Like we have anything to steal!?

Last night Tyler & I went to bed around 10:30 p.m. By that I mean, HE fell asleep instantly and my pregnant-self rolled around for an hour (I'm up every hour at nights nowadays...only 3 weeks to go!) Anyway, at 11:30 p.m., our dog Lucky started barking like CRAZY and ran to our side door where our carport is...running back & forth (this dog has one mean bark). As Tyler was trying to wake up, I thought I heard the side door rattle. Tyler finally jumped out of bed, & by the time I got myself out of bed, he told me not to move. His eyes were so big...I knew he must have seen something/someone. While he'd been peeking out the front window, a guy probably not to much younger than us, with no shirt on and lots of tattoos, walked right out of our carport, across the street, and laid in the grass all casual of a neighbor's house, like he owned the place! Tyler called the cops and we left our lights off so we could watch the kid. The cops came and started questioning him and pulling out his i.d. for him. The guy turned out to be drunk, and had a baggy of cocaine on him. Tyler & I finally ventured out to check our carport...where we found one of the sliding doors to the van wide open! We usually don't bother locking our van but we learned our lesson! I don't think the guy even had time to look around in the van before Lucky scared him off...but I do think he was hanging out across the street to see if we'd been woken up or not, and planned to saunter back over to the van after a few minutes. The cops told us that it sounds like the kid might have a white van too and was confused....RIGHT. We had the cops look around in our van a little to make sure he didn't drop any drugs in our van! They hauled the kid off...and let's just say my husband has a much greater appreciation for our dog!! Tyler had never heard our dog bark like that...but I have...last year when Tyler was gone overnight, he barked like that at 2 a.m., and as I looked out the window I saw a man quickly getting off our grass & moving to across the street. Since then I feel very safe in my house with Lucky nearby!! Tyler was extremely "frazzled" this morning and needed to talk it out a lot. I've actually been very calm the whole time!? Every now and then I wish we had a smaller dog...because he is an indoor dog & this is a small house, but it's things like this that make me realize how nice it is to have him part of our family!

My next posts will be about my Mom's wedding that was earlier this month, and school starting! Sorry I'm so behind!

When it rains, it pours...atleast in West Texas!

For the last few days, we have been having some crazy storms...that are so loud that it's been hard for anyone to sleep around here! Tonight Tyler decided he wanted to drag me down the street to play in the water. I wasn't too excited as he handed me the umbrella, but it turned out to be more than fun watching him wade out to his knees in the water...and even try to lay down in it! I had to hold his flip flops for him because the current was trying to sweep them away. At one point a garbage can floated down to us, and then it continued to pass a few more streets! Whenever it rains hard here, the end of our street ends up completed flooded. The ground here is so hard, and our lack of drainage systems cause some crazy flooding around here! The water level gets so high, that you can literally grab an innertube and go floating down the street (unfortunately we didn't have one)!! Anyway, Tyler said that was the most fun he'd had all summer, and would have woken up the kids to come out if they hadn't already been asleep for

awhile!

Updates & a few pictures!

UPDATES:

*Shaylee is 8 1/2 and has finished 2nd grade! She also currently has the chicken pox even though I'm 90% sure she was vaccinated! She hasn't had a fever or felt sick...but she definitely has the spots all over the front of her to prove it!! She LOVES to do crafts. Recently I showed her how she can draw pictures with a pencil on Watercolor paper, and then paint the picture with Watercolors...& use extra water to fade. She has made some beautiful pictures of flowers and the neighbors' houses!

*Cayden is 4 3/4 and has finished Joy School & is excited to start Preschool this year! I've been working with both Shaylee & Cayden on these books that have their own level of math, writing, reading, etc. and they BEG to do more and more pages...I have to actually LIMIT them so that they are able to really absorb what they are learning before learning new things! Right now, Cayden LOVES Super Mario Brothers and the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles!

*Addisyn is 15 months old, and getting more funny by the day! She is a VERY happy child. When she thinks her dad is home from work...she yells "DADDA!" at the top of her high shrilly voice & runs to the baby gate to wait for him! She actually loves nap time...but isn't as excited about BEDTIME anymore! She LOVES our lab "Lucky" and LOVES playing with Shaylee & Cayden. When they are playing in the bedroom together, she is entertained FOREVER! She's started to say cheese (her favorite food) by saying "SHEES" and gets that funny toothy smile on her face as she says it! If I ask her to get me her cup, bowl, etc that she is using for her snacks or drink that day...she is VERY quick to go search for it & bring it to me for a refill! I'm amazed at home much they understand at such a young age!

*My pregnancy is going VERY well! I'm 6 months along & luckily haven't gained as much weight as I did with Addy so far! I think I gain less weight with the boys than I did with Addy because I don't crave as much junk food! We're excited to have our 3rd ultrasound in 8 more days! Tyler is still working hard at his job. The other day he was given an engraved plaque and pen for his years with the company. I appreciate all of his hard work that allows me to be home with our kids each day!

Addy always looks so innocent while pulling out all the videos & DVDs!

Cayden - The Joy School graduate

Giving Lucky some lovin'

This is a face you only see when she is REALLY frustrated...she was trying to get something out of the closet and it was stuck!

*Food & Water Storage*

I know I owe "ya'll" a lot of pictures considering it's been a month since my last post...my Internet Explorer Browser refuses to work now on my desktop...and Netscape Navigator is driving me INSANE!! But I promise pictures atleast by sometime next week!?

It's sad when it takes a scary situation such as a Pandemic to make you realize you better listen to the Prophet...but it's still better late than never!? The last few days I've been doing a lot of research into proper food and water storage...and finding unused spaces in my very small home (that has no garage) for that food and water! I've actually been getting really excited about it!
Today I ran across some YouTube videos that were extremely helpful in showing food packing. He also made some videos showing what your food storage will look like in 10-15 years if you don't use more updated ways of storing your food!! I need to start rotating the wheat I have that my dad sealed...so these videos were so helpful!!

Here is the link to the YouTube videos by P.A.W. Productions...watch them...they helped me feel much less overwhelmed about the process, and the guy isn't really boring to listen to!!!

http://www.youtube.com/user/delta69alpha

Good luck with your food & water storage!! Even if this flu going around isn't the reason we'll end up needing our food storage...we know that time will come...whether it's because of a tornado, earthquake, or just merely because we have no family income & need to live off of our food supply for awhile!

Birthdays...Oh, and WE'RE HAVING TWINS!?

Once upon a time, on March 5th 2009, Tyler Caudle turned 28 years old. His kids bought him an Elmo that blows kisses, and a Medal to wear at work that states that he's Over the Hill (we do that to him like every year!). The kids and I also bought him a nice tie because somehow his keep ending up in the laundry, and they usually accidentally get washed?!



Addisyn Mae Caudle celebrated her 1st Birthday on March 16th, 2009. She was very dainty while eating her cake. Her favorite present seemed to be her Tigger that she got from her Grandma & Grandpa Caudle. She loves to give it hugs and kisses.

I don't usually buy (or make) wheat rolls, but one day I decided to buy them. To my surprise, everyone loved them... and apparently Addy couldn't get enough of them!?

Yesterday I was craving something with pumpkin in it, so I made pumpkin bars with icing. I think they were a big hit as today's late morning snack!

As I cooked these pumpkin bars, and the house filled with a delicious pumpkin smell, I started to miss Thanksgiving & Christmas so badly it ached. I think I had that reaction because I miss being near my family, and those are the times that it's a little harder to live so far away. I have a goal this year to make a blanket for each one of my kids, & my husband, for Christmas. I told Tyler last night that maybe if I cook something holiday-smelling every few weeks, it will remind me to keep busy on all those blankets so I get them done in time!! Tyler's & Shaylee's blankets are already started...& Addy's & the new baby's will be the fastest to do since they can be small!! I'm still deciding on how to do Cayden's.

Also, thank you to everyone for your comments on my dilemma with the neighbor girl...I have taken all advice into consideration :-) Luckily we haven't really had any other problems with her!

OH, AND APRIL FOOL'S!!

NO WE ARE NOT HAVING TWINS!

(I would have said TRIPLETS but Twins is a little more believable ;-)

Some People's Children!

We've been having trouble with a 5 year-old girl next door. She comes into our carport and backyard, towing an older girl along with her. They steal things. They move things. The little girl even peaks in our windows throughout the day (doesn't even knock, just watches...scares the crap out of me). One night at 8:30 p.m., our kids were in bed and it was dark outside...Tyler had a friend over and they were opening baseball cards the friend had ordered out at the kitchen table. All of a sudden the little girl knocks on our side door and yells "GOODNIGHT", then laughs and runs away (our side light wasn't even on so we wouldn't have known it was her if we didn't know her voice!). Months back, Tyler had a few fireworks sitting in the carport (ya, great place for them) and this little girl steals them and lights them off in her front yard (don't ask me how she was lighting them...we didn't have matches or anything outside). I've never been SO frustrated with a child before!!!!!!!!!!!! I keep telling her where she needs to stay away from so she's not playing in our carport, but then she badmouths me to her older friend when she thinks I can't hear her, and keeps sneaking back into the carport when she thinks I can't see her. This probably seems silly to you but it's just so annoying...I can't stand it when kids are bratty to adults. She also knocks on the side door to see if Shaylee can play, Shaylee usually doesn't want to, then the girl grills her with "why not's" for ten minutes, then the girl leaves and comes back 5 minutes later to ask if she wants to play now. It can go on for hours.
Anyway, today we all went in the backyard to take some family pictures, and our landlord's grandson came over to find out what was going on. We explained the problems, & then when the little girl's mom came over, he decided he better not get TOO involved yet (his grandparents own the neighbor's house too)! She tried to "nicely" scold me for telling her daughter twice that I'd call the cops if she couldn't stay off our land (Actually the girl kept asking what I was going to do if she didn't stay off our land, so I finally told her ONE TIME, that first I'd talk to her mom, then if it continued, that I would have to talk to the cops about trespassing...which sounds ridiculous but if she wasn't stealing things then this wouldn't be as bad of an issue) The woman says she works at home and she just recently took her daughter out of daycare. She works from home but doesn't have time to watch her all day so she lets her run around with two older kids that keep going into people's backyards, too!? She kept pointing out that her daughter is only five, yet my son is 4 and I always make sure he is respectful of people and their land and things.
Sorry this is a long venting post. I guess I have to accept that I can't change other people and their children, but I can make sure that MY kids are respectful of others. Ugh, I hate contention. Maybe I'll have to make some cookies to take over or something to help clear the air. Sometimes I really wish I didn't have such a guilty conscience.

My first Doctor's Appt for the Baby!

Yesterday at 10:30 a.m. I had my first Doctor's appt for my pregnancy. It's always exciting to go in when you know you'll get to hear the heartbeat for the first time...it doesn't really feel real to me until then! Anyway, when I got there they asked if I knew I'd missed my Sonogram at 8:30. WHAT?? It's not routine to have one at 11 weeks here so I was a little confused, but still happy that I'd get to see the baby so early! Tyler wasn't able to be there and he was REALLY kicking himself when I told him he didn't just miss out on HEARING the heartbeat, I got to SEE it! Oh so yes they squeezed me in for one anyway, and I was able to get a picture. That's the earliest I've ever had a sonogram and I was shocked to see how it was a perfectly formed baby! There was no question where it's head was, where the tummy was, etc., and I saw it's tiny heart fluttering! My appointment went well and then I had the lab work. It all ended up taking about 2 1/2 hours (because they had to squeeze in my sonogram)...so I had to race back to my in-laws apartment to save my father-in-law from my babies! Cayden did fine as usual, but Addy was not happy I left! Apparantly she cried most of the time and was unconsolable, but finally fell asleep shortly before I got there! I so need to get her used to spending time with people other than me!