FALKNER FAMILY

A MOTHER IS THE TRUEST FRIEND WE HAVE, WHEN TRIALS HEAVY AND SUDDEN, FALL UPON US; WHEN ADVERSITY TAKES THE PLACE OF PROSPERITY; WHEN FRIENDS WHO REJOICE WITH US IN OUR SUNSHINE DESERT US; WHEN TROUBLE THICKENS AROUND US, STILL WILL SHE CLING TO US, AND ENDEAVOR BY HER KIND PRECEPTS AND COUNSELS TO DISSIPATE THE CLOUDS OF DARKNESS, AND CAUSE PEACE TO RETURN TO OUR HEARTS.

-Washington Irving

I'm lucky enough that I rarely get sick. (Thank goodness!) But over the weekend I caught something that's knocked me off my feet! Dang! Ryan left for a nine day trip to Europe for work and I have to say in the most loving way that I was okay with him going. I've decided that time apart from your significant other can be quite healthy. I wasn't expecting to appreciate him this much right away, but oh my gosh! The day after he left was when I caught a nasty sinus infection and I missed him immediately. He's so good at taking care of me (and the kids) when I'm sick. Needless to say, my rear's been parked on the sofa or in my bed for the past few days due to the side effects of a nasty, never-ending, head cold! I have to say that I am extremely lucky to have my little ones...they are awesome! Taylor is very compassionate just like her dad! She should be a nurse when she grows up. She's been taking my temperature, making sure that I'm comfortable, making dinner- (she's the best at making top ramen and spaghetti), she even made the kids lunches for school one morning. As I've said before, I'm so lucky to have her, but I can't wait for Ryan to return....only four more days! Thankfully, the aches and chills are gone and I'm left with a head that feels like a bowling ball, never ending drainage, and I actually wish I had a hearing aid so I could turn up the volume, I can hardly hear a thing. But I'm ready to take on the task of getting this house whipped back into shape!

Random stuff everywhere...

Yes, that would be peanut butter on the floor in the family room. I think it is from when the kids played store the other day...

Not that anyone really cares, but sorry I haven't been keeping up on my blog. We're just living everyday life. Not a ton of excitement going on right now, which is good. We're busy. Life's happening right before our eyes. Time is flying. And things are good. Today after church Ryan and I were thinking how tall the kids were getting. I think it's because Trey came down stairs in a pair of jeans that had flood written all over them. He was wearing a pair of jeans that had only been purchased in Sept....(I guess it's been five months). So needless to say we went up stairs to Brooklyn's room to measure the kids on the growth chart. The result? Eight (8) inches of growth in the last year! Taylor, 2 1/2 inches. Brooklyn, almost 3 inches. And Trey, 2 1/2 inches! They're growing like weeds! Crazy!

I've never grounded one of my kids for a whole week before...until this last week. I quickly learned that grounding my son, also meant that I was grounded. Trey is mr. social and loves playing outside. He is obsessed with his bike. He loves to build jumps out of the snow to jump his bike off of. Unfortunately for him, he was grounded from it. He also loves playing the Xbox, his DS, and the wii, which he was also grounded from. But the computer was not off -limits, since he's never been much of a computer game player....until now! We introduced him to webkinz and Taylor being the sweetheart that she is gave him one of her webkinz that she hadn't activated yet. So Trey adopted his first, a groundhog, and named him Mario. So we spent an obscene amount of time playing games and learning about all the things to do in webkinz world. I know more than I ever wanted to about webkinz. Now all three of my kids are webkinz addicts.

Lucky for Trey, I had signed he and I up to take a literacy class together. It's once a week for four weeks. So he did get out once this week and we were able to go to this class together. He loves going.

Funny thing- while he was grounded this week, I still had to work one afternoon. Being the good mom that I am, I told him to ride his bike around the church a couple of times, get some fresh air and some exercise and come right back, which he did. Later, I had a client processing and I ran up stairs to check on Trey. He was no where. So I jumped in my car and drove around the neighborhood to find the little bugger. Couldn't find him. I finally drove around the church and saw his bike inside the church, that's the only way I knew he was there. Of course the doors were locked. Finally found a door that was unlocked and found him running through the church with one of his partners in crime. He was so busted! He was then grounded to his room until the next morning. His bike is still in the back of my car and I'm not sure when I'm going to take it out for him....probably never! Anyway, I made it back just in time to wash my clients color out of her hair....My cute client asked me if everything was okay with trey?...If she only knew. LOL!
I'm looking forward to tomorrow more than I usually do. On top of it being Monday, my favorite day of the week for many reasons, Trey is finally un-grounded and finally able to go play! Yippee!

For Tay's birthday party this year she asked if she could have a limo party? After checking into it, I thought it was kind of pricey, so of course, Ryan calls around and gets a great deal that we couldn't resist! So we started the planning, and from the beginning, the whole family was in on it and had tons of fun planning it! It was so fun for Ryan and I to see Taylor's excitement whenever we talked about it! She kept it a secret from all her friends all week and then the day of the party I told the parents they could tell their daughters a few minutes before the party started that a limo was coming to pick them up! The girls were ecstatic! I was too! I had never been in a limo and oh, it was a BIG deal!! After the limo arrived at our house (a half hour late because he was stuck in traffic due to an accident)...a few of the girls, including Tay, Brooklyn and my nieces, Lauren and Kamryn were in our yard literally jumping up and down! The limo driver got out, shook the girls hands, helped them in the car...Trey and I jumped in too, and we were off to pick up eight more girls! After he had picked up all the girlie's, he drove us down to a place where they serve pink hot chocolate. The ride there was a blast! Ryan and I had made a CD of all of Tay's favorite songs that were playing and the girls were singing. Every song that played they girls would say, oh, I love this song, and all sing together! I was having a very proud "cool mom" moment! It was awesome! So I told the girls, every car that we drive by is totally wondering who is in the limo...and they all started screaming! Our limo driver had a totally cute personality. One of the girls said, "Hey dude, turn up the music!" Haha. He rolled down his little window and said, "That is not how you talk to your limo driver. You should say, 'Excuse me Sir, would you please turn up the music?'" He had the girls repeat it a few times. It was cute. So after we had our hot chocolate the girls were very anxious to get back to the limo. So after we all loaded back in, he headed to our house...driving extremely slow! He told us we could use the goblets and he had sprite and root beer chilled for us! The girls were so cute, they toasted Tay and wished her a happy birthday! Then the driver opened the sun roof and let them stand up as we drove into our neighborhood! Ry was at our house with the video camera and he said he could hear us coming for a few minutes! He was laughing! And then, the limo ride was over...time for the second half of the party, games, presents, ice cream & donuts and a mini dance party! When the party was over, all the girls kept saying this is the funnest birthday party ever! :) I could tell they all had a blast..and I did too! For party favors we gave each girl a copy of the CD that we had made and listed to all night! Great idea, huh? They loved it! I'm so glad Taylor had a great birthday, I love seeing her so happy! Now, I think I want a limo party for my next birthday!!!

My first post of the year is dedicated to my little Taylor Alexis! I want to wish her a huge happy birthday and let her know how much we all love and appreciate her and all she does!!

I've said it before and I'll say it again...I can't believe I have a 10-year-old! Where has the time gone?? I remember being pregnant with her and before my sonogram I knew she was a little girl and she was going to change my life! After the sonogram confirmed that she was a girl and we had a profile picture take of her, I could tell she looked like her daddy!...and she does! She loves going on lunch dates, to movies, shopping and she loves her one-on-one time with Ryan and I. I love doing things with her too! I just want her to know how awesome I think she is. She is so responsible, funny, sweet, smart, compassionate and so fun to be around! She's always thinking of others and when someone feels icky, she's sure to ask them how they're doing and if there's anything she can do to help them. She's so helpful with the kids while I work (she does complain about that sometimes!). The other morning I came home from the gym an hour before school started and she had her and Brooklyn up and dressed and ready for school, she'd gotten them both breakfast, made their beds and even made my bed! I asked her what I was supposed to do for the next hour?? I told you, she's awesome! Love you so much Tay and we're so lucky to have you! I hope you have the best birthday ever!!