Role Model......

There's all kinds of advantages to having an older child to help out around the house. Brittney is a wonderful helper to me as long as it's on "her" terms. Don't get me wrong, she's a GREAT kid. She's very caring, considerate and polite. However, her favorite thing to do is aggravate her brothers. I can't tell you on a daily basis how many times I say "DON'T AGGRAVATE YOUR BROTHERS!!!!!" or "JUST LEAVE THEM ALONE".

One other thing Brittney doesn't realize is that her brothers are watching EVERYthing she does ALL the time. If she is doing handstands on the couch, Jace and Cade are attempting to do handstands......on their heads!! If she's eating candy, they BEG for her candy. I could go on and on.

The good thing is that they don't always see the BAD stuff, they see the GOOD stuff too. They see how loving we are to each other. In the past few weeks, I have seen the sweetest displays of affection between ALL of them. Jace has started to give BIG hugs (complete with the patting of his hands when they're around your back....oh how it melts our hearts!). They will both give hugs and kisses on demand unless they're totally grumpy.

Here they are HOLDING HANDS!! This is HUGE for my boys. In the past when they would so much as touch each other, there would be lots of squealing and grunting as if to say "DON'T LAY A HAND ON ME BUDDY!!" (yes that is a purse Cade insisted on carrying around....sorry Cade. I'll pay for your therapy bills later in life)

What we didn't realize until today is that Brittney has taught the boys how to tackle each other...YES....to TACKLE each other. Nana noticed this the other day. The first time they did it, it was funny. The second time wasn't so funny. By the third and fourth time, Cade was getting pretty pissed off. I guess because Jace is the aggressive one and Cade was always the one to BE tackled. Here's a few shots of them on the trampoline tonight. They finally teamed up on Brittney and got her back.




She can handle it though!!!!!

Let's see if this works........


Photo Sharing - Upload Video - Video Sharing - Share Photos

****edited to add.....please turn your sound down. My voice is SOOO annoying in this clip. I apologize in advance and will be quiet in my next videos. It was my first time to do this and I just wanted to see if it actually WORKED****

LOTS of Celebrating

We had a little get together for Brittney's birthday on Saturday. We decided that she could have over just a few classmates. (We've done a LOT of different types of parties in the past....huge family ones at our house, we've had them at different places such as The Little Gym, Club Libby Lu, and last year we let her have a sleepover. That was NOT going to be the case this year.) Brittney wanted a small gathering and she took that and ran...........she planned her own party this year - from start to finish. She's an absolute mess. She saw some American Idol decorations in a BirthdayExpress.com magazine and just HAD to have them.


First on her agenda was presents.........(imagine that?)

Then we moved onto the real party.....the American Idol contest.....She moved her karoake machine into the living room, she brought out all of her CDs and we helped her move the furniture back. She set up a "make-up" area so the girls could GLAM IT UP before they went onto stage. It was hilarious. Everyone that came participated and had a GREAT time. Sometimes there are kids that are shy and will sit back, but not at this party. It was really nice that we didn't have to worry if everyone was having a good time or not. We all sang and danced and clapped as they attempted to sing. Steve and myself even participated in the fun (no singing though!!!!)


I think this was her best birthday party ever.

Today we had a birthday celebration with Steve's family since his birthday was last Sunday and his mom's (Granny) was Monday and then Brittney's was the 23rd....we've had a lot of birthday celebrating and birthday eating going on. Too much for me (who's been trying to exercise and eat better....with NO luck!) I actually did NOT have my camera with me so I'm waiting on the pictures to be emailed to me. We got the boys together with their 15 month old cousin, Trae. It was funny to see them interact.

Now I must go do some laundry........none of the normal things got done this weekend with all of the preparation and then clean up. It sucks to be the grown up!!!!!!!

Happy Birthday to my BABY!!!!!! AAAGGGHHH!!!

Nine years ago.....September 23, 1997.......Our lives were changed forever! Brittney was born at 10:39 p.m. (keeping me in labor ALL day) weighing in at 8 lbs 3 1/2 ounces and 20 1/2 inches long.

I will NOT post her newborn hospital picture because it is very, very, very bad. The sad thing is that we thought she looked SOOO beautiful when they took it and ordered a ton of them plus an 11x13. When they came in the mail a few weeks later, we were SHOCKED at how in the world we could have thought our baby was so beautiful. Isn't that how all parents view their children though?

This is my baby at 6 months, 1 week old. She was an official PORKER and resembled the Michelin man! I had to wash in between all of her rolls. She's always had the chubbiest cheeks that you just couldn't resist squeezing. She was always talking, singing and playing with her babies. Funny thing is that she had SO many baby dolls, when she would get a doll she already had as a present she wouldn't want to take it back. No way, she now had twins!! She was obsessed with twins and had 2 double strollers to push her babies around in. Little did she know what was in store for her a few years down the road.

Now, she is catching up to my whopping 5' 3 1/2" self. She's officially outgrown her rolls and replaced them with nothing but pure muscle. She's so powerful when she tumbles because of all that muscle. She's really growing up in front of our eyes. Although she never wanted to be "little"....she crawled early (6 months old), walked early (9 months old) and talked from the very beginning. I really can NOT remember a time when she wasn't talking!!!!

Oh Brittney, we love you so much! You've changed our lives for the better and brought us so much happiness. Your dad, brothers and I think you're just the greatest!!

Happy 9th Birthday! Now stop all that growing up!!!!!!

Love Thursday!!!!! (Part 2)

This is a picture of my "little" nephew, Justin, playing with my son, Cade. Let me give you a little history on Justin. He is my brother's first born son who was like a son to ME. I was still living at home when he was born. My mother babysat him a lot when he was a baby so I was around him a LOT. I took him to Astroworld, Chuck E Cheese, shopping...you name it. He was my "baby fix" before I knew I wanted a baby. But this October 17th Justin will be 16!!! Yes, that's right...my "baby" nephew will be old enough to drive.



Here's a picture of him playing with Cadey-Poo just like I used to play with him!!!! (And for the record, Justin is the first and only baby that I ever held like this and he threw up IN MY MOUTH!!) I'm sure Justin LOVES it when I tell that story over and over.

Remind me to follow my instincts.........

We had another wedding to attend this past weekend. It was a 3rd cousin of mine, Tommy, who was marrying his wonderful girlfriend Sara and it was going to be a huge family event. (Brittney LOVES Sara because she taught her to play the piano one summer.)

I kind of thought about having my mother-in-law watch the boys but figured that I'd be surrounded by lots of family and lots of helpers. Right? Well, kind of right.

It started off kinda bad. We arrived at the church with plenty of time before the ceremony started. It was almost TOO much time because the boys started to feel right at home. It was a small little church that Steve said "smelled like a funeral home". When Brittney opened up the door, Jace just ran all the way down the aisle and would have climbed up on the altar if I hadn't snatched him up. So when I carried him out of the church, he was throwing the first official fit of the evening. THE KEARLEYS HAVE ARRIVED!!! My boys haven't seen the inside of a church, unfortunately, since they were baptized at 3 months old. The other times we've attempted to go back to church we tried to leave them in the nursery (notice I said "tried").

Speaking of nurseries, my mom heard from someone else at the wedding that the bride's mother had booked the nursery for young children attending the wedding. I thought this was a GREAT idea seeing as how Jace ONLY wanted to stay outside now and the humidity was at 100%. So we located the nursery and the boys had a great time playing with all the neat toys. Then it came time for us, the adults, to leave. I don't know if I've mentioned the fact that Jace and Cade take a LONG time to warm up to strange people or strange places, but they do. They do not take kindly to change. Once we were out of the room, I waited around the corner b/c the room had a 1/2 door and listened for about 5 minutes. Their cries were slowly dying down. I sent another mom in to tell the nursery worker to just give them food or their drinks. You can usually win them over with food, that's for sure. I swear I didn't hear a peep after that, so I headed into the church.

The wedding ceremony lasted 18 minutes (thanks to Steve's "interest" in weddings. He likes to rank weddings ONLY on the basis of which one is the shortest. The record holder so far is my friend Janna's which clocked in under 10 minutes....Steve was in heaven). So after the wedding party had exited, we made our way to the nursery to pick up two puffy faced, red eyed little boys who had been crying the ENTIRE time they were in there. Of course within minutes of being back in our arms, they were FINE! It just broke my heart!

So, off we go to the reception. Oh my..... let me just show you a picture of what the reception looked like............. (by the way, this is one of the 3 whole pictures I had time to snap.)


Does this look like a place you should let 2 toddlers run loose? Cakes were nearby within reaching height, an ice sculpture was looming around, and tableclothes were EVERYWHERE!! (I'm kind of surprised to say that all of the tablecloths remained in tact throughout the evening). I was on guard immediately. It started off ok. Jace must have put away around 30 strawberries from the serving line. He just wouldn't.stop.eating.them!!! After his belly was full though, he got ancy!!! Cade was pretty content with my mom for the time being....that's why my story is more focused on Mr. Jace.


I decide that Jace needs a place to run around and burn off some energy. So, we head off to where the smokers (and their children) are outside. I do a quick scan of the patio area. It's all closed in and there's railing all the way around....whew! They ran around a little bit and interacted with some of their cousins that they barely know. Then I really don't remember which one of them it was, but whoever it was found a piece of loose railing and kicked it down to the ground one story below. This deck was HUGE and my boys found the ONLY PIECE OF LOOSE RAILING???? I don't know if this a sign of intelligence or what, but if it is ... my boys are GENIUSES!!! Thank God there wasn't water down below us, it was just a one story drop off onto grass. But still.......not so safe to be around.

Of course, now THIS is the place to be! All of the kids are coming over to check it out. So know I'm stuck outside trying to stop any of the kids from falling over, while also trying to find chairs, trash cans, anything to block this area off. Let me remind you too that I'm dressed nicely and AGAIN the humidity was 100%. I am now resembling a wet mop and really ready to get the hell out of here. I then look from the outside into the beautiful reception and see all of my family members, my "helpers", just visiting, laughing and having a good old time. (By the way, they all claim innocence...that they didn't know I was out there dying.) I gathered up my boys, who didn't want to go in yet and start screaming, and enter stage left . THE KEARLEYS ARE HERE!!!!!!!

Our table hadn't even been "released" to the serving line yet, but it was 8 o'clock...their bedtime....and I wasn't even the slightest bit hungry. I hadn't stopped sweating since we left the house that afternoon and I was just exhausted. Brittney, of course, stayed until the wee hours of the morning with my parents and had a GREAT time. It really was a beautiful wedding, I just did not get the privilege of enjoying it.

So, needlesstosay, JACE and CADE...you have attended your last wedding until you're in your teenage years at least! I just don't have the energy to deal with it!

Happy Birthday Honey!!

Today is my wonderful husband's 35th birthday!! As my father told me on my 35th birthday a couple of months ago, he's half way to 70 now!!

Anyway dear, I just wanted to tell you Happy Birthday. You've been my lover, a great husband, wonderful father and most of all my best friend! I couldn't make it in life without you by my side.

You were happy with just having your little girl....but I pushed the topic of more children and low and behold got you 2 little sons!! What more can you ask for in life, right?

Seriously though you've shown me, through your examples, how to be a stronger and better person. I've learned that I can do anything if I put my mind to it...just like you. You're the strongest and most determined person I know. I love you with all of my heart!! We all love you!!!!!!!!

Happy Birthday!

Love Thursday!!!

I've watched 1girl2boys post these Love Thursday photos. I finally decided to participate!

This is a picture from a few months ago. She was busy, as usual, entertaining her two little brothers. They absolutely adore her!!!!!!

Wordless Wednesday

More, More........

Around our house there is a lot of noise! There's a lot of cars being ridden, cars being pushed, cars being fought over (hmmmmmm, there seems to be a car theme here). BUT there's not a whole lot of talking going on .... at least by Jace and Cade. They definitely have their own language with each other and they can (usually) communicate to us what they want.

At our last two Little Gym classes they have been introducing a few words in sign language. Now, I've heard of parents doing these signs with their children but never really gave much thought in teaching it to the boys. As a matter of fact, MOST of the kids in the class already knew these signs. With my competitive mothering instinct intact, I felt like my boys were a little behind ... and I can't have that!!

So, my goal for the day was to implement "more" and "thank you". Mission ACCEPTED!

Our popsicle addiction around here proved very easy to teach "more". Cade pretty much caught on the first time around. He did it perfectly....touched all of his fingertips together....gave him some praise....he was so happy that he was able to tell me that he wanted more without having to throw himself down in front of the refrigerator and throwing a fit. It was really nice!


Jace did really good too. The only little quirk with his method is that he just touches his index fingertips together. He doesn't do all of them, which is the "proper" technique. But, he wasn't budging .... So, I gave him his praise and another popsicle!


Then, we moved onto "thank you". Well, Nana has already been working on this one. When she tells them to say thank you, she makes deep eye contact with them and says (with her head nodding slowly) "now say THANK YOU". So from that, the boys have picked up bowing to us to say "thank you".

Now, we have our own finger touching, bowing little "mute" boys running around the house. It's pretty cute!


(I know nothing is wrong with them because they understand EVERYthing we ask them to do. I know the speech will come soon enough and by then I'll be kicking myself because they'll never be QUIET!!!!!!)

From the Kearley Zoo to the REAL Zoo

I knew that a trip to the zoo would fit my boys well and Brittney hadn't been in a few years! I've just been waiting on the weather to participate a little bit. But regardless of the hot weather, we rounded up the troops this weekend and were one of the first ones to arrive when the gates opened at 9 a.m. Boy was it nice outside then.

I like to take the before and after of our trips (to see if it was worth in the exhaustion department).

Here's the BEFORE...........


and then the AFTER...............

I'd say the exhaustion rating is prettty darn high right here.

The favorite thing for Jace and Cade was the petting zoo. How do I go about purchasing a goat for them to torture? I'm just glad these animals were used to being brushed, petted, and loved on. Jace would not stop hugging the goats!!!! Even the zoo worker in the petting zoo was cracking up at him. Probably thinking...geez lady don't your kids ever get out? Actually, no they don't.

Steve was also entertainment for the goats. He had about 4 of those little guys rubbing their noses and little horns on his wheels. We were told that it was okay as long as they didn't start biting them. Poor Steve, he's a good sport though. He has worse luck with puppies being placed in his lap. It's usually a given that he'll get peed on by those.

This was our cue that is was definitely time to go home. I full fledged back arching fit being thrown by Jace. I thought that maybe the elephants and giraffes would start a stampede if we didn't get our squealing little angel out of there quickly!
Our trip was short and sweet but that is kind of how we prefer to do things lately. We're just testing out the waters to see how well the kids do in new surroundings.

NANA is back!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Last week Nana was on vacation Thursday, Friday and on into the extended weekend. (A WELL deserved vacation.......and it should have been MUCH longer). That translated into me trying to cover all of the bases with regard to child care.

I went into work late, then left early. Heck, one day we HAD to celebrate someone's birthday over lunch, so I even took a long lunch in my shortened schedule. (It was kind of nice;) I was able to switch the boys' mother's day out to those 2 days and let them stay a little longer to take a nap there. I figured that wouldn't go so well.

You know.... take a nap....on a mat....with just a blanket and stuffed animal.....the ability to get up and move around.....HA! Well much to my surprise, THEY DID IT! Geez, I went into the room while they were sleeping and I wanted to take a nap. There was soft music, the lights were dimmed and they had a comfy little pillow to snuggle up on with their blankies. I didn't want to leave!!

Their school is just right down the street from our house AND Brittney's elementary school is just right across the street from that. (It's really convenient!). So, I ended up leaving them asleep one day while I picked Brittney up from school. When we walked back to get the boys, they were having a snack and Cade wasn't even ready to leave yet (b/c there was food). Jace, on the other hand, had his lip puckering out as if saying "you left me!" It's a good thing that their teacher Ms. Joan knows how to bribe them with M&Ms or else things would've been a LOT uglier.

Anyway, the laundry got piled up, the Wiggles got replayed one too many times, Brittney informed me of EVERYthing I did differently than NaNa and most importantly, my kiddos just plain missed NANA!

She went to Nashville to see Graceland (among other things) and brought the boys back these cute little onesizes!

WHOOPS!!!

My daughter CRACKS me up! I know she'll kill me for this, but I have to do it.

Take a look below at #15 on her PRE-test for her spelling words this week.

I busted out laughing when I came across this. When she got home from cheerleading practice Tuesday night I asked her to look at it. Her eyes got SOO big when she realized what she had done and she was able to laugh at herself. Of course Steve and I made a little skit out of it. Then we had to make sure that she knew she wasn't supposed to say it. Of course, she did. She's like that....she just GETS IT.

Hopefully today on her REAL spelling test she'll get it correct.