the wagon to the patch

My babies checking out the ducklings

Beauties!

Cousins! They love each other. It is so sweet.

Papa and Jaycie. Jaycie picked her own pumpkin.

Jemma! Hands free. :)

The Franzy Bunch - October 2013

18 mth check up

As you know, our babies are 18 months old. We just had their 18 month check up. It was kind of emotional for me - although I kept it well hidden.

Lately I've been thinking about and reminded of what a miracle they are. Some day I get to tell them that we prayed so hard for them! It made me think of the day we found out we were having twins. The doc sent me for an early ultrasound (she said to establish a due date, but I found out later she suspected multiples) and Greg couldn't go with me. When the lady told me there were two babies I burst in to tears. She asked me why and I told her I was so blessed. We prayed for so long just to get pregnant and the Lord saw fit to give us two babies at once! Telling Greg was awesome too. I just handed him the picture and let him figure it out. :) 

Just to see how much they've grown since their stay in the NICU was overwhelming. They are caught up on all fronts. Their growth curve is perfect. They even wore bows for me today! Good girls. 

Jaycie and Jemma

And let's not forget their crazy sister. Jadyn is such a blessing. She is a good help, she's so much fun to be around, and she loves to give me hugs. Seriously, she's awesome :) She cried when she found out her sisters had to get shots. She loves them so much! 

Did I mention...

Did I mention this school year is off to a rough start?
I have?
Okay, well I didn't want you to forget.

I do have a few things I'm working on - for me.
1. Being intentional with my kiddos. I come home exhausted every day from a crazy work day. I want to make my time count. We play on the floor, read books, snuggle, and snack. I enjoy being with the girlies. It also means my house is a mess most of the time, when I do laundry I have about 10 loads to do at a time (and FOLD - GROSS!), and I do not feel prepared for most upcoming events. I'm okay with them because I recognize the most important thing right now are my girls.

2. I am working on being aware of what's best for my oldest. These past few weeks we've had a few challenges that have made Greg and I stop to consider long term consequences of decisions we are making for Jadyn right now. Greg and I each have character flaws (shocking - I know) that we see we've passed on to Jadyn. We know that by being proactive while she is young we can help shape some of those issues. Our main goal right now is to teach her that as long as she always does her best we are proud of her. She's a bit of a perfectionist in some areas and really likes to be the best (stop snickering - it's not nice - I'm sorry okay?), so when she has an off day we want her to know it's okay - as long as she knows she gave God her best.

3. I'm learning that the Word of God is so life changing. This is one I knew, but it's so nice to see it again. Jadyn is in Awana's this year. She LOVES it. In fact, last night she asked me how many more days until Cubbies. She's on her first verse and while I know she isn't totally grasping the concepts yet - I know it's only a matter of time before she will start asking questions. We need to be ready!

I'm learning more things right now as well. Several I started to type and then deleted because I'm not quite ready to share. :)

I can't help it

I try not to be "that mom." You know the one who brags about their "perfect" child? I think a lot of my reservation about bragging comes from being a teacher. I see the other side of it. I hear how perfect people's children are - a lot - and I know for a fact that they aren't.

Anyway, with all that said I would like to share, or brag, about my child. Mainly because someday I hope to share with her just how very proud I am of her!

Last week Jadyn started dance class. She is in a 4 & 5 year old class. She is so very very excited to be in dance class. It is a fundamentals of ballet and tap. It is through a church so they have modest dance routines, costumes, and they end each class with a devotion. We love it.
Jadyn has 5 other girls in her class. I don't know any of them. I don't know any of their families. What I do know is that Jadyn was very well behaved in the class. One little girl kept saying "I'm 5 and I've done all this before" another little girl didn't want to hold one of the girls hands and so she licked her own hand before she reached out to hold hands (thankfully the teacher caught it in time). It was so gross. Another little girl kept running back to her parents to get a bite of chicken nuggets before she did the next dance step. I've never seen anything like it.

I tell you this because I want you to know - I'm so proud of my girl! We have high expectations of Jadyn. We demand obedience. We require that she obey quickly with a happy heart. We don't allow whining - Jadyn knows that whining is a lack of self-control and she doesn't do it in the house (or hopefully any where else). So, it's nice to see that it's paying off. Walking that road day to day, keeping up with consistencies, being a parental team, and praying for our sweet girl is paying off - right now.

It was a much needed glimpse that we are on the right track.

New Mama's out there. Hang in there. You can do it though the 2s and 3s.

To myself in another 6-10 months: Hang in there. Keep up with the expectations and remember this night. :)

I know we have a long way to go - but I will take a moment here and there.