You just wont believe it!

Ryan did it! He had a successful night with the girls... He took my advice and tried to just focus on them instead of working on his to do list.... Abby and Ryan played baseball in the yard, he gave her a bath, and put both the kids to bed before I even got home! AND the dinner dishes were even kinda picked up! Cheers to Ryan's big success!

This kind of action (or lack of it) makes blogging boring.... but it's a welcomed reprieve after the last week! Stay tuned!

I just left for a few hours... seriously!

So as most of you know, I am a mom by day and a jewelry lady by night. Last night I was headed off to the north side of Holland for a spectacular night of fun, fellowship, and jewels! I am very conscious that my dear husband sometimes has difficulty watching the girls. Mainly because he is a guy and cannot multitask like a mom can... so I had the "boobie bomb" defrosted, the pjs laid out, dinner on the table, and I had even made sure that Uncle Eric would be over to help if need be. I finished up my show, stopped at Speedway for my new addiction (Orange Cream slushy) and headed home with a few hundred bucks after a successful night. When I pulled down my street, (jamming to some Barenaked Ladies) I noticed that my mother-in-laws car was in the drive. Normally not an unusual occurrence, however, Ryan was ALONE with the girls for 3 hours.... When I walked in the door, Ryan about fell to his knees worshipping me for being home. He then explained the series of events that took place while the kids were in his command. He started by saying that dinner was a success and he even felt confident enough to bake some cookies! Impressive! Then he said, that is when all hell broke loose... he had given Lily her bottle and then placed her on our bed while he was contending with Abby. Then he heard Lily screaming and went into check on her... low and behold our dear 4 month old was laying on the floor.
NOTE TO RYAN: Dear honey, DO NOT put Lily on the bed... she can roll over and scoot her way off the bed and onto the floor. Sigh. Then Eric who was playing outside with Abby brought her in to go to the potty and then used the facilities himself. Abby apparently did not want to wait for Uncle Eric to finish his business and fled the house in criminal like quickness and let all 3 dogs out of the yard.... (Eric and Tami had their 2 dogs over to play).
Sometime during all of this Ryan's uncle Mike came by to visit.... So let's recap... Ryan, Eric, Mike. 3 men are here to contend with 2 kids... hmmm.
NOTE TO ALL MOMS: We rock!
Ryan, completely exhausted put the kids to bed and headed down the stair to just veg out on the couch until my return...But while he was walking down the stairs he fell and tumbled to the bottom landing promptly at the end of the stairs against the bookcase.
Eric worrying about what might happen next, quickly made an exit and headed home to his wife and QUITE house.
NOTE TO ERIC AND TAMI: Enjoy this time while you still can....
Generally speaking everyone came out relatively unscathed. I called the Pediatrician this morning and Lily seems to be fine. I am CERTAIN we have not seen the last of Abby doing something "naughty". Ryan is feeling a bit sore....
NOTE TO ALL BLOG READERS: I have a show again on Monday... please stand by for more stories!

Big Star Family Vacation 2008

Finally back on line after a week at the cottage and 2 full days of getting "back into the swing of things". The week was fantastic and we couldn't have asked for better weather or better company. The Big Star family vacation continues for yet another year and added to the mix is little miss Lily Grace.... Lily was conceived on this very vacation last year (like any of you care)... But notable on how we as a family truly treasure this vacation! We sat on the beach, talked, ate, sat by the fire, went for evening boat cruises around the lake, ate ice cream and smores, laughed until our stomachs hurt (mostly because my husband was doing or saying something mildly to severely inappropriate!)

As always, Abby was the star of the week and was brave in everything she did... jumping from the boat to go swimming, riding the Seado with Daddy, hitting the waves in her tube, and fishing for her "big old bass". But for those of you who think I am over reacting for locking my daughter in her room at night here is a story that will confirm I know my daughter better than anyone... On Friday morning I woke up to a quiet cottage and went upstairs to check on my little monkey who I thought I would find fast asleep in her bed near the other kids... upon further inspection she was not there... Not really a big deal, because mom and dad take 3rd place when Aunt Tami, and JaJa are around, so I just assumed she was in their room bugging them. When I realized that she was not in either of their rooms I began to panic. I saw Abbys snuggle blanket laying on the floor next to the slider door, when I opened the door I saw Abby standing on the end of the dock!!!! In order to get to her I had to run down about 50 steps, and another 50 yards down the beach to get to her... I made it their in record time and feel to my knees to grab her. I am told that I was shooting sand "rooster tails" all along the way. Looking back, it makes me sick to my stomach to think about the what could have beens, or what ifs, but I am thankful the Lord gave me the nudge to go and check on her... after all, the cottage was quiet, what would make me think she just wasn't sleeping, why not just roll over and go back to sleep?I am truly thankful for my children and I am acutely aware of my abundant blessings! As Tami put it... the cottage will now be on LOCK DOWN!

Bike riding, potty training, and other toddler activities

Yesterday was a great day... the kids and I packed a make shift lunch and headed out on the open road for a picnic and some playground time. Abby has been doing *well* keeping dry in her big girl panties and even better riding her bike. Because the day was off to a spectacular start I decided to include her new found talents into our day. About 11am, after earning a whole quarter for going pee pee on the potty, she mounted her bike and took off! I had Lily in the front pack for fear that I would be carrying Abby's bike after a block of hard core riding turned into pure exhaustion... However, she made it the whole 3 blocks and was ready to burn it up on the playground. After about 10 minutes of flying from swings to monkey bars to slides and sandboxes (she resembled a humming bird after a whole pot of coffee) she decided she had to go potty! Where would one find a restroom at a school playground? So I pulled her little panties down and leaned her up against a tree for another successful bladder emptying! YEAH! We then decided to eat our lunch of PBJ, yogurt, cookies and grapes. By this time the playground had gained another 4 kids ranging in age from 7-11. Abby stood in awe of them standing at the top of the jungle gym to observe the other humming birds. Then she took off running.... I thought ahhh, finally she is on the move again. I then realized she was headed straight for the tree where she had peed before. Uggh! What to do? I have Lily in the front pack, Abby is already clear across the playground in a full sprint, and from my previous posts, we all know that Abby does not stop on command, so I just got up and began my leisurely walk to her post. By the time I had gotten there, she had an audience of much older children and had managed to pee all over her shorts and undies. Sigh! Abby decided that she couldn't wear her wet undies and strategically placed them on her handle bars for a proper air drying... On the way home she went as fast as her little legs would go yelling, "I'm drying out my undies mom!" All in all, I would would say this outing was a WIN!