Happy Birthday Bethany!!!

Can you believe my BABY is turning 5 today?? I can't! I wanted to show you pictures of her as a baby, but those are on the other computer...here is a picture of her a year ago today... And here she was in April at her dance recital... and at Easter.... I can't believe how quickly time is flying! She is growing up right before my eyes. Each day she gets bigger and more independent, and at other times she just wants to crawl in my lap and snuggle...and I cherish those times!!
Bethany, my third miracle, I love you! You are my youngest, my princess. How I thank God for sending you to me. How I longed to hold another, nurse another,mother another, love another child...and God granted me the desire of my heart. You have such a girly personality, such a tender heart. You are strong willed at times, but no one will be able to push you around! My little lady...I love you!

Forgot something...

I forgot something in my L-O-N-G post! I started Christmas shopping today! One of our local stores had their jewelry 70% off! I had seen a pretty little cross that I had been thinking about getting for Abbigail...REAL jewelry, not kiddie stuff! No, I wouldn't spend a lot of money on it, but at 70% off, it was reasonable to buy for a nearly 9 year old. I decided to go ahead and get one for Bethany, too (one is silver, one is gold...now, which girl gets which necklace?). While I was there, I spotted letter necklaces (A for Abbigail, B for Bethany, duh!) with TINY little diamond chips...and at 70% off...how could I resist? I mean TINY! The final price was less than $10....so, each girl will get a necklace for their birthday, and one for Christmas...which necklace do they get for which holiday...I don't know!!
I can't believe my baby will be turning 5 years old in just 12 days!!!!

Bethany's new do....OOPS!

I wanted to give Bethany a little trim to even up her hair. A LITTLE trim. Um, oops. Girly wouldn't stand still. She kept tilting her head this way, then that way. Shrugging her shoulders. WIGGLING! I want to cry! There is a HUGE pile of hair. The cut looks cute, but it is NOT what I intended to do!

Turkey STILL won't be still! I was hoping to give Abbie a little trim, too...I DON'T think I'll be doing anymore trimming at home!

Surprise...

Well, I said I wouldn't be around this week, but I've blogged more this week than in many previous weeks...go figure!

Parent/Teacher conferences are tomorrow, so no teaching for me. I have to meet with the parents, but I usually talk to them every day, so I don't think it will be TOO big of a deal. No real concerns with my kiddos..they are just so much fun!

In the evening I have to meet with Andrew and Abbigail's teachers for their p/t conf. I hope they are doing well in school. Everything I see says they are doing fine, but I guess you never know unless you are their teacher! I've worked very hard with Abbigail making sure she brings EVERYTHING home and gets it all in on time. So hopefully that issue has been corrected since the progress report.

Garage sale stuff is mostly in boxes, priced, sorted, and in the garage. The garage still needs a bit of work, but Hubby said he would take care of it. Friday morning is the pumpkin patch with the preschoolers and their families. After we finish at the pumpkin patch, I will probably spend the rest of the day setting up for the garage sale. Saturday morning is the garage sale...hopefully I will get rid of A LOT of stuff!!! (And if I make a little $$ in the process that would be GREAT!)

Sometime between now and Saturday morning, I need to make a pumpkin cake for our preschool dinner on Sunday, and also a salad for the meal. I need to finish reworking Abbigail and Bethany's costumes to make them fit properly. Bethany's is almost done, but I still need to hem Abbie's.

Ok...off of my "to do" list!

Here is something I am thankful for: Not needing stitches! It was so cold and windy here today that I just CRAVED soup all day long. So when I got home I grabbed some stew meat out of the freezer and began making a big yummy pot of veggie beef soup. I always think the big chunks of stew meat are too big, so I cut them into bite sized pieces (much easier for the kids!). Well, apparently the knife slipped...my finger has never bled so much...ICK! I started yelling (ok, screaming and crying!) and thankfully Hubby was home. He came and made sure I wasn't passing out and that my finger was still attached. (thank goodness I just took the first aid course! ;o))...I applied pressure with a paper towel for a long time, but each time I tried to switch to a band aid it just bled so badly! I was really thinking I was going to need stitches! Hubby wrapped gauze around my finger and then a REALLY tight layer of that stretchy tape stuff. I did make him loosen it when I realized that the end of my finger was PURPLE and COLD! About an hour later, I took that off and it was still oozing, but not RUNNING out. I have gone through 3 band aids, but I think it has stopped enough that it will heal on it's own. OOff Da...what a night. But boy was that soup good! Even have enough left to put a big tub in the freezer for later, and some in the fridge for left-overs. :o)

Bethany has been very tired lately. She's still trying to cope with not napping in the afternoons. More than a few days she has fallen asleep when we get home. Just laying in the middle of the floor, on a chair, the couch, car seat, anywhere! Every time I see her snoozing somewhere "odd" I just think "AWW, How cute!" and then snap a picture. So...wanna see some cute snoozing Beth? Here you go!

She fell asleep on the living room floor...as the sun started to set, it put a sunbeam right across her little eyes. Didn't bother her, though, she just kept on snoozing! (I did adjust the curtains so she wouldn't be BLINDED! But being the good blogging momma that I am, I took a pic first!)

She went out to ride bikes one day after school, then came in to see what Daddy was up to. Sat down to watch him play a video game, and lost it...with her bike helmet STILL on!

On Sunday I had her try on her costume "one more time" so I could check the hem. She begged to wear it for just a little while...so I let her. 5 minutes later, Cinderella turned into Sleeping Beauty.

Tonight I was sitting in the recliner checking my email. She crawled up next to me and leaned on me. Pretty soon the phone rang and I went to answer it. When I came back, this is what I found. Poor sleepy girl! She is sleeping at night, but apparently not enough. Abbigail did nap every day until she went to 1st grade when she was 6, and Bethany is only 4 1/2...my babies are growing up!

a FULL day of preschool...

18 three-year-olds in one room, 2 teachers...pure chaos...ok, not complete chaos, but at times I thought it was close. It was a lot of fun, and I'm sure tomorrow will be much more relaxed. Out of 18 we only had one crier...and he was fine after his mom was only gone for about 2 minutes. My mind went blank and I could remember only two of my transition activities and NO "goodbye" songs. I couldn't even remember the prayer the rest of the preschool says before snack. All I could remember was the prayer we say at home (God is Great, God is good...) So, that's what we said. Hopefully tomorrow I will remember the prayer, the transition activities/songs, and everything else!
My co-teacher seemed much more prepared today, and I was very impressed with all her skills! She's a very good teacher (which I always knew!) and I'm so thankful God has given me the opportunity to work with her. After a morning with 18 3yos who have never been in school before, to an afternoon with 12 4yos who have a year and a day of school under their belt....the afternoon felt like a vacation! :o) We had so much fun with them! And I know the 3's will get it soon...it's all so new for them. Sitting and listening, doing what you are told instead of whatever you want. Putting things away when you are done with them instead of just going somewhere else....they will get it!
One tough thing was Bethany. My 4 yo class was out on the playground when her class came to join us. We do plan it that way so that all the kids can play together for a while, then my class goes inside so the other class can have the playground to themselves for a while. Well, Bethany latched onto me, and didn't want to let go. She just wanted ME! BROKE MY HEART!! I had to leave her with her teacher (two women I trust completely, they are both great teachers whom Bethany knows and loves), as I walked my class back to the building I could hear her crying "I want MOMMY!" I'm crying now just thinking about it...ok, so I'm tired, but it really did break my heart! We only had about 15 minutes left of school, so we weren't apart for long, but still. She came running to my room as soon as the classes were dismissed and wrapped her arms and legs around me and wouldn't let go. We had to go pick up Abbie and Andrew from their school and she wanted me to carry her. She burried her head in my shoulder and pretended to be asleep so she wouldn't have to talk to anyone. She's really having a tough time sharing me with all the other kids. And now, the poor baby isn't feeling well. I think she might have a UTI (she's going to kill me someday for sharing this on my blog!). She says her bottom hurts and when she was going potty, she stopped herself because it hurt so bad. She's been doing so great with the night potty training, so well that she can now wear panties to bed...could she have made herself sick by trying to hold her urine? I don't know but Hubby is picking up some cranberry juice on his way home from a meeting tonight. Hopefully she'll be better in the morning. I even had her wear a pull-up to bed tonight just so she wouldn't have to worry about anything, and she didn't argue at all about it. Please pray for my Baby...she's got it so rough right now.
I'm really questioning right now if I've made a mistake going back to work. What have I done to her?

Princess Bethany

So here are some of the pictures from Bethany's birthday yesterday. My mom and dad sent her a cute "fruity" dress and a princess tiara and jewelry. Of course they are a huge hit. The picture of Bethany talking on the phone is when my parents called to sing her "Happy Birthday"...a fun tradition that we all look forward to. Since they can't sing in person, they call to sing to whomever is celebrating. My sister-in-law and brother-in-law from ND sent Bethany her first Webkins...a curly pink poodle. Bethany has named it Princess Pinky. I forgot to take a picture of it (sorry Jenny...she really does love it!)
We had cupcakes A LOT last week since both Abbigail and Bethany took them to school to celebrate their birthdays. So, since we were "Caked out," Bethany had a birthday brownie instead. Boy were they yummy. Warm out of the oven with a scoop of vanilla ice cream on it...MMMMMM! Nice and gooey, just how I LOVE them! Bethany has beautiful blue eyes. I just love how bright and sparkly her eyes are. Especially when she is smiling. Don 't you agree that her eyes are just gorgeous?!!? Happy birthday my baby. I love you so much. Thank you for always wanting to hug and snuggle. I love your giggle, it always makes me smile. You have a very loving heart, and a mind of your own. I pray you use your mind and caring heart to be a wonderful leader and help those around you. Never forget that you are loved more than you'll ever know, not only by Daddy and me, but also by Jesus. I love seeing how much you love and trust in Jesus at your young age. Thank You, God, for the gift of my youngest child.

Happy Birthday Bethany!!!

Yes, today was/is Bethany's birthday. What a bad momma I am. It's nearly 11:00 and I'm just now posting about her. I'm too tired to post much, just that it's my baby's birthday! She's 4!!! (Guess who just wandered out here because she can't sleep???) Anyway, I took some cute pictures of her today, I'll try to get them posted tomorrow.
Happy Birthday my Little One!! I love you so much! Thank you for always loving me!

If you want to read about Bethany's birth, see last year's birthday post...here.

Blessings to all...now I have to go get this little 4 year old to bed...and get to bed myself!

Dance Videos

At least it was short lived!

Bethany woke up this morning feeling back to her old self. No fever, and only that one puking session...which was MORE than enough! Thank You, God, for returning my daughter's health. I still have a sinus thing going on, my head feels so full, my ears, jaw, and eyes ache. I just feel wiped out. Andrew is at a birthday party, Abbie & Daddy went to the lake for a fishing session, Bethany and I are hanging out here by ourselves...maybe I'll get a little nap! I know, wishful thinking! :o) Thanks everyone for praying for my little one! (This is a picture from our trip to the zoo over spring break...just didn't want to do another post without a picture!)

not again....

About mid-morning this morning, Bethany crawled up into my lap and said she was tired. I felt her forehead, and yes...she was hot. She was asleep about 2 minutes later and slept until 2:30. She's just slept and laid around all evening. About 7:30, I was trying to get her to take a children's tylenol to bring down the fever. She said she was going to puke...I thought she just didn't want to take the meds...I was wrong. PROJECTILE vomiting has found us AGAIN! We have had more throwing up this winter than we EVER have in all previous years combined. At one point, she was snuggling in my lap (this is before the puking) and she looked up at me and said "Mommy will you pray to Jesus to make me better?" Oh, honey, I already am!

Dance pictures

My girls are both in dance class...recital is coming up in two weeks! They each had their class pictures taken a few weeks ago. These are my pics, not the professional ones....hers are MUCH better! Can't wait to see the real ones. Bethany is the short bee in the front row, what a little poser! Abbie is the short one in the pink.

Bethany is funny...Part 2

Today was the first day Abbigail and Andrew went back to school. It was a great spring break, but they have to go back sometime! :o) My one little girl that I was supposed to have had family in town, so her mom took the day off. So...Spring break continued for me! :o) Warren had 2 people to visit in the hospital in the "city" so off we went while the older two were in school. I think Bethany thoroughly enjoyed having the two of us to herself. After the hospital we did some shopping and even went out to lunch, she got to choose where...after mom vetoed McDonald's a few times! When we were going through the check out at Wal*Mart, she was holding one of those toys they always put right next to the check-out lanes. She was playing with it, though before giving it to her I explained that she could hold it for just a few minutes, then we were putting it back, we were NOT buying it! She agreed that she would not throw a fit, and that she would give it up...pretty grown-up for a 3 year old! Well, when the time came to give up the goods, she said "I'm so disappointed." DISAPPOINTED??? What a BIG word from my little girl! At another point, Hubby was teasing her that he was going to buy her a bag of doggie treats, she told him that they were for dogs, not for "HUMANS" What?? Where is this girl picking up such big words? One other example. She was out in the patio playing this evening. She was dancing around and singing "Demonstrate!" I guess she was demonstrating her dance to us! I'm going to have to get a good dictionary to keep up with this one.

Bethany is funny

Unfortunately, Bethany knows where I keep the key to her piggy bank. Now, she comes into the kitchen and opens the drawer, extracting the precious key. We already had to get a replacement piggy bank because I lost the last key! This morning, she wanted to show Andrew ALL the money in her piggy...so she came to get the key. I told her that we aren't going to be emptying little piggy today, and put the key away before we loose it! She started throwing one of her tantrums (she's getting really good at these!) I calmly told her to settle down She settled down and then said something that almost made me fall over laughing. "How come you get to do anything you want to and I don't get to do NOTHING?" (Yes, she uses double negatives, she's only 3!) I told her that I'm the Momma, that's why! :o)
Oh, if only she knew....if only grown-ups did get to do whatever they wanted!

{We've had a fun spring break, just haven't taken time to post. I'll try to get caught up soon}

Pictures as promised!

I promised that I would post pictures of Andrew's first wrestling tournament...so here they are! This is the picture Abbie and I took right before his second match. Abbie thought she was taking pictures during the first match, but she wasn't holding the button down long enough, so there are no pics of it, here I was explaining how long you have to hold the button down.

These pictures are all from the Andrew's second match, the one he won! Abbigail was manning this camera and I had the video camera. So...thanks Abbigail! Andrew is in the blue...he's the one on top! Here is Andrew just before he pinned the other little boy.

Here are some cute pictures of my little Bethany. She helped me make the "biscuits and gravy" AKA...chicken pot pie the other night. She helped roll out and cut the biscuits. After the pie was in the oven, she played in the flour while I washed some dishes. She looked so cute I went to get the camera...of course in the 30 seconds it took me to grab the camera and come back, she fell off her step stool. Posing for pictures was not on her list of favorite things at this moment, but the pictures were so precious I couldn't keep them to myself.

Dance outfits...

Ok, that was really not nice of me to post pictures and not allow my mom and dad to see...so here are some pictures they are allowed to see.

We were able to get Abbigail and Bethany's dance recital costumes this week. They are so adorable. We had to try them on to make sure they fit, and then the girls wouldn't take them off! They followed the "no eating or drinking" while wearing their costumes rule. I let them wear them for about 45 minutes, then made them take them off! I was so worried that something would happen to them! Now we just need to get Bethany some tights to cover those winter white legs!Three guesses what Bethany will be for Halloween this year...:o)

Bethany has a surprise for you!!!

Bethany has a surprise for all of you, but if you are my parents (Bobbie and Papa) PLEASE don't look. She wants to surprise you when she comes to see you next week.

Ok, ready for the surprise?







Bobbie and Papa, you aren't looking, are you??







Can you see the surprise?



How about now?? Sorry for the blurry picture, I guess I need to ask Abbie for some lessons!

Ever since Abbigail had her ears pierced 16 months ago, Bethany has been talking about getting hers done. Our dear friend, Hester, who does our hair is retiring. She is selling all her cosmotology stuff...and in the "stuff" was an ear piercing gun and a bunch of studs. I asked her if I purchased the gun if she would pierce Bethany's ears when we felt ready, and she said of course. Well, that day came only 2 days later. Bethany has been talking about it nonstop since we got the gun (I put it WAY far up so she wouldn't be able to pierce anything on her own!!!) We talked about how it would hurt, but just for a few minutes. How she would need to be brave. How she would have to let me clean them twice a day. How she would need to leave them alone! She agreed to all the terms, and still wanted it done! So...we did it. She was SO brave. She flinched when Hester put the dots on her ears with the marker because she thought that it was going to be the part that hurt, so Hester drew a smiley face on her hand to show it was ok. Hester even "fired" the gun a few times so Bethany would know what it sounded like, so she wouldn't be scared. She sat so still and didn't cry at all, until the first earring had been placed for about 3 seconds, then she howled! We quickly did the other ear, and gave lots of snuggles! She was so brave. She even sat very still while Hester was doing the second ear, even knowing it was going to hurt. As soon as Hester was done, she handed her a mirror so Bethany could see her sparkles, and oh, boy...she was so pleased! You can see in her face that she's been crying, and still not entirly sure about the whole thing, but she's pretty proud now!

SLEEP!!! Come on, I BEG you!!!

My cousin, Loni, had a bad night with her girls being up and down all night. I totally feel her pain. This is the comment I left on her blog to describe MY night...Oh Bethany, I love you, but COME ON!!!!

My night was more up and stay up than down. Bethany came to our bed at 2:15 (we're trying to stop this little habit!). That turkey even thought she was moving in and brought her own pillow which she promptly tried to smother me with. I took her back to her own bed and rubbed her back for a while...thought she was asleep and went back to my bed. I literally had one leg on the bed and she was crying (mind you, she's almost 4 years old!!!) so back I went. I got her some cough medicine to help sooth her constant cough, and the drowsy effect wouldn't hurt either, would it?? Rubbed her back some more, back to bed...one leg thing again. So, I crawled in her bed with her and she fell asleep about 30 minutes later (I'm about to loose it at this point!) so, I snuck out and went back to my bed...one leg in, crying!! AHHHH! I went and turned on her lullaby music (who cares if it wakes Abbie!) and rubbed her back for one more minute (ok, maybe 5) and then told her to go to SLEEP, mommy is freezing and going to my own bed. "You are to stay HERE, I'll see you in the morning." By this time it was about 3:45. I was just drifting off about 4, and who crawls in MY bed? At least this time she didn't try to smother me with her pillow, so I just rolled over and tried to get some sleep!
My other kids never had such problems with sleeping in their own beds. Sure, they would come in every once-in-a-while when they had bad dreams or whatever...but what's the deal?? I know she's her own person, not her brother or sister. I know she has a different personality. I know she has different strengths, and weaknesses (like SLEEPING!). I know she is in a different birth order, she's the youngest...BUT PLEASE!!! Just go to sleep!!

I actually enjoy snuggling with her, but I would much rather she sleep in her own bed. Snuggling can be fore nap time, or evening story time...not the middle of the night! During the night I'd rather snuggle with my hubby than my daughter!!!

Here is a picture of my little "darling"...plotting her nighttime antics, I'm sure!

Anyone have any ideas or suggestions??

Warren actually suggested that we should switch sides of the bed, when she realizes that she's snuggling up to daddy, will she go back to her bed?? Who knows! Maybe we'll give it a try!

Playing in the SNOW!!

We were only home for about 1/2 hour yesterday...but Bethany and Abbigail took advantage of this time by playing in the snow. They were a bit sad that they couldn't make a snowman, but the snow was just too cold and powdery. They made a couple of cute snow angels, and tried to get me with snowballs...but see...they couldn't even do that! :-) The snow simply could NOT stick together...you can see the powder flying up, but it didn't get me!!! ;-)

Yes, those are bags of trash sitting by the fence...our trash can was frozen shut and I didn't have gloves on when I took them out. I went back out and got it open so the trash could be put in it! Andrew decided his little bit of free time could better be used playing the Xbox instead of freezing his fanny off...I was busy getting LOTS of things ready for today (potluck at church, Sunday School, and the Children's Christmas program). I'll make a post about today another time, right now I think I'm just going to go turn off my brain for a while, I'm exhausted!!!!

Bethany is just wierd!!

Abbigail, Andrew and Bethany all got matching jammies for Christmas from my parents a few years ago (their cousin Ella also received the same jammies...soooo cute!!)....and they ALL still fit. I have a habit of buying things a bit big so they can use them for a while...apparently I got these really big. The only problem is that Bethany's jammies are the one piece footed kind...well they used to be. She wouldn't wear them, even though they are her warmest jammies because "I want my feet stick out!!!" So...I cut them off. The feet on the jammies that is! Now she's proudly wearing the jammies, and the feet! Her tootsies were cold, so she put the feet of the jammies back on as slippers...silly girl! By the way, they aren't that short, I had her lift her arms up so that you could see that they weren't attached! Also...Andrew was still in the tub, he has the matching jammies, too!

Silly Bethany...my sunshine!

My Bethany...what a silly girl. What would I do without my little girl to make me smile? She is so darn cute!!!

This morning she was bouncing around the patio saying "Get me up! Get me up! YeHaw! I'm a girl cowboy! I'm bouncing by my lone!"

Translation...'Geddeup! YeHaw! I'm a cowgirl! I'm bouncing all by myself!"

Now she's out there singing "Row, Row, down your boat, just down the street. Merry Merry, like is got a dream." How can you hear that and not smile???? Even on my most tiresome, stressful day, my girl can make me grin. "Can I nuggle with you?" Is one of her favorite questions...of course I'll snuggle with you! She also loves to "swing"...actually ride in the sling, and how can I say no to that!???!!

Oh my Bethany...or "Betany Joy Pockno" as she calls herself! I love you so much!! You are growing up so fast. My last baby...you'll always be my baby, no matter how big you get! I'm so proud of the big girl you are becoming. I love to see your caring heart. I love to listen to you playing, all the conversations you have with any object or person. You are just so adorable! I thank God for sending you to us. You were the answer to many prayers...some we didn't even know to pray. I love you so much...thank you for helping me to smile. Forgive me when I don't make time for 'nuggles.

This last picture is of Bethany helping with the dishes. Monday night is her night to help with the dishes. Of course the first dish she picked up was a cup, full of water and she dumped it right on her clothes...so we stripped down and she continued to do the dishes. Thanks for the 'help' babe!