mommy momments

yesterday...

i went to walmart with three kids and forgot three things
(not the kids! ha!)

riley pooped his pants in public

then he pooped on the carpet in his room

caleb fell on his bike twice and cried hysterically both times
riley fell from a small bridge and bloodied his nose

allie had a misunderstanding that left her in tears

we went to sonic to cheer up and riley dropped his lemonade before he got a sip

riley tinkled in the sand at sonic

lance and i didn't get to bed till 11 and were awakened to griffin teething/crying at 5.

as a mom, it's easy to find the things that are exhausting.  

TODAY, by the LORD'S wonderful GRACE, i am overlooking exhausting and seeing joys.

look who is holding his own bottle.

 

life

just 

got 

easier

The Apple doesn't fall

far from the tree!

after weeks of asking, the biggest sisco boys were in the skit this week.

meet Riles

and Miles

they are the grandsons of Giles McGillicutty (lance's old time patriot character). if you enlarge this photo you can see a camper laughing really hard. i think they liked it!

they did a great job staying in character and, of course, looked adorable!

the boys had "birth marks" that held a clue for the campers

they were thrilled to be a part of the skit and riley has not stopped saying thank you yet.

all POOPED out

LITERALLY!

i have never dealt with so much poop in all my LIFE! i have a newborn so, in typical form, i am changing diapers about 6 times a day and probably 1/2 of them are poopy. and i am in the trenches of potty training our 2 year old so i deal with poop accidents once (usually twice) a day. ugh! but Saturday was the record setter! :)

it was change over weekend at camp so our first 1/2 staff were leaving and our 2nd half staff were coming in. that means everyone together again and one big party! i spent most of Saturday afternoon icing cupcakes (pics to come soon) and that is where i was when i got the announcement.... "MOM, MOM, GREEN POOP! GREEN POOP!" is what caleb shouts while running into the kitchen with a goofy grin on his face. i immediately assumed that riley had an accident and went into toddler clean up mode. but i was sorely mistaken and instead found griffin sitting in his car seat immersed in green poop. oh yes, down his legs and covering the seat....
OH GEEEZ! i hauled him to the bath tub by one ankle and one wrist. poor baby got layed on the cold, hard bathtub floor and hosed down. eeekkk! that was alot of poop!

i might start to call him cute, but deadly:

story continues: we head to camp, i set up the cupcakes, and we begin our switch over celebration. when things got serious, i let the boys play outside on the porch while i watched them from the window. they had been out there about 10 minutes when i got a text message. i glanced at them... they looked good... returned the texted... glanced back.... "OH, MY"... "WHAT?"

BOTH of my lovely boys are pants-less and crying about 10 yards away. i run with griffin in tow and allie jogging close behind, the whole way i was hollering, "what is wrong, what happened?" caleb was too upset to pull his words together so i direct my attention to the little guy. it is obvious that he had an accident and decided to ditch his pants, but he was VERY upset about the poop on his hands.

he may look cute, but he likes to poop in his pants:

now to caleb... after much calming down he replied with "i had to tinkle and i didn't think i could make it back to the dining hall. so i pulled my pants down to tinkle and i pooped too"..... followed by more sobbing. i tried to explain that he made the right decision and hey... kept his pants clean! good work!

he's cute too, but super silly and still having occasional accidents.

oh friends... the day of poop... three boys... three episodes... three clean ups! how did it come to this? HA! hopefully they will get it figured out before they start dating! ;)

Thank goodness for little girls:

the promised story

allie came home from church two sundays ago explaining how the five year olds were going to be singing on Easter Sunday. lance and i were thrilled because none of our kids have ever done anything like this... so it was going to be a sisco family first. at the time of said announcement she could not remember the title of the song or any of the words, but by tuesday the Hosanna song was being sung continuously. she would sing, "hosanna, hosanna, you are the king of all kings." i would smile and cheer her on as she practiced. she would beam with pride. by wednesday she started thinking about what she should wear. on friday i received an email from our church stating that elementary kids would be dismissed after the singing. on saturday i made sure the camera batteries were charged up. sunday morning was hectic enough with it being easter, but we wanted to make sure allie was ready. lance showed her carrie underwood's performance from Good friday (if you haven't seen it... it will bring you to tears! watch it here) and i made sure her hair was pulled out of her face for photo opportunities!

we got to church and sent riley to the toddler room. Griffin hadn't had his shots and caleb wanted to watch his big sis sing so we headed to church with three kids five and under... not an easy task. lance and i did our best to focus on praising the LORD in between burping griffin and correcting the older two. i was also battling the following inward thoughts: why is this singing scheduled on such a big sunday... i want uninterrupted time with God... mandy, stop being so selfish, my mothering can honor the lord as much as singing to him.... no, i can't hold you - i'm worshiping here! ugh, when are they going to let her sing so we can be done with this ( i know, it isn't pretty... i'm just keeping it REAL)

after about five songs and allie asking 12 times when it was going to be her turn, the pastor got up and began praying. this is what he usually does just before his sermon so i glanced up at lance. he was looking at me with the same confused expression. did we miss it? what's happening? are they not singing? the prayer ended and we were instructed to sit... WHAT? allie promptly began tugging on my dress and wondering why she wasn't going up to the stage. i quickly shuffled the kids out of the sanctuary baffled by what had just occurred.

come to find out - the sunday before some one had made a comment during singing time in sunday school. something to the effect of, "you guys sound so good... maybe sometime you can sing in big church." we never once thought to doubt her because she is usually right on the money in what she relays to us. oh, my... typical sisco moment. a VERY eventful Easter morning!

confessions of a mother

part two

I got in my car that fatal Saturday, put my head on the steering wheel, and began to sob. I was overwhelmed by the events that had unfolded, but even more upsetting was the deep intuition that lurked within my mind. For almost two weeks I had the unsettling feeling that I was in fact pregnant.

the Lord and i exchanged words that day, but His voice spoke soft and sweet... "I have this, Mandy!" so I dried my tears, reassured my children that mommy hadn't completely lost it, and drove us home.

Three days later I convinced myself (with a little help from a friend) that 14 days late did mean it was well past time to take a test. I woke up that morning, tinkled on a stick, confirmed my anxious thoughts, hid that stick, and left the house in utter disbelief. oh, that's right, i did not mention one word to lance about the news, but instead thought denial was the best policy!

The same evening, just the two of us were headed to dinner and he (wouldn't you know) began a conversation about kids, pregnancies, etc. Toward the end of what we were discussing he said, "It is times like these that I am so glad we are done" and then lovingly looked toward me for confirmation. of course, I did what any well meaning wife would do and blurted out, "I am so pregnant!" He thought I was kidding and apparently needed more convincing so i said, "No, I mean it. I took a test. It was positive. I am so pregnant."

Needless to say the last week has been lance and I wrapping our minds around a different year than we had anticipated. And before the jokes begin you should know that we are well aware of what causes this and birth control was in place! Although we are in shock and in utter dismay that the Lord would think this a good idea, we know His plans always succeed. We are standing on His Word and claiming His promises daily. He has much to teach us about being flexible to what He desires for our lives.

The big kids are thrilled. Allie has kissed my belly at least ten times today and wants the baby to come tomorrow. And Caleb's exact response was, "This is awesome!" So who can argue with that?
This is awesome!
Thanks to the Lord for giving the perfect gift that we didn't even know we wanted!

confessions of a mother

part one:

last Saturday we were out of diapers. i decided that i was tired of buying small packages only to turn around and buy another one the next week. i made up my mind to drive all the way to Sam's club with all three kids to get a large box of diapers. it may be a longer trip, but i will only make it once in three weeks, right?

the timing of the trip was a little tricky because last Saturday was camp's switch week and we had an event to be at by 12:15. i chatted with the kids on the way about helping mom be speedy and reminded them that we weren't getting hot dogs, pizza, or slushies, although all of them are super yummy and encouragingly affordable there! they agreed to be helpful and we proceeded to the store.

upon entering Sam's, i stuck Riley man in the cart and flew through the aisles to the back of the store. any other shopping trip he would have been securely belted in so that i could peruse the goods, but what was the point... we needed one thing and we would be fast. i grabbed that box of huggies and darted to the checkout counter. Caleb had a firm grip on the side of the cart and loved the speed in which his typically slow mommy was driving the cart. Allie, however, found it entertaining to see if her little legs could keep up with mommy and, for the most part, they did.

huggies went onto the belt, Allie handed the unassuming cashier the Sam's card, and Caleb was about three feet away scoping out some merchandise. i slid my debit card and began typing in my key code when glanced to my right. our oldest child and the most determined of all three had decided to scale the stack of four pallets so that she can look into the giant, open BBQ grill that is on display. i threw my wallet and debit card down while yelling, "Allie, don't...." my words trailed off as the grill rolled forward and fell from the top of these pallets. it is only by God's infinite grace that she was not even scratched. we were both shaking and crying hysterically. she blurted out, "mommy, i am soo sorry!" on repeat between her never ending sobs. i held her tight out of endless love and complete fear. Shaking, i stood up and realized that Riley was crying and, of course, unbuckled still. i began to walk toward him when i realized that i didn't see Caleb nearby. still trembling i mumbled that i could not find my son. all the bystanders from the previous event assured me that he was in the shopping cart and just kept saying, "oh, miss... he's in your cart." i was too far gone into hysteria to be able to piece together a sentence stating that I HAVE THREE KIDS! so finally, out of exhaustion and terror I screamed at the top of my lungs (much like my kohl's experience with this same child), "CALEB!" His blonde little head came bounding from around the corner, "Here i am, mommy!"

i scooped him into my arms and put him in the cart with Riley with what seemed to be hundreds of baffled on lookers. I'm certain that i even heard someone say, "oh, my she has three." HA! I would love to say that I left Sam's with my head held high. That i wasn't completely humiliated by the happenings of that day, but that would be a lie. Not only did i feel like a foolish woman, but inside I was withering away and questioning my abilities to parent my three adventurous kiddos.

stay tuned for the part two of this confession...

our million dollar kid!

quite literally... he has had open heart surgery and broken a bone before the age of three!

i finally have time to tell the whole story! last saturday we were suppose to be getting karen (lance's mom) to her surprise birthday party. about 45 minutes before we were to leave, caleb had his accident. his uncle kent was pushing him "faster" on the tricycle. we do that all the time at home... caleb loves to go fast! it usually isn't a problem except that this time caleb decided to put both feet down on the ground mid ride. the pedals grabbed his shins and threw him over the tricycle which then tripped up uncle kent and they all crashed. caleb screamed ALOT! during the 30 minute scream fest there was no blood, no swelling, and no bruising... i honestly thought that he was being over dramatic. this was not the first time that he had cried that hard or that long. so we loved on him lots, but eventually we had to get going. after reaching the party (which i sadly have no pictures of) he stayed seated for an hour. well, anyone who knows our kids knows that they never sit still. something was wrong! we left the party early and headed to an urgent care facility for x-rays. the x-rays showed that he broke his tibia and fibula at shin hight. as a result he is in a full leg, non-walking cast for at least four weeks. needless to say, we are learning some tricks.

• he wears only boxers so that his underwear will slide around his cast easily
• we put a plastic stool in the bathtub, wrap up his leg and bath him with the shower head
  
• we've borrowed a potty training potty so that he can potty by himself
• we use the radio flyer wagon to tote riley and caleb places
• i'm teaching caleb how to enjoy non-physical activities like play dough, coloring, bubbles, etc. he use to do these types of activities for five minutes... we are getting better
• i wrote psalm 118:14 on his cast and we talk about it when he gets frustrated (just between us... i think that one is more for me than him! HA!)

i'm going to include one more picture to prove that although it may slow him down at times... the cast is not stopping him from anything.

i was in the kitchen when allie came walking through. i asked her where caleb was and she responded, "oh, he's just in the crib pretending to be a baby."
"in the crib?"
"yeah!"
"no, how did he get in the crib?"
"oh, ha, he just climbed on in!"

and... in fact... he did! crazy kid!

allie at it again...

"Hey dad, guess what? milk is coming out of my belly button."

a day of surprises... and not the fun kind!

i think that today's entry is more for therapy reasons than anyone else's need to know. So thanks for letting me spill all.... i took both kids to bible study this morning. Allie went kicking and screaming - which is not normal, but i assumed we were experiencing some almost two attitude. As we walked into her class she latched onto my leg with huge tears pouring down her cheeks. As i was trying to convince her that it would be fun and that that "dolly over there needs a stroller ride" caleb leaked liquid poop down my back side. i know, you're thinking a line of poop or a little spot. oh, no... not even close - it was more like a 9 inch puddle of poo.

so... what is a mom to do???
1. caleb took a bath in the church sink

2. he went back to his class in just a diaper (it just couldn't be a day that i had the extra change of clothes in the car)

3. i washed my shirt and put it back on wet

4. walk into bible study smelling something awful and apologized over and over

5. on the return drive home, all three of us cried at some point

we finally got home and i thought that the drama of the day was over, but sadly... no!

caleb crashed from exhaustion and i started making allie lunch. she was doing ok until she ate some pineapple. you would have thought that she lost a limb the way she started crying. upon examination, i realized that she had a penny sized sore on her tongue.

you guessed it... off to the doctor... where we got the news that she has a virus and there is no medication for the five sores in her mouth... just tylenol and TLC.

so there you have it! we are all worn out and hoping that allie sleeps through the night! His mercies are new every day! Thank goodness.

the terrifying car seat

today we threw the kids into the car for the fourth weekend in a row. have you ever done that... been in the process of doing something, while you're thinking, "this could possibly bring life as we know it to a complete end!" They really were letting us know that they were NOT happy with this decision!

however, they settled and we seemed to get to Dallas rather quickly. We spent about half an hour in Stonebriar mall in Frisco. We went straight to the indoor playground. Between keeping an eye on Allie as she darted in and out of tunnels, changing two dirty diapers, and looking over to see caleb standing up with his pants around his ankles we had a pretty great time!

we were able to meet uncle kent and his girlfriend hannah (she's a sweetie) for lunch. we enjoyed a little cheesecake factory... which, i must say, is very kid friendly. who would have guessed... they bring you a child plate with bread and sliced banana for free before you even order. THANK YOU cheesecake factory!

All in all, our six hour trip to Dallas and back was a wonderful. but i think we will take a break from the car for awhile... well, the kids and i will... i guess dad has to start recruiting soon... BOO!