slumber party!

last night, we had a very special guest come stay with us.  she was planning to just join us for one of justin's fantabulous meals, but couldn't say no to the sweet little kiddos (& me) begging her to stay and play. 

 

so, we had a dan zane's dance party in ben's room, disco ball & all!  almost like our nights in the club when we were much younger. 

bed time was much fun, all snuggled together in our tie-dyed shirts.  ben & gracie had tons & tons of books for aunt kristen to read.

i really need to work on self photos - i used to be so good at that in college!

gracie & i moved to the other bed with daddio after she was accidently pushed out in the middle of the night (sorry, sweetie).  & miss kris was awakened in the middle of the night to a hand grabbing her chest saying "momma, i can't sleep."  i'm sure that was quite a freak out for you, my dear!  good job getting him back to sleep.

kristen, we all had such a good time with you here yesterday evening.   it has been so good to have you here going through this stuff with pap too.   i enjoyed revisiting old memories & talking about the beautiful messes that are our lives.  i love you like my sister forever.  come play & stay with us more!

sleep talkin man

daddio's snoring is extra loud tonight keeping me up.  which reminds me of a blog lori & randy showed us tonight.   http://sleeptalkinman.blogspot.com/  pretty funny i think!

sleep update

she went to sleep tonight without nursing & without pitching a fit! yea! i bribed her by watching blue's clues & telling her "the girls" are owie. they sure are. thank god for cabbage though. cold cabbage leaves make the pain so much better (as long as you don't mind smelling like cole slaw)!

slumber party

last night we went camping in our living room. we got out the kiddos' easter presents from namaw & poppy - sleeping bags! these are not your run of the mill slumber bags like i had growing up. oh no, these are air matress sleeping bags. after hand pumping them up, it was past everyone's bedtime. after testing out the jumpability, ben said it was time to sleep & did just that.

gracie, on the other hand, never did settle down. she did lay down for a picture though.

i look forward to camping out in the yard with them soon!

now i lay me down to sleep

we go to bed late around here compared to most families i think.
our evening routine consists of:
6ish: eat supper (hopefully daddio's home)
6:30 get all wound up since daddio's home
maybe go for a walk or have a dance party
7:30 or 8: take a bath
8:30 book time (& sometimes a thomas the tank engine video)
9:00 lights out

daddio often falls asleep during book time, bless his heart. he gets up waaay early &snores waaay too loud.

i love late nights with the kids. we say our prayers & bless all of our family & friends. deedee & paul have been on beano's #1 prayer list for quite a while now. we talk about what our favorite things about the day were. beano will often tell what he did wrong that day & that he was sorry.

after that, we cuddle & i nurse cecee to sleep on one side and hold beano in my other arm. i love to hold them & look at their sweet faces & feel their breathing. they are such a gift from god. i love to fell comforted knowing my family is all in bed together; daddio, beano, cecee bella, me & zakky.

i usually get up & leave beano & daddio in bed and get on here. this is why i am so tired!!!

here's a picture from beano taking a nap at papaw's house a few months ago. while he was resting, sissy was ontop of the kitchen table smokin a pipe! not really, just blowing on one of the old bubble blowing pipes.

i think her necklace sets of the picture that much more!

the picture of bean & cecee napping together didn't last long. i moved her into the other bed with me.

tomorrow is saturday, yipee! we will wake up & all eat breakfast together in bed watching cartoons, my favorite! i think we will be needing a bigger bed someday if we are to have any more join us! good night & have a great weekend!!!