DVR is magical.

Today, Eli and I were blessed to sleep in until after 9!  It was sooooo nice!  We woke up and had a leisurely breakfast and basked in the glow of sleeping in. :) 

We had a play date today with our fabulous mommy group, Small Fries.  It was so good to see everyone!  With the holidays and travel and such, we have been kind of MIA for a while and we missed them so.  We went to The Church at Rock Creek to play in the indoor playground and Eli is FINALLY old enough to REALLY enjoy this place!  He is a pro all of a sudden. It is bitter sweet.  He was up the stairs and down the slide without thinking twice.  It was a joy to see him truly enjoy himself.  :)

We left play group a little early so that we could meet daddy at home for lunch.  Eli LOVES having lunch with daddy. Not only is he super excited to see him, but daddy is a good sharer. ;)  Eli always steals what fruit he can from daddy's plate after he has already filled his little belly with his own lunch. ;) 

After lunch, Eli laid down for a nap and I had some brief "mommy time".  I would usually spend this time cleaning or working out or something, but today was different. Today I chose to relax and catch up on a little DVR and it was so nice! I cuddled with Libby and watched Gossip Girl and craved chocolate that I can't have. LOL 

Tonight I made up for all the laziness of the day and did some hard work.  David and I are cleaning out the attic and we are doing it one box at a time. It is out of control!  We are getting rid of everything!!  Unfortunately, in the meantime, there is stuff all over our dining room and it is driving me crazy, so tomorrow I am making a trip to donate.  I can't wait to unload. :) 

I guess I will close now. I need to go catch up on some People's Court! I love it! I currently have 36 episodes on the DVR and the kids are in bed, so night night. :)

Thanksgiving 2011

I am so thankful for the family and friends the Lord has blessed me with.  I couldn't ask for more love and support than I receive from them. They are amazing and irreplaceable.

 I love you all.

The celebration started a little early, on the 22nd, when we celebrated my FIL's 77th birthday! :D  We had cake and ice cream in honor of this handsome 77 year old. 
Ms. Cathy and David and I got him a new 32' LCD TV for his "TV room" and it took us forever to trick him into going to his room to watch tv so that he could see our surprise.  He is so humble and modest that he wouldn't ask for anything for his birthday, but we could tell by his bright smile that he loved it.  He had been using an old (by old, I mean VERY old) 19' for years.  He said it best when he said, "Now I can read the small print at the bottom of the screen".  HAHA 
He's a precious man and I couldn't ask for a more loving FIL and grandfather for my children.  We love you, Papa!

This year our Thanksgiving was spent going between Green Forest and Berryville, as usual. :D  We started off in Green Forest for lunch.  We actually arranged a photo shoot for my three sisters and myself, so that we could grant our mothers single Christmas request. She asked for a picture of her four girls.  We didn't have a professional photographer because daddy was busy frying the turkey...

...so David grabbed my camera and took a few shots of us and here is what we came up with:

We got a few more, but these were a couple of the best ones, where every one is looking and kind of smiling. ;)

After pictures, we headed to grandma's (dads mom), where both of my grandmothers were in a silly mood:

Aren't they cute??  Here are a couple of more serious shots:

We spent the next three hours visiting with family and eating... A LOT!  I love Thanksgiving!  :D

We also managed to grab a few shots of the kiddos throughout the day, even though they were running around playing with their cousins, whom they don't get to see near as often as we would all like.

Here is a picture of Ali and her cousin, Tamika.  Aren't they beautiful?  I love these girls!

 Ali and Drew with their cousins, Tamika and AJ.
                                     


Ali, Lily, and Tamika.

Ali being super silly! :D  That's my girl!

Drew decided it was a good idea to pick one of grandma's flowers and give it to mommy. HEHE SHHHHH...don't tell grandma. ;)

After stuffing ourselves silly, we left for David's parents house.  Eli spent most of Thanksgiving day on Blaze:

While we waited to eat, I got a quick shot of David, with his two sisters and his parents...

We said grace and started eating and didn't stop until bedtime...literally!  We usually play board/card games, but I think everyone was too full to move. LOL 
We had a great time and we are so thankful to have such amazing families to celebrate with.
I hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving and remembered what it is that Thanksgiving is all about. :)

On to Christmas...

Libby goes GREEN.

Today was a very exciting day around Casa de Lynch.  David woke up early with the kiddos and was gracious enough to allow me to sleep in to "catch up".  When I woke up at around 9:30 (3 HOURS later than the usual 6:30 wake up), the house was peaceful.  The kids were quietly playing, the house was clean (my husband rocks!), and the luggage was almost all unpacked from our week away from home.

I woke up thinking, "this is going to be a nice, relaxing day" and for the most part, it was. 

David went grocery shopping and I stayed home with the kids.  I don't know which one of us gets the better hand when we split the chore of grocery shopping, but Eli was napping when he left, so all was pretty quiet.


About 15 minutes after David left, I heard screaming coming from Eli's nursery.  I opened the door to see Eli's leg stuck in between the rails of the crib!  I was horrified. This has happened a few times now, but he has always stuck his leg between the rails that are on the very end (which are easy to disassemble quickly)...until now.  He not only stuck his leg right through the middle bars, but it was also on the back (tall) side of the crib and my 5'4" self could not reach over to get to him.
I panicked!!! I called David, more for his comforting voice than anything else and I finally calmed down enough to realize I could twist him onto his side by pulling his leg sideways, since I still couldn't reach the little guy.  It was tough, mostly because Eli was terrified, but I managed to flip him over and slide his leg up the rail!  He was so happy to be free, but for the next two hours, he wouldn't let me put him down at all...he was traumatized.  The poor little guy...:(

While I held Eli close and comforted him, daddy came home and unloaded the groceries and all was well.  We even decided to let Libby downstairs to play for a while, while we were all available to keep an eye on her.  Remember:  Libby is 5 1/2 months old and crate training. She is doing really great, but we have had a few setbacks because of her bowel disease, although she has been doing super since her change in meds. :D

Libby was roaming around and harassing Sadie as usual.  We were keeping a close eye on her and everyone was enjoying the relaxing Saturday.  Daddy was baking muffins (he has a new thing for baking) and the kids and I were in the play room with the two fur babies...
I told Andrew to clean up his trains from the play room table and take them to his room before Libby got a hold of them and Drew began carrying the trains to his room.  Libby, of course, felt this was the perfect time to escape. As Drew opened the door, she ran through the kitchen and straight into Drew's room.  David saw her run past, so he went to get her, but it was too late.  Drew was yelling that Libby had something in her mouth and by the time David reached her, he heard her gagging and swallowing something, but no one knew what! 

We were so worried!!!  We gave her hydrogen peroxide to try to make her throw up (vet's orders), but twenty minutes passed and nothing.  We gave her a second dose and crossed our fingers...finally, 15 minutes later, she vomited!  We were so excited, but there was nothing there, except for dog food and bile. :(  I immediately called the emergency vet and they told us she would need to be seen immediately and an x-ray would be necessary. I got in the car and drove her to Maumelle. 

When we reached the vet, I quickly got out of the car and went to the back, where Libby was waiting in her crate.  When I got her out (in the rain-btw), I noticed something in the back of her crate. I could barely see it, but I could tel it was green!?

See exhibit A:

  Libby had swallowed a TREE!  Sure, it's a plastic tree from Drew's train set, but Libby swallowed a tree! 

That little girl sure did scare me today, but you know what...I'm thankful.  I'm thankful for the joy Libby brings our family and I'm thankful that she chose to throw it up BEFORE we paid 200 dollars for an xray. 

I have a lot to be thankful for, but most of all, I am thankful for a Lord that watches over us, even when we are too "busy" to ask.  Tonight, my baby is sound asleep in her crate and my Jesus is REAL! :D  I am so thankful!

Dancing with Jesus.

I hesitate to write this too early, too close to the time I heard the news that she was gone.  But I have to write, I have to express myself somehow. 
A woman that I have known for over 20 years passed away yesterday.  She was beautiful, funny, kind, loving and most importantly IN LOVE with the Lord.  I know she is dancing with Jesus right now, but I miss her so and there is, and always will be, a place in my heart for her.
This woman, whom I spent countless hours with as a child, even calling her mom on occassion, is the mother of my longest childhood friends, Toni, Taylor and Sarah. 
At the young age of 54, Susan passed away from a stroke (a massive bleed in her brain).  She was loved by so many and touched so many lives, including my own.
Over the years, as too often happens, I lost touch with the family.  Over the past couple of years, I have reconnected with Susan and the girls and even taken on Susan's maiden name when I married her first cousin, David.

Susan-You always lit up a room with your beauty and your smile.  Your laugh was contagious and it was always a joy to be around you.  Your love for the Lord and your family was inspiring.  I feel so blessed to have known you and for you to have played such a big role in my life.  I promise to continue loving the girls you left behind.  You will never be forgotten, for you will live in our hearts always.  We love you.