Sunday, May 10, 2009
Mother's Day...By Chris
I'm sure Martha will add some thoughts later, but I just want to go on record to say what an AMAZING WIFE I HAVE! She put up with 2 almost 4 year olds today after no nap yesterday and for those who know our beautiful boys, spells almost certain disaster. She loved on a little girl who evidently has her daddy's allergies and has not been feeling to well the past few days. Martha won't complain about anything. She does so much and never wants any recognition or praise. This is one of her many amazing qualities. It is not all about her. She is all about others. I love that about her. Actually:
I just love her!
So, Mother's Day is about remembering/recognizing those special Mom's out there. So here I am to say: You might have a great wife, but mine is the best!!!
Sunday, March 22, 2009
Looky, Looky
February 28th came and went just as her first year seemed to. Time is moving so fast these days...and speaking of moving...yep, that is what we did this past weekend! The 2 year itch people:) This time is for good though...well except that we are living with friends and thus of course will have to move again and such. Though it seems to have come out of the blue...it has been 9 L--O--N--G months in the making. I just haven't put all the details on here for various reasons. We are still in Georgia:) No big coast to coast move this time. We are getting some west coast flavor though:) Now to what you have been waiting for.
Sara did Miss Priss' one year session the week of our move...yes, very sadly this means we are no longer living next door to the most fabulous neighbors EVER. I know they will not miss the drama
OK, OK... here they are:



Happy Birthday Miss Priss. What a wonderfully surprising addition you have been to our family. We have enjoyed every moment of your giggles and grins, your belly laughs and yes even your full out on the floor tantrums at such a tender age...OK maybe not those but we are smitten non the less.
Be sure to check out Sara's blog for the rest of her sneak peak of our Miss Priss. For those of you who usually get our emails, we will be sure to let you know when the full set is available for your viewing pleasure. Don't forget...you can have these same great pics of your favorite monkey too...Sara is as sweet as her pictures are fabulous.
**All pictures snagged with permission from Sara of Sara Anthony Photography**
Monday, February 09, 2009
Nope, NOT ME!
Welcome to Not Me! Monday! This blog carnival was created by MckMama. You can head over to her blog to read what she and everyone else have not been doing this week.
Another week gone by...and boy has it been crazy around here...really it has. So this week will mostly be about what my kids Have NOT done, because you know...they are perfectly well mannered, well behaved and well, just perfect:) I really have not done anything too bad, so we will just focus on them:)
NO back talking and sassing has reared its ugly head this past weekend...no Tabasco sauce needed.
My child did not if fact beg for a spanking when he saw me rummaging through the cabinet for said sauce.
Friday was just the most perfect day. Chocolate kisses eaten for breakfast...after asking for such and being told "no", 3 rolls of tape gone in "taping" a torn page in a book, hole cut in pj pants at the knee, because you know....the knee needed to "see", play tools thrown ONE BY ONE down the storm drain...never to be seen again. My child did NOT in fact stand in the middle of the kitchen and pee in his pants while looking right at me....that is non sense my friends. My children are perfect and would do NONE of the above mentioned fetes....ALL in ONE day!
I did NOT call my husband proclaiming that I was "done" for the day and that I would be disappearing once he arrived....all by lunch time. I kept myself cool, calm and collected all day long. Never wishing once that bedtime was only a few minutes away. I cherished every single moment with my children ALL day long, never once wishing the day was over.
Beautiful behaved children were seen the rest of the weekend...including running from us in the church parking lot, nearly hit by a jeep backing up.
I did not drive around with our van entertainment system still on the blitz this entire week. You know, from the "battery incident" of last weekend. I did not stop looking for the "code" after cleaning out only one of our two many junk drawers.
I did not leave the phone number for the dealership my husband so kindly looked up for me on the pad of paper all week either. It just never made it to the top of to my "to do" list.
Oh and to top it all off....the "code" was in the van the ENTIRE time! You know, right in the glove compartment dear husband had already "looked" in and declared "it is not in here":) Brilliant!
Parker did not if fact get in a talkument with me at a friends birthday party this weekend...over who the birthday boy was. We did agree that Noah was in fact the birthday boy's name...just did not agree on who Noah was. Clearly I was right in pointing to the handsome little boy in the blow up throne chair opening birthday gifts....However, Parker was adamant that Noah was in fact the older gentlemen in the corner across the room with....white hair and white facial hair:) AKA Noah's grandfather! I had to laugh at this one. For once, we were both right and seeing that Parker is just like his mother....we were both satisfied in being right. Yeah, I know, great quality to pass along. Working on this one!
Now what you really want anyway...PICTURES!
Yes, he really like to wear HIS hair like this...we may have a problem after all, aside from the hair do and the constant asking to wear my bracelets.
Parker sitting on my bathroom counter (his favorite spot) watching my put on my makeup (a favorite also) and proclaiming "mommy, when I get bigger, I am going to get me some of these" pointing to my bag of makeup. Lovely!

Do I really have a baby who is already feeding herself? sniff, sniff
Lea, Krista, Amy, CatherineCongratulations Chris and Amy...your wedding was beautiful and we had a wonderful time!
me, Catherine, Lea and KristaMonday, February 02, 2009
Nope, NOT ME!
Welcome to Not Me! Monday! This blog carnival was created by MckMama. You can head over to her blog to read what she and everyone else have not been doing this week.
Wow! Is it really Monday again? These weeks are going by much too fast and these kids of ours are growing up much too soon! There are stages I will be very happy to see go, but I am not ready for them to be in high school nearly tomorrow.
Somehow, I managed to make it through the week without many blunders to tell. There are a few though!
We did in fact manage to make it to the Monster Jam truck show Friday night...however, I am not sure you can say we "attended" the show. Well, unless you count sitting through the singing of the national anthem and watching the crazy lady get shot from a cannon. Oh, weren't there trucks there? You know...the monster kind? Well, yes there were. Were they not doing Monster truck tricks? Um, I think they were going to?... you see we only made it through .25 jumps. My son did not absolutely loose his mind when the truck reved his engine in the first attempt to clear the cars lined up. We did NOT have to leave the show at that very minute to take him outside the building where he continued his complete meltdown. Bless his heart. I really thought they would LOVE the noise, big trucks and splendor of it all. It's not like we didn't know it was going to be LOUD, they are well, you know, MONSTER trucks and all... in a closed in building. We even took earplugs. Much unlike the person who sued McDonald's b/c they got burned by the HOT coffee...or the complaint I "saw" recently at a restaurant of someone we "know" that said something to the affect that when they squezzed their cup of HOT coffee, it burnt them badly. Hmm, maybe they are on to something. Hey, I should write a letter to the show kindly explaining that we would like a refund, and then some, because their trucks were too loud and the noise caused emotional damage to my 3 year old! I mean they didn't tell us to bring head gear like you wear at a gun range. Clearly, we were first time attenders (and very out of place) as many of the other kiddos had this necessary head gear. Did I mention I missed the memo of proper attire for the night? Jeans and cute Target sweater was not it....daisy dukes, riped hose of various colors and tall boots of various kind....man, I should have read the memo!
I did not get absolutely lazy this past week and unpack the very bottles I had just packed away (mean momma I know....took the bottle away already) because I was too lazy to wash the 2 sippy cups we use. I am pretty sure the emotional damage explains the tantrums we have witnessed here recently. Tantrums in a 11 month old....NOT my child!
I was not careless over the weekend when cleaning out our van and left the inside lights on...ALL night long. Thus running the battery dead so we could only unlock ONE door. I guess that is what happens when EVERYTHING is electrical on cars now. The "unlock" button on the door itself would not even work to unlock the rest of the doors. It had to be jumped off 4 times to get everything working again. Then of course the alarm was screaming b/c we unlocked the car with the key and not the remote thingy...b/c you know, the remote thingy WAS NOT WORKING! Did I mention the battery was dead?...and that means NO radio and NO DVD player unless you have "the code"....which of course WE DID NOT HAVE. A four hour drive with no radio and no dvd player....perfect!
That my friends brings me to my next blunder....I most certinally did NOT put the potty trained boys in pull ups b/c we WERE NOT STOPPING (really, we wern't) until we pulled in our driveway! They were 2 hours behind their nap time and meltdowns are a nice adjective to describe their overtired, grandparent over-sugared selves. With No modern entertainment for the drive we were SLEEPING THE ENTIRE TRIP HOME! They were appalled when we offered them crayons and coloring books...appalled! Oh my, what have we created with our overuse of modern technology? and guess what....it worked! They slept until we were 2o minutes out! and....there was not urine to clean up out of a carseat of a boy who slept REALLY hard! Good thing we did pull ups:) Oh...and they did not go to bed until 10:45, not our children...but we got home in peace and quiet! Being the teenager she nearly is...it is now after 10am and she is STILL asleep! Now to find that darn "code".
Here's to another perfect parenting week!
proof we were AT the Monster Truck Jam, which in no way implies we ATTENDED the Monster Truck Jam
Did I mention we were on the 4th row?..hmm, maybe THAT was the issue and not noise of the small trucks motoring around the track...and these were the cheap seats!

see, every nap

Updating my twitter dad

Just Because
Wednesday, January 28, 2009
Tuesday, January 27, 2009
Love at first sight
New party: "Laughter Lives! Tuesday"
This weeks theme: The Funny, Cute & Endearing Ways We Say 'I Love You'
I've been reading this blog for awhile now and checking in on Miss Abby. Abby and
her family have been in my prayers as they are in a daily fight for her life. Amazing
family, amazing story...one amazing little girl. Pull up a chair and head on over
to check them out. Please join with me in prayer for Abby, for her family and
for the medical team caring for her.
Whew, it's been a busy day here at our house but I wanted to get this post up before Tuesday was over so we could participate in their party. Every Tuesday there is a different theme...yet, one guaranteed to make you laugh! So in sticking with this weeks them, I bring you:
It really was quite an honor for her, at least that is how we will explain it to her one day. She was the first to penetrate their "inner" circle...the circle that included...just them. In the 2 1/2 years of their life no other child had been able to do so. We've nicknamed it "twin snobs". ALL moments of their life...from conception forward...it has ALWAYS been them. One egg...One sperm...TWO babies. Who needs another chum when you've got each other...it's all you've ever known.
The bond between the two of them is almost indescribable. They have their own looks, their own silent language and yes, even their own spoken language at one time. One look and you are seeing double...and yes, we HAVE mixed them up before! Luckily we have had safeguards in place to sort things out....we think:) They are VERY close and at the time Miss Priss came along, they were not letting anyone into their inner circle.

Beside looking like she was hot off "LA INK"...I'd say she had worked her way into the "inner circle" quite nicely! Now taking them off was a whole different story:)
(anybody out there who can tell me why that top paragraph looks so funny? It looks fine in the edit Html mode?)
Monday, January 26, 2009
Nope, NOT ME!
Miss Priss' position of choice for nap time 98% of the time
sitting up, slouched over

Monday, January 19, 2009
FRIGID
Frigid you might say? Don't you live in the south you might ask? Well, yes, come to think of it we do! However, somewhere along the line the weather man got it wrong...VERY, VERY WRONG! You see, numbers in the single digits, teens, 20's and 30's DO NOT BELONG HERE!
Well of course, if you have some of this to play with.... well, then maybe. But only for a day mind you.

"Cause then you could have some fun family time (you know, because EVERYTHING shuts down when the white stuff appears) and build some of these little guys!

But alas, we have none of this white stuff...these were pictures from last January. We just have the FRIGID temperatures sans the white stuff.
I live in the South for a reason...the deep South. It is NOT for cold weather:) Don't get me wrong, I LOVE the changing of seasons. I missed the 4 seasons when we were in Southern California. I just am not on board with temperatures in the teens and below freezing for that matter. By below freezing I generally mean anything lower than 68:)
I like a few good days here and there where you get to wear your wool pants and bundle up in you fun sweaters and have a fire. Just not so many in a row...with 3 small kids...stuck in the house....no outlet for energy. So, you see my dilemma.
When I call my neighbor in the morning before 11 am to see if her heat is working...because ours is NOT...and it is 19*....something is very wrong. Only to learn that she is out and about doing a photo shoot! What? I hope she charged an inclement weather fee. Granted, she is well from you know....the frigid north and all. I think she laughs at us Southerners and our "cold" weather....and then invites us over for lunch and a good thawing in her warm, heat is very much working, home. Thank you Sara. The food was delicious, the company welcoming and the warmth inviting.
Then I think of this post from MckMama and realize maybe I've gone too far out on limb with the use of Frigid and South in the same sentence. When you can do this on a Sunday drive...well, then I guess you earn the right to use the word FRIGID as a description for your home town.
In the mean time, we'll be here in the

Ahh, yes...days playing in the sand at the beach!

Now you're talking...peaches!
Not just ANY peaches...but good ole' South Carolina peaches. mmm, mmm!
Isn't Georgia, the peach state? Well, yes it is. But you see, I am a SC girl through and through and WE have the BEST peaches known to man! Gaffney peaches to be exact. Red Haven is my favorite. One of my favorite peach "events" is this one near my home town. You can find all things peach here: ice cream, tea, cobbler, jams and jelly...queens and her court! My mouth is watering as I type this. Oh the things you can do with a good peach....

homemade peach ice cream...need I say more?
(by far one of my favorite mother's day presents...an ice cream maker just the size you need for a few servings)

Bake yourself a good pound cake...serve with, you guessed it...peach ice cream!
Pound cake, fresh peaches and vanilla ice cream....the pound cake HAS TO BE WARM!
You have these bad boys tucked away in your freezer!
Back to the poolI don't EVEN want to know what Parker is doing...

and passing our time by practicing our standing...

did I mention they have GREAT hair for bows...and they love wearing my bracelets...no, I didn't think I did.
I did get me one of the fabulous coat, mummy, wrap everything up but your head and hands blankets for my birthday! You know the one....the one you've been secretly eyeing....stop being ridiculous and go buy it! It is WONDERFUL. Well, except for snuggling...the hubby HATES when I wear it. Wear it? Well, yes you wear it.
It just may look something like this:

Very appropriate for frigid very cold temperatures. Great for blogging, reading a book, flipping through a magazine....keeping your home thermostat at 65-66*! Yes, yes, a bit tough to snuggle with....but you have plenty of other blankets for that. You really do NEED one. Snuggle fleece blanket with sleeves or slanket.
Your Welcome
Friday, November 14, 2008
Hear Ye Hear Ye...
I
No more Thursdays for us in the Darley household. We are officially skipping from Wednesday to Friday as of now. I mean who wouldn't like to get to the weekend faster? See, it's a win/win for everyone.
Yesterday was Thursday and true to our past 3 weeks and running, the boys are sick....AGAIN. This time we only made it to the drop off line at school before Peyton tossed his cookies, thus sparing the chapel. Like the good mother that I am, I sent the bouncing and laughing Parker right in the door. What are the chances he is sick at the same time? Weeeel, obviously REALLY GOOD. Good thing I'm not a betting woman. We had not even made it home yet when I got THE PHONE CALL. Parker had graced the classroom floor. Wonderful, I am THAT mom....AGAIN this week. You see, it was last Thursday that Peyton lost "it" in chapel:) The week before that was nasty, nasty colds and Peyton's croup.
So you see my dilemma. We either take Thursdays out of the picture or we go into hibernation until the first sign of life in the spring. That is an awful lot of indoor time....lots of pent up energy...nope, I think we will just choose the NO Thursday option.
I wanted to title the post "You're Invited"....but Chris said I was not allowed to have pity parties anymore. I tried really, really hard yesterday....he even brought me flowers to decorate with, but declined to join me. What good is a party by yourself? He is trying to convince me his eternal optimism is going to rub off. This is where we butt heads...he is the optimist (visionary) and I am the pessimist (realist). This has lead to many a talkuments in our 7 years of marital bliss. A talkument...what's that? Glad you asked. Our good friends in California, the Turners introduced us to this concept, well term really. We were already having them on our own, just didn't have a name for them. You see a talkument is a close kissing cousin to an argument. There are no loud voices or hurtful words....disagreeing, yes plenty of that. Tears? You betcha. Maybe even an eye roll and grunt or two. You know the ones....don't tell me you've never had a talkument with your other (better) 1/2!
1.The car is clean....again
2.The car seat is clean...again
3.The floor mats of the car are now clean...again
4.The washing machine has had a good workout...again
5.We have a NEW bottle of Lysol
6.The bathrooms are disinfected (heck, the whole house is disinfected)...again
This could be a picture of how the boys DESTROY our den all before 9am...but it is to capture their idea of what I thought was a learning moment.
Miss Priss is on the move...very soon she will be on all 4's on the move...right now it is a slow and steady, but get you where you need to go, army crawl. The boys prized possessions are now within her reach. They DO NOT appreciate her new found interest in ANYTHING theirs, especially their cars. We had what I thought was a teachable moment this morning. We were talking about not pulling all our toys out at once. Picking our books up when we are done with them, BEFORE pulling out something else. "If you don't want your sister to get into your things, you need to be mindful of where you keep them. Maybe you should take this time to clean up your books." Hoping this would spur them on and they would clean up the toys and books they were not playing with...teaching them to make wise decisions without mom asking them to clean up every time. Trying to teach them there are consequences to the choices we make...some are good and some are bad. If you choose to disobey then there are consequences of timeout...loosing a privilege...maybe even the dreaded spanking. When you make choices on your own...say not cleaning up your toys...and your sister gets them and something breaks....this is the consequence of you leaving you toys out. How did our little "chat" and lesson go? Something like this:
"The heck with consequences, those are no fun. Neither is cleaning up our toys. We'll just barricade her with the toy bins in a corner of the den so she can't reach our car parades or books."
Oh boys....I am afraid that she is going to outsmart you here in just a few days. I am afraid our consequence talk is going to show up again soon. Sometimes things are best learned the hard way. I can only discipline you so much for not putting your toys away. Maybe it is time to learn a consequence to your own decisions. You can't pin her in a corner forever....I don't think?
Her favorite spot...maybe 'cause the boys can't get her here...maybe b/c she knows she will be taller than them one day and she wants to see what the view looks like from above:)
a sweet moment with the 3 monkeys
Miss Priss learning to snort...very lady like of course!








