The fam at a photo shoot at Burns Park~ October 2015

Abbie Grace

Charlie

Aubrie Faith

It's been a while...

Well,it's been forever...really its been about four years or maybe five since I have actually taken time out to blog. I have had good intentions but intentions just don't translate to time...apparently for years. So there it is...my apology, probably to no one but myself but it makes me feel better regardless.

We have had some major changes in life since I last regularly blogged. First and foremost would be Charlie. He is four years old now and he is absolutely delightful. Seriously I had no idea boys would be so much stinking (and sometimes he really does stink) fun. I love being a boy-mom. It is maybe one of my favorite things on the planet. It's so challenging and so different from the girls. I cannot predict his behavior or his train of thought. He is a mystery to me and I absolutely love it. He looks just like his Daddy who I happen to really like. That makes it incredibly difficult to deal with when I am disciplining him and he looks up with those big ol' brown eyes and I just want to kiss his little face off. Oh my gosh... he is my JOY.

The second major change is that we pulled the girls out of school and now we are home schooling. That is insane you may be thinking and there are days I would totally agree. It is insane. I would have never imagined myself actually doing this but this is our second year and so far so good. There are some hard days, there have been hard transitions and some bumps in the road but overall, it's been a blessing. I am no expert on all things educational but I am definitely earning my degree in these kids. I love watching them learn and I love learning along with them. Hopefully I will be able to break some of that down here (assuming that it's not another 5 years between posts but who knows...it could be) but if not let me say to whomever reads this (hopefully my kids later in life) that this is a do-able endeavor. It's hard but it's worth the work. God specifically called us to this and obedience has led to many blessings. Listen and follow His leading and you will not go wrong (that is not assurance of ease, just assurance of peace).

So that's it for now...Brie is begging to use the computer because she is BORED! I remember being bored a few years ago, so we had Charlie...just kidding but it has been a while since there was a lack of things to do. And with that, I leave this space to fold laundry, run a taxi service, prepare a lesson and generally do things mother-y.

Until next time...Tracie

Charlie~ That's what's been going on in our house in the last year and a half. We found out we were pregnant last fall and in June, the third specifically, we welcomed the latest addition to our family. Charles William Durham is a happy, healthy blessing of a boy. He is truely one of the greatest blessings of my life. I was so nervous to have a boy. Never really being around a "little" boy, it was intimidating to think about raising a boy. I mean, I knew what to do with a baby girl, that was easy. But a boy, A BOY! What in the world was I supposed to do with that. How would I feel about having this little guy around? Would I be able to relate to him? Would I actually think he was cute? Little girls are cute from the get-go what with the bows and ribbons and ruffly pink things but a boy? Weren't they just...well, boys? I knew I would love him, but was I going to be able to relate to him? Well, I decided to just leave it to the Lord and let Him prepare me. Everyone I talked to who had a boy said, you just wait, there's something special about boys. Honestly, I had no idea what they were talking about. I mean, I LOVE my girls. At night, I say to them: Abbie, you are the heart of my heart, Aubrie, you are the light of my life. And I mean it. They are more special to me than I ever imagined a child could be and quite frankly, that has not changed a bit. However, there is something new in the mix now. It happened quite unexpectedly and quite instantly on the day that Charlie was born.

I have NO, absolutely NO memory of delivering the girls. I have a pretty crummy memory in general so my sketchy memory of the delivery room I chalked up to just that, crummy memory. But as the date for Charlie's delivery came closer, I talked with my OB/GYN Steve Marks and mentioned not really having any memory of the girls births. He was shocked and said, "We will make sure that you remember this one! If my wife didn't remember the birth of our baby, I would have been in serious trouble. I wouldn't want that to happen to her and I won't let it happen again to you." It was so sweet. That said, I told him that if it came down to it, I'd rather have sketchy memories that clear memories of blistering pain. As it turns out, my anesthesiologist the day of deliver (ironically his name escapes me now) figured out (through his own personal experience) that I have some kind of weird reaction to the anti-nausea medicine that they put in the cocktail for the spinal block and it makes me lose my memory. Well, they put the cocktail in, sans the one drug, and I'm telling you, it was like a whole new experience. Totally new! As I was wheeled into the delivery room I realized exactly how little memory I had of the girls birth. It was as if I had never delivered a baby before. I remembered NOTHING! Everything was new. The sounds, sights, smells...so weird! I knew it was going to be such an exciting experience because I was going to actually remember this baby being born. Problem with that was that it was all so new that I got really nervous...and nautious. Being straped down to a table in the buff, and 40 weeks pregnant, and with lots of people around, and feeling like you are about to lose your lunch is NOT a fun experience. The doctor had to adjust the table so that Charlie rolled over a bit and off of my stomach and then sickness went away pretty quickly. I was so relieved and then they started the procedure to bring our boy into the world. It was weird hearing and smelling all of the sights and sounds of the delivery room. But in what seemed like no time, I heard the sweetest sound ever. A wet, very upset little cry. It was CHARLIE!!! He was here!! Tears from me, tears from Phillip. It was a precious moment.

They lifted my little fella over the sheet so that I could see him and it was as if a ton of bricks hit my heart. I saw him and instantly I heard in my heart: This little guy is yours for a very short amount of time. You get to be his number one for 18 years and then he will leave and be the love of someone else. I'm telling you that if a momma bear's instincts are anything like what set in the moment I saw Charlie, it's no wonder that people use them as examples of fierce love. It was like instant, fierce, gargantuan love. And it was so different from how I connected to the girls. I really feel like falling in love with the girls was a process but falling in love with Charlie was instantaneous. That's not to say that the level of love it different, I'd die for any of my kids, I love them all to pieces but the how, the when of it happening was different. In the end, the depth of love is the same but it was a different beginning all together. He stole my heart the moment I laid eyes on him and I'll never be the same.

Twin Day

Anna and Abbie

Abbie Grace and her friend Anna coordinated on twin day this year. They wore matching shirts and bows with pony tails. They were so excited to dress up together. We had a blast getting them coordinated and watching them match up. It was lots of fun.

Afterschool Snacks

Brie with Sticky Hands

Yum!

My Cute Crestwood Cougar

The Afterschool Crew

My babies!

One of the new school traditions from this first year of school is the afterschool snack. It's something I remember loving myself when I was a kiddo. My girls love this time of day. Sometimes we do fun stuff and other times it's a PB&J or Breezie Crackers (Wheat Thins) with Abbie Cheese (American Cheese). On this particular day we had a fun time making Rice Krispie Treats. The girls LOVE this particular snack (and who wouldn't). We tried to save some for NiNi since it's her super favorite but we ended up licking the bowl clean.

Prey and Competitors

So yet another Abbieism has emerged. This last week the kids were learning about Sea Life. Beach day is tomorrow and they have all been eagerly learning all kinds of things relating to the ocean. Abbie is great at picking up information. She is a fountain of new facts at the end of most school days. Last week when we were walking home from school she started to tell me about the little fish that were in the ocean. She said, "Mom, did you know that those little fish are the prey for the bigger fish?" "Yes, can you believe it?!?" I replied. "Yeah, I know" she says. "It's amazing because they have to swim really fast to get away from their 'competitors'." I had to really think about that for a second. Because yes, they do have to outswim other fish which implies some level of competition but what I quickly realized was that she meant that the prey had to outswim their PREDATORS. Ahhhh....it's all becoming clear to me now. Predator, competitor, close call either way!

Abbie's Zoo Trip

Phillip, Brie, Abbie and Faith at the LR Zoo

Faith and Abbie

Standing like the Blue Crane

Mrs. Murdock's Kindergarten class at the LR Zoo

Last week we got to go with Abbie's class to the Zoo. It was lots of fun.

She walked around with her friend Faith and her little shadow, Brie. Phillip was off work so he got to come to which was a huge blessing. Brie fell down three different times and scraped her hands and knees each time. However, that was the only true trauma of the day which is saying something. Abbie's favorite animal was (again) the Armadillo and Brie (again) said that the Bear Cat was her favorite.

Regarding NiNi's fitness

Tonight Abbie started an exercise regimine...of her own volition. She went upstairs, dressed herself and came down ready to go walk on the treadmill at NiNi's house. She also gathered up some weights (she has one pound ones that are just hers) and her towel for floor work (just like mom). So we all traipsed next door and Ab's walked on the treadmill for 15 minutes, worked up a little sweat and then wanted to do some weight work (which I did with her) and we ended with the crampy crunches referenced in the last post on Abbieisms. We then went downstairs and I overheard Abbie chatting with NiNi. She said that she wanted to exercise to be skinny and healthy. (Yes, I've already jumped on the skinny thing and we talked about being healthy is important but being beautiful on the inside counts more than beauty on the outside.) NiNi responded with something along the lines of "Oh girl! Your little tummy is strong and tight. I wish mine was like that." Abbie looked at her and said without missing a beat. "Well if you would exercise more and eat healthy then it would be."

Abbieisms

Abbieisms are sayings created by Abbie that I find funny. Here are some recent ones...
1. Betrayed-ed (see post below for details)
2. Crampy Crunches (This is Abbie's explanation for what it feels like to be on the floor and doing abdominal curls. She said doing them made her tummy feel all crampy. I replied that we call it a crunch. She said, well it's a crampy crunch! Too true...)
3. Names for Brie: Fuzzy Head, Peepy Weep. For the record, Brie hates these names and corrects her sister anytime she hears them which is frequently. The conversation goes something like this: From Abbie "Hey Fuzzy Head!" Reply by Brie "I not Fuzzy Head. I Awbwie Faif or Bweezy (Translated, I'm not fuzzy head, I'm Aubrie Faith or Breezie.)

Betrayed-ed

So this weekend Phillip did his second triathalon which was his first outdoor tri. We did a team tri in February and came in second place (which shocked us). Had we known that our team name was going to be announced we probably would have picked something other than "Garlic Gangsters," but I digress.
The tri went great for Phillip, he came in second in his age division which was awesome. We went down to Arkadelphia with the Simon fam as well. Becky and Phill did the tri on Sat and Ken did the Duathalon on Sunday. I watched kiddos as I have no interest in bike riding or open water swimming. Bring me a half-marathon but no tri's please! As we were entertaining the kids on Sunday, Elaina and Abbie managed to run into each other and bump heads. Abbie, as usual, didn't feel anything as she seems to be impervious to pain when it is directed toward her skull. (Literally a hard head) Elaina, however, had a full on goose egg on her little forehead and shed some tears over the incident. Abbie had already run off and Becky snuggled Elaina and then told her to run on but she was still feeling a little weepy (as would I) so I picked her up to give her an extra little snuggle. Well, that didn't sit well with the little green giant known as Abigail Grace and she proceeded to register shock, disbelief and then betrayal on her face. She turned her back on me and started crying as she walked away. Becky and I noticed this and one of us asked her what was wrong as she was walking. She turned around and with her little fists by her side she cried out, "Mom, you betrayed-ed me!" Bless her heart, she was more hurt by my snuggling Elaina than by the actual injury. So Beck and I had to spend then next few minutes convincing Abbie that I loved her more than Elaina and that she was the most special Abbie I could ever know and that she was still Queen of the world to her momma. (A title only shared by her sister.) It took some time but she managed to recover. What a drama queen! Wonder where she gets that from...hmmmmm.....

Anatomy by Abbie Grace

So, along the line of the "frinkles" post...one of my all time favorite things that Abbie has ever said was "foot knuckle." As in...
"MOM!!!" crying and yelling.
"What, Abbie? What's wrong?" says Tracie.
"I hurt myself." Sniff, sniff as she says this.
"Well, where did you hurt yourself, hon?" asks Mom.
"Right here," she says pointing to her ankle "on my foot knuckle."

Yeah, the compassion that followed only came after I doubled over and tried to hide my laughter. Gotta love these days!

Brie at the Fire Department

Fire Fighter Durham, Jr.

Brie and Dad on Engine 1

Breaker, Breaker, Come On Back

A couple of weeks ago, Brie and I stopped by the Fire Station to visit Phillip. He let her climb around the truck and pretend that she was on the headset. It was so cute. She's quite the little fire groupie!

Frinkles

My girls say really funny things from time to time. Sometimes I know where they come from and other times, I have no idea but either way, they make me giggle. Last night Brie had a milk shake from Dixie Cafe (a favorite place) and it came with sprinkles on top. She was holding it on the way to the car (yes, it had a lid) and it got too cold to carry so she handed it to me. When I was putting her in the car, she looked at me with her serious face and said, "Momma, don't fill my frinkles!" Which translated means, Momma, don't spill my sprinkles. It was so cute. Right up there with her phrase to start all of us out the door, Let's Rock and Roll! (That she got from her Daddy...)

Aubrie's Easter Bunny

Aubrie by the Bunny

Aubrie's Bunny

Aubrie was walking with her Daddy and I in the yard today when we found a baby bunny! It was so tiny! We are hoping that we will be able to show Abbie when she gets home from school. What a great find on our Easter weekend!

Fancy Abbie

Fancy Abbie

Fancy Abbie, Poet Extraordinaire and her helper!

Yesterday was "Be Your Favorite Book Character" Day at Crestwood. Abbie chose to be Fancy Nancy from Fancy Nancy, Poet Extraordinaire. We had originally wanted to be Nancy from Posh Puppy but she just got the Poet book this week so it was more fun, apparently. So, yesterday we got up and got to work on her ensemble. We teased her hair so it would look more like Nancy's and wrapped her in a toga just like Nancy is wearing on the cover of the book. (The toga was a white table cloth, I had to talk her out of using my good blanket that I keep on the couch, she was slightly disappointed until she saw that the tablecloth had some lace on it). We added a crown to her hair and beads and she looked beautiful! She wore her toga all day long, even on the playground. Great Day, Great School! (Note in the pictures that Brie is still in her PJ's. There wasn't time to get me decent for public view, Abbie all fancied up and Brie dressed. Nothing like an exciting morning in the Durham house!!)

Easter Egg Hunt at MDO

Aubrie Faith, 2 1/2 years old
Hunting for Eggs

In front of the MDO sign

Full Basket!

Aubrie went to her first official Easter Egg hunt yesterday at MDO. Last year she was just too little to really "get" the idea of the hunt but this year, she got it! I had so much fun watching her run around at her sweet little school. We LOVE her MDO. It was absolutely wonderful. (First Baptist Church of Sherwood) Great teachers and administrators! We got there just before the kids were ready to start the hunt. We had to walk through the playground to get to the door so Brie saw the eggs around and was so excited! We lined up with her class and they attacked the playground with some speed. There were eggs flying all over the place. She had a great time filling up her basket and when she maxed out her basket it was off to the playground where she played on everything. She can climb up everything (steps and bars...and the slide) and go down all if it too. It's amazing to see how big she has gotten this year. She is fearless on that playground! It was a great day and a great way to kick off our Easter weekend!

Kickin' It

Aubrie, Abbie Grace, Kennedy Grace and Colson

Kennedy and Abbie chasing the team

Abbie, Kickin' It

Nearing the Goal...

Sometimes God just blesses our socks off and I have to tell you about how He did it this time for our family. Over the summer I decided that I should sign Abbie up for soccer. Now, mind you, when I decided to do this it was the end of July. Having NEVER done anything with this sport, I had no idea that they would have already signed up for fall soccer. So I call Sherwood to find that they had filled up and were not even thinking about having a waiting list. So I called Lakewood and talked to the nicest man, Ken Sullivan, who put us on a waiting list for another soccer team if they had enough players and coaches. I called on a Monday in August and on Thursday we had a team! Blessing right? Yep, huge blessing and we were so excited. We went right out and found pink cleets (is that with a "K" or a "C", I have no idea...seriously I know nothing about soccer...) and pink shin guards. We know all of one person (Kennedy Grace, one of Abbie's best friends) who plays with the Lakewood team and she signed up months in advance for Fall soccer. I did NOT want to push the limits of decency and ask for Abbie to be put on her little friends team so we just were excited about meeting new friends and getting to know something about a new sport. So, Abbie, Brie and I show up for our 1st soccer practice and we have no clue what we are supposed to do or where we are supposed to go. We wander around aimlessly and as we were wandering, we see the Burkett's, the one family we know who plays soccer up there. I decide to humble myself and check my "I can figure this out" prideful self and ask them if they would recognize Coach Hopkins so they might point us in the right direction. Well we walk over and they look shocked to see us and Kennedy and Abbie hug each other like they hadn't just seen each other at church two days before. I ask if they know the coach and they look at me like I might be crazy and say, "yes, that's Kennedy's coach!" At this moment, the coach comes over and says "this must be Abbie Grace." I nearly fell over! I mean, never in my wildest dreams did I think that Abbie would end up on a team with her friend. In fact it was so far from what I considered a possibility that I didn't even pray about it. It just felt too selfish to pray for. I never want to approach God like He is some kind of magical genie who will grant whatever wish I ask of Him. This just felt so ridiculous to ask for so I prayed instead for Abbie to easily make friends with the kids that she was placed on a team with. Never did it enter my mind that God would take that wildest dream and make it come true! That's what is just overwhelming to me and it is so consistent with the character of God. He is so big and so intimate. He knows the desires of our hearts, probably even better than we do, and His desire is to bless us. I just have to praise Him for how He knew my heart and my desire to have Abbie know someone on her team. I know this sounds so trivial but that is what God has taught me so much about this year. He is a God who is so big; He created the universe and causes all of us to be and yet, He is so small and intimate that He blesses us in ways that are intensely personal and specific to our needs. Do you know Him like that? If you don't and you want to, ask me about it. I would love to share with you just how much you are loved, because you ARE! He loves you just like He loves me and loves my daughter. Enough to carry me through this summer as a single parent and experience blessing after blessing and enough to put Abbie in the one team that has a forever friend in it. What an awesome God!

FL Pictures

Traveling Down

At the Donut Hole: Elaina, Joyanne, Abbie, Brie and Kaden

Mom, Brie and Abbie

Aubrie in the Sand

Splashing in the waves

American girls at the Beach

Abbie Grace, 5 1/2 yrs old

Underwater Swimmer

Brie baby in her floaties

Mom, Abbie and Brie

Superstar Abbie

Beautiful Baby Brie with her fishing net

High Flying Acrobat Abbie

I have to tell you, I LOVE going to Destin. This was, perhaps, one of my favorite trips down there ever. We (the kids and I) went down with Becky and her two kiddo's, Kaden and Elaina, and we also took an INCREDIBLE baby sitter, Joyanne. We had the most relaxing week I think I've ever spent at the beach. Well, the time after I took the bar exam was pretty relaxing too but this may have beaten it. We only ate out once with the kids and we did one girls night when we put the kids to bed and Becky and I went to dinner with my sister Brooke. It was a great week. Tons of swimming (pool and ocean) and lots and lots of giggling and laughing. We both said that we really did miss our boys being there but it was okay with us to not cook dinner or worry much about what we were going to eat any other time of the day. We did frozen pizza, mac and cheese, cereal...I mean it was simple and WONDERFUL!! Joyanne was just amazing. She was such a blessing all week. She knew just what to do and when to do it and she never once complained about anything!! She sat in the back of my car with Elaina and Abbie for 12 hours down there and 13 hours back and never once acted like she'd rather ride on the roof of the car than spend one second longer in the back seat (which I would have felt like saying after approximately 10 ot 15 seconds...) Here are some brief highlights:

Kaden swimming in the ocean without a lifejacket.

Abbie swimming in the baby pool with goggles and a nose plug.

Brie swimming in floaties under protest on Monday and transitioning to delight by Wednesday when she realized they come with a great gift: FREEDOM!!

Abbie being so scared to swim in the big pool without her life jacket that she literally nearly scared herself sick.

Hannah Montanta montages and dance parties

Two ladies, one king size bed, one cavernous space in the middle, nuff said...

Really sticky suntan lotion for the Durham's, great stuff for the Simons.

Dolphins off the port bow!!

"Snorkling" by Becky, "Near Drowning" by Tracie

Wave Jumping by the kids

Net fishing

Catching 3 large hermit crabs: one now lives in AR.

Poop in the baby pool (not by any of our children...)

Sleeping on the beach by Tracie...unless a baby is crying, quick check if it's yours, nope. Return to sleeping...

Wine? OKAY!!

Super Spy Kaden

It was a blessing. Thanks Becky for tagging along with us!!

First Day of Kindergarten...

First Morning: Dressed and Ready to Go~

Abbie: THE Crestwood Cougar (can you see her fangs and claws...)

Abbie's Booster Club: Pap, Ni Ni, Paw Paw and Brie

Walking the sidewalk into school with her pink mesh backpack that is as big as she is...

Waiting for her class to be called back. Sitting next to her buddy, Hope

Well, we have officially made it through the first day of Kindergarten. I've been writing back and forth to Phillip today, via email, so I thought I'd use our correspondance to document the day. It goes something like this...

From Phillip to Me: (Preface, he called Abbie as we were walking out the door to school...)

~I'm so glad that I called when I did. I was not sure what time school started for her and all I can say is that the Lord put it in my heart to call and check this morning on Abbie's school time. What time does she get out of school? I've called and ordered some flowers to be delivered to the house for her. Let me know because I want to call her and hear from her how her day went. Love Phill

From Me to Him:

Oh my word, I'm so glad that you called today. It was perfect timing and Abbie was thrilled to talk to you. She did great today...MUCH better than I did. I cried (not big cry but a constant stream of tears that I just could not stop no matter how hard I tried) the whole way there, the whole time I was waiting for her class to be called back to their rooms and the whole way back home. Not to mention I cried for a while after I got home too. Brie was a nice distraction but it about broke my heart leaving her there today. Not because it's a bad place but just because she's growing up and this just feels HUGE and super permanent. No longer my baby, but a real big girl. It's just so bittersweet. Great, and now I'm crying again. Anyway, she was excited and I have a special treat for here when she comes home (Webkinz figure) and she'll be so happy about the flowers.

God certainly had good timing when he prodded you to call today. It made the morning super special.

Lots of love~
Tracie---

Follow up to Phill after Abbie got back from school:

Well, she had a great first day of Kindergarten. She really likes her teacher and she and her buddy, Hope, from MDO got to sit next to each other and she was really exicted about that. They learned some of the rules of the classroom, cafeteria and playground. She also said that she went to the bathroom all by herself and it was, in her words, "fabulous!" Today they colored a picture of Chester the Racoon from the book, The Kissing Hand, which is what you gave to her a couple of years ago for Valentine's Day. They brought home a handprint for mom and dad and a little copied book of pictures about the story that she had colored. She said it was a great day and she can't wait to go back tomorrow. I'm hoping this great attitude keeps up! I think I'll do better tomorrow too. Here's hoping anyway...

All in all, it was a great day. Wish you were here...can't wait for you to see all of this for yourself.

Lots and Lots of Love~
Tracie