ringing the bells

the girls and i had the opportunity to help grandma and grandpa ring the salvation army bells over the christmas season.  it is so awesome to see the bigger girls - especially j - starting to see the bigger picture.    santa is fun and all but to see the true meaning of christmas - the giving and sharing of jesus' love and our love for him...well, amen.  we spent the month of december doing a good deed each day.  the girls each had 'good deed' jars and got to pick new deed every morning.  they were so excited each day to see what they got to do - helping with laundry, holding the door for someone, giving a hug, baking cookies for the neighbors, we got pretty creative :)  ringing the bells was a definite highlight of the season and i'm sure we will be doing next year and the next year.

one last post on memphis...i promise

must have been a little reminiscent this evening.  i was looking back at pictures on my phone and came across some fun memphis pics i never thought to post.  quality is not top notch but they definitely capture some of the good moments :)

the girls on the hill of autozone park.  thank goodness the playground was open for play while russ had his meetings.  it was a great way for everyone to play and spend some time!!

our first night in memphis the girls saw these carriages outside the hotel and we knew we'd never get out of town without taking a ride.  they loved it and felt like real life cinderellas :)  (even though we were out way past bedtime!!)

one of my favorite moments of the weekend.  c and her ducks.  quack quack.

Before it's too late...a little new year eve recap

i realized tonight january is almost over and i never posted about our fun new years eve.  we didn't really have plans for the night - my personal opinion is that the night is a bit over-rated, overly expensive and i'd rather stay home with my kids where we are all safe and have our own fun in our own little world :)  we got in touch with some friends last minute and they came over from a night of mexican fare and just dance 2.  the girls got the new game for christmas and wow has it been a new hit with everyone in the family!!!  too much fun for kids and adults....seriously.

my biggest issue of the night - darn it, i'm the one with 15 years of dance experience so why is my dear husband (who will admit to little to no rythym) beating the pants off me on every song!!!! 

the kiddos checking out the game for the first time 

j and e doing tik tok.  e's thinking "what in the world??" j's thinking "i think i like this game!!"

jeff and chrissy...so totally funny to watch this in person

the boys doing what j now refers to as the "date song".  feel the love...

our new "just dance" chica...the other kids tired very quickly of dancing but j rocked out with the adults for hours.  she truly is becoming a "kid".  heaven help us!!! 

the girls are getting just dance FOR KIDS on valentine's day.  a few more kid-friendly songs that i am hoping gets e a little more interested.  i know c will go nuts - she's already screaming for possession of the wii remote. 

cabin fever averted...thank goodness!!

as forecasted, snow came last night and today was declared a snow day across st. louis.  didn't really affect us much because no one has school on tuesday's to begin with but, well...i admit to going stir crazy when i'm 'stuck' at home.  didn't have anything we needed to do today, but the fact that the roads were bad enough to cancel school and it was darn COLD made me realize we should just settle in for a cozy day at home.  yea!  and ugh....

and then around 7:30 every thing fell into place.  to back up a bit, russ left this morning for a business trip and is travelling with a good friend of ours that has two girls (5 and 7).  they were driving to to indy together and she texted if they could leave a bit later than planned ecause she was scrambling to find someone to watch the girls (what with no school and all).  hello!  here i am with a 5, 3, and 1 year old....bring 'em over and we will play!!!!

she gratefully accepted the offer and we were grateful to have fun company for most of the day.  my big girls had a fantastic time playing with their girls.  we even got to do a little sledding while c was sleeping, came back for a little hot chocolate and tinker bell and we were good to go.  (selfishlessly speaking, one of the best parts of the day was an easy bedtime since they were exhausted from playing so hard.  aaaaahhhhh....peace at last :-))

our biggest problem of the day...my poor little c really wanted to be included in big girl play :)  the girls would run up to their rooms and she would cry at the bottom of the stairs to go with them.  sorry pumpkin, not gonna happen when they bring out the nail polish and make-up, polly pockets, squinkies, you get the picture.  then they would run to the basement and slam the door shut (for safety purposes) and she would hang on the door crying to go down but once again, we're talking barbie shoes, cash register coins, etc.  you get the picture.  they had no desire for me to be included in the play or to be responsible for a 15 month old.  i get it.  she was stuck with boring old mom.  sorry c.

7 year old puppy...

some friends of ours had to say good bye to their 11-year old golden retriever today and it got me thinking about my own little buddy.  russ' only male companion in this otherwise female-ruled house :)

my first baby, cobb is one of the best doggies i've ever known.  he is calm, patient, sweet, loving, fun...i could go on and on.  yes, we took him to puppy school but i am serious when i say this dog was born with the best "family dog" personality.  i could not have asked for a better dog to help raise my girls.  they crawl on him, pull on him (at least c does), boss him around and he just goes with it.

i regret that we do not pay more attention to him.  i hate to admit this but, yes, there are times i forget that he's outside when we run out the door (running late as usual for school, church, dance).  and yet when i call his name he comes running with love.  what a good boy.  love you cobbers.

cobb in today's world...

our very first night with cobb....what a little peanut :)

a last edit to the post.  i found a picture of cobb and c.  they are practically best buds these days.  she is almost guaranteed to stop crying if you mention his name :)



my guardian angel deserves a break.

i've had all sorts of quick little 'in and out' type things that needed to get done for a couple of weeks (which i despise doing with all three girls in tow).  so... while russ was home i took advantage of the opportunity to fly solo and skeddadled.   i knew there was rain forecasted on new years eve so i decided to get out early and get all my errands finished as quickly as possible before i got drenched in rain.  turns out i kind of had my timing all backwards...

while returning a broken glitter barbie at walmart i noticed the first tornado sirens going off.  strange, i thought but decided it would be fine to run over to toys r us to make a couple of other returns i needed to take care of.

once again, wrong choice.  had no luck and by the time i walked back to my car the sky was not looking good and the wind had really picked up. 

here's a pic of the scene maybe 2 blocks down about 10-15 minutes later...

so to top off my brilliant decisions for the day i decide to run into dierbergs really quick so i can get dinner stuff and not have to get back out in the rain....yep.  that would be my fenton dierbergs in all her newsworthy glory.

here's a picture of what the parking lot looked like when i came out with my groceries...

and the church across the street (st. paul's)....

and the neighborhood i drive past on the way home (summit heights).... 

the church across from the just mentioned neighborhood (solid rock ministries)... 

so thank you little angel for keeping me safe during my silly errands.  i have never been so grateful for the little nudges that helped me get home to my family safe and sound.  (who were happily playing in the basement completely unaware of the tornado damage one mile away.)  dierbergs can lose power any time and i will never ever complain about the time it takes to get the checkout lanes back up and running.  i was nice and safe in a dimly lit grocery store instead of mid-route when everything went crazy. 

here's praying that everyone else stayed safe and suffered minimal damage on new years eve...what a way to leave to 2010!!!

(and thanks to ksdk.com for the incredible photos.  you all should be proud of me and know i had my hands on the wheel at all times and never took the time to take pics with my phone...safety first!!)

decorating advice from the resident five year old...

so it comes time to take the christmas tree down and i find j has been adding 'ornaments' to the tree all season long.

she wants to box them up with the rest of the ornaments.  you know, for next year.  here's to hoping mommy wins that battle!!

party hard or go home...j's 5 years old!!

tuesday was a big day in the cottle household...my first born, my baby girl turned 5.  how in the heck did that happen!?!?!  this year we planned a big 'friend' party for her at a local gymnastics studio and scheduled smack on her birthday.  why the middle of the week?  because the weekend before her birthday was christmas, the weekend after her birthday is new years and well, was there really a better choice?  these christmas birthdays are not easy.  luckily we had a great turn out.  almost all her school buddies made the party, some family friends and the very best part...all cousins under the age of 5!!  ended up we planned this party perfectly and j was able to celebrate with her atlanta cousins along with mickey ;-)

is that a morning dazed look, or what?!?

the morning started great. yummy cinnamon rolls and she was thrilled her birthday presents - gumball machine and belly-button swimsuit (hee hee). what else would you get a girl that just had an awesome christmas? the girl has been waiting to chew gum for years (the rule was she had to be 5) and nothing better than a belly-button swimsuit (thanks target for thinking all of us in stl need swimsuits in january).

all the kids had a great time at the party - 3, 4, and 5 year olds love gymnastics, birthday cookie cake and presents.

check out e's smirky little face...she hides her feelings well, doesn't she :)

                              

i think my favorite pic of the day.  isn't she beautiful!!!!

we ended the night at j's favorite birthday dinner location - red robin.  she could not wait to have her very own ice cream sundae!!!

she had a great day and two special presents - a big girl bike from grandma and poppy and a trip to chicago to visit american girl doll with grandma and grandpa.  lucky, lucky girl.