This one is for my parents (and anyone else who is interested)

Soooo, I've been neglecting this blog lately.  I've really liked how easy my smartphone makes it to share pictures via instagram and facebook.  I'm kind of like, "oh I could write a whole post about this, but instead I'll just share a pic really fast."  But I still feel like I need this blog.  For one, over the past 7 years this blog has acted as my journal and I just can't imagine stopping now.  

The second reason is that my parents are on their mission in Brazil now, and they don't have access to instagram and I'm pretty certain they can't get on Facebook that much.  They do have access my blog which means I have a reason to keep updating this blog.  So a lot of these pictures will be ones that have already shown up on instagram and facebook, but keep in mind that my parents are seeing them for the first time.  

So lets dive back into the past three or so weeks.  

Here's a picture of they girls playing with playdough.  They all have so much fun with that. 

Derrick transitioned from our church's nursery program for children 18 months to 3 years old and now he's in the Sunbeam class for 3 year olds.  It was a ROUGH transition.  I went with him and witnessed the whole thing. Problems included: he didn't understand why he couldn't play with toys anymore, his teacher wasn't there, the piano was too loud, everything was new, etc.  He spent most of the time crying and screaming. It was terrible.  By the end of the day I said, "we now have a level zero."   

The good news was that we are pretty used to Derrick reacting that way to new stuff.  We've discovered that with a few exceptions he usually just has to be exposed to new things about 3 or 4 times before he feels comfortable.  So we hoped we only had to deal with the crying and screaming for about 4 weeks. 

The next week Brandon went with Derrick.  Things went a little bit better. (Derrick is more used to Brandon making him do things he hates.)  My friend Mariah was assigned to help with Derrick.  She'd been there the first week, but he didn't want anything to do with her.  This time he was willing to take stickers from her during the little class part.  After class he came up to me with this picture and told me "Happy, Happy, So Fun!"

 Last week we had Stake Conference so we didn't have Primary.  This week Brandon was all ready to go to Primary with Derrick again.  But while Brandon was dropping Veronica off at nursery Derrick saw Mariah.  She said hi and Derrick replied with "Hey you!"  She asked if he wanted to go to Primary and he said "Yes!" and went into primary with her.  He did just fine the rest of the day!  Thank goodness!

It's been cold here.  So the kids have actually had to wear their winter coats to the bus stop.  Winter only lasts about a month here so I buy the kids coats big and they wear them for several years.  Lydia is currently wearing a 3T coat that she's worn two other winters.  And Charlotte is wearing a size 6 coat that should last a few years.  Here is Veronica showing off her cute coat that is just so adorable.

 I bought a bunch of Lincoln logs for $2 at a yard sale last October.  They ended up being one of Charlotte's favorite Christmas Presents.  She kept telling me that Santa knew exactly what she wanted even though she didn't even know she wanted them.  Some of the logs had little bite marks that were probably from the previous owners.  Charlotte has decided that Santa's reindeer chewed them.

The only problem with the set was that it didn't have enough long logs.  It had plenty of little ones, but not a lot of long ones.  So I when I saw another lincoln log set on a facebook page for $5 I immediately messaged the seller to buy them. Charlotte was so excited.  Now we have lots of long logs and she can build what ever she wants.

One of Lydia's favorite presents was a globe.  She really really wanted one.  Now she loves to ask us about different places on it.  Here's Brandon showing the girls some different countries. 

 I'm getting better at braiding the girls' hair - or maybe they are getting better at staying still.  Here is one of the hair dos.

Here is Brandon walking with mud on his feet. At one point he had two kids on each foot and he was actually able to take a few steps.

Brandon building with Charlotte.  This is the Lincoln log set he always dreamed of.

Brandon's mom sent us some money as a Christmas present with the instructions to spend it on a family outing.  She suggested somewhere like Chucky Cheese.  I knew that wouldn't work. I have mild sensory issues with noise and I consider Chucky Cheese to be one of the 9 circles of Hell.  I knew Derrick would never do well at a place that noisy, colorful, or crowded.  Instead we decided to take the kids miniature golfing at an outdoor place in Dothan.

First we went to the Dothan mall because Brandon was trying to find a Hobby store that was supposed to be there.  We never found the store, but we did find a carousel.

We didn't have any small change to we went to Chick Fil A and bought ice cream for the kids  Brandon and I got lots of licks and it was some of the best ice cream.

Then we were able to purchase tickets to go on the carousel. All the girls wanted to ride. And they had so much fun.

Derrick didn't want to ride so he and I stayed off and watched.

Then we went over to a little ride area and let the kids all sit on those.  (We're too cheap to actually turn on the rides.)  Derrick thought the train was so fun.

By this time we were all getting hungry so we went to Burger King.  I had been taking a little break from my eating program so I was able to enjoy a Whopper.  (So so good)

Then it was finally time to go miniature golfing.  By this time the day had warmed up to a perfect temperature.   It was so fun to be outside and playing together. The game was really crazy, but we had a lot of fun. 

After the game we had some treats at the car.  Brandon took this picture of me and I was so surprised by how good I look.  Check out those skinny legs and that flat tummy.  It's pictures like this that make all my hard work worth it. 

Back at home the fun continued with Brandon making a cave in our guest room.  The girls slept in it that night and pretended they were bears.

Here is a picture of antler that Charlotte wanted me to take.

Here is Lydia modeling an outfit that she put together.

On Martin Luther King Day we had big plans to go up to Montgomery and visit the Civil Rights places up there.  But we were really wishy washy about actually going.  Part of the problem was that it was just really cold.  Finally we decided to go.  Here are the girls all excited to be on our way.  (Derrick is still enjoying his solitude on the third row.)

I already wrote all about our day in Montgomery on the travel blog so check that out here http://www.51centadventures.com/2016/01/our-trip-to-montgomery-for-martin.html.

When we were all done we hung out in the car and ate a little snacky dinner.  I think this was the kids' favorite part.

My box of Medifast meal showed up on Monday and I also started my latest health challenge.  So I'm back on the full program.  It's going really well.  I have officially lost 50 lbs since I started losing weight and I've lost 30 on this program. 

On Tuesday the girls helped me make some art for our garden.

We drew designs onto tinfoil and then cut them out.

Charlotte did a bird and Lydia did a butterfly.

Veronica did a bunch of scribbles that I cut into a kite shape.

On Wednesday the afternoon weather was nice enough that we were able to walk over to the community garden and start working on our plot.  I have some big plans for this garden, but first we had to clear away all the weeds. Charlotte and Lydia both dressed like, "farmer" so they could help.

 Derrick and Veronica mostly just played around.  There is a play ground next to the garden so they would run over there to play.  Charlotte and Lydia helped out a lot.  By the end we'd cleared out all the weeds from around the strawberries that the last people planted.  We also turned over dirt and planted two rows of peas.

When I was about 10 my sisters and I covered my 2 year old sister, Hillary, up with blankets and called her the Queen of Babies.  Here are Charlotte and Lydia creating Queen of Babies 2016.

Here's Derrick playing with his train tracks.  Brandon put this one together for him.  Derrick loves to open and shut the gate and let cars drive through and then let the train drive past.  He's always talking about how the train goes "in da tunnel" or "on da bidge"

 Derrick also likes to look at our family picture from when everyone was here over Christmas.  He thinks that Knoxx, Lindsey, and Emily are all named Knoxx.  He also thinks Hillary, my mom, and Becca are all named Hillary.  And that Joe and Billy are both named Joe.  But he can name, Der-ik, Mom-my, Dad-dy, Naca, EEdia, Char-et, Rok-ond, and Papa every time.

 Veronica doesn't usually take a nap, but the other day she and I were able to take one together.  She's a sweet little girl.

 Our little puff ball motivation jar is working really well.  The kids like doing jobs and getting puff balls.  They love when they earn their ice cream sandwiches.

On Thursday I went to a ladies group at the Wings Chapel.  I wanted to do MOPS again this year, but they don't have a group here.  Instead they have a thing called P-31.  Basically it's like a non-denominational Relief Society.  They have a little spiritual thought and then we do a craft.  I went in November and had a lot of fun so I'd been looking forward to this one. One reason I really wanted to come was because I had a fun time talking to my friend Becca at the November meeting. Becca is one of the first people I met here in Alabama and I love her and I take every chance to hang out with her.  (Brandon's slightly worried I'm going to start stalking her.)  I've had a best friend void in my life ever since I moved away from Ashley in Texas so it's nice to have someone who is starting to feel like a bestie.

Anyway, we talked about kindness and then made these cute little quote boards.

 Oh and I should mention something else I did with another friend, but this happened like two weeks ago and I don't have any pictures.  My neighbor Jessica is another woman that I admire.  She invited me to go to Yoga with her at the Y in Enterprise.  I ran out of excuses after she told me the first class was free, and so was childcare, and there were hardly any people in the class, and that I didn't need to bring a mat, and that no one would judge me.  So I decided to go and try it out I was super nervous because I don't like trying new things.  But I kept thinking about Derrick who I keep forcing to do new things.  He keeps doing new things even though he hates them and then eventually he figures out they aren't that bad and learns to love them.  I should at least try to do the same thing.  So I went to Yoga.

It was actually pretty great.  I've been doing a lot of stretching at home so I was able to keep up for the most part.  And honestly it was such a calming experience.  I almost started crying because it was so calm.  I probably would go back every week except I'm not a fan of the drive.  But who knows, I still might do it.

Brandon's still doing instrument training.  That's where he learns how to fly without being able to see out the window.  He has to rely on what the instruments are telling him.  He's been in the simulators for the past several weeks.  It's hard, but overall a lot less stressful.  He's also had a pretty great schedule for the past week and has been home by 3 every day.

Still he's always happy on Friday when he can turn into "Weekend Brandon."  Weekend Brandon is so relaxed.  For our date this week we decided to work together on an art project for my big picture frame.  And by together I mean Brandon shows me lots of ideas and I tell him, "no that's not what I'm thinking," or "I like it, but can you make it a little bigger on this side."  He loves any chance to be artistic so he doesn't mind.

 On Saturday we were kind of planning on going to a Free science thing in Panama City Beach, but it was just miserably cold outside (I know I have nothing to complain about compared to Washington DC, but still it was cold).  Plus I wasn't feeling that great.  So we just hung around.  For movie night we watched the first Land Before Time movie and the kids liked it.  Then Brandon and I stayed up late watching Jurassic World.

Today I decided that I should try on a skirt that I've hung on to for years.  This skirt hasn't fit me since before I was pregnant with Derrick, but I loved it so much I just couldn't get rid of it.  Well I'm glad I hung on to it because it fits again!!!!!  I am so happy with the results I'm seeing with Take Shape for Life and the Medifast meals.  Six months ago I was worried I would never be under 200lbs again.  And now here I am at 185 and within 20 lbs of my goal weight.  This feels amazing.

Today we had a great day at church (this is the day Derrick went to Primary without any problems), but we were worried about how things would go after church.  We didn't want to sit around at home and get mad at each other.  (Not like that ever happens.)  The weather was nice so Brandon and I decided that in the interest of family happiness we should go on a little adventure.

So we drove down to Dothan and checked out some train tracks in the down town area.

Derrick as in heaven of course.

We had a little picnic dinner.

Then we went on a little walk around some of the buildings.  Dothan is the peanut capitol of the world or maybe just the state, but either way the city has lots of peanut statues all over town.  Most of them are decorated like people, but the only one we walked by was just plain pink.

 The kids had lots of fun on these steps and added another entry on the "reasons we aren't going to Disney list." (Why would we pay all that money when our kids are already so content with the little things?)

 Then we came home, put the kids to bed, and got ready for another week.

That pretty much sums up the past few weeks.  In the future I'll remember to update more often.  I don't want my parents to think that we've forgotten about them.

Oh and if any of you who are reading this are interested in getting updates from my parents, just let me know.  I know they would be happy to let you know about their adventures on their mission in Brazil.

Talk to you later!