Payne Family: January Happenings

Tyce all dressed up ready for church

Bruce making a mess eating...

But isn't he just the cutest?

Bed time for the boys is play time for the boys. They play and play until they finally give out or we make Luke go lay down in our bed.

Dress up clothes time

So sweet

I love this picture for so many reasons. 2 reasons are...1.They really do love each other. 2. Brek is reading all on her own (she's really good at it, she just won't ever do it unless I make her)

The Demise of our Trampoline...
My dear husband hopped up on the trampoline to play with the kids one day and jumped a little too close to the springs and POP! 3 or 4 came off. Oops. I noticed after that that the kids were actually playing MORE on the trampoline now that it was busted than before. It made for a nice little slide, and they could get Bruce up on it by themselves now.

Slowly but surely a few more springs popped off...

Now the trampoline became even more fun with flips on the pole.

But then one fateful day the whole thing came down. Oh no! Did this stop the children from having fun? Goodness no! (Pete the Cat anyone?) They just spread it out and had a nice little play area!

I love that my kids don't need a bunch of toys or fancy stuff to be entertained. Their imagination constantly amazes me.

One day, Luke slipped on the step getting out of the suburban. I thought nothing of it until that afternoon when he was running home from the mailbox limping the entire way. I had Brock look at it that night and it was pretty swollen and bruised. I took him into the ER the next day where we found out he had broken his little pinky toe on his left foot.

My sweet Luke waiting for the diagnosis

And in case you are wondering, this is what you do for a broken pinky toe. :) I felt kind of like an idiot for taking him in. They reassured me though that you never know and that it was good that I brought him in!

Luke got a sweet Get Well card from Nana and Papa and Kacy

Tyce came home one day with pink eye! Yay. We battled that a couple more times with him during the month (they must've just been passing it around and around in his class). Luckily, Luke was the only other one in our family to get it.

This picture represents the many many mornings I have struggled with my dearest daughter Brek. I love that girl to death and she can be the absolute sweetest thing in the world, but most mornings are a struggle. No clothes or shoes are ever good enough (They don't feel good!), her hair is not working for her (I want a DEEP side part like Kacy!), and every morning I hear this phrase at least once... I'M NOT GOING TO SCHOOL!!!! Followed by a slamming bedroom door.

This particular tag on the shirt was a fun one. There was a beautiful little bow right on top of the tag. Brek wanted me to cut the tag off. I cut it off but the bow was still bothering her. I cut it off and it still didn't feel good. I had to get the seem ripper out and luckily it came off (it took some effort).

I have read a lot of books recently trying to figure out how I can help her (and myself!) to not have such dramatic mornings. The Highly Sensitive Child and The Child Whisperer have really helped me a lot. Since reading those I have acknowledged that yes, maybe those shoes actually don't feel good to you (Before I was telling her to get over it and deal with it). I also gave her an alarm clock so that she could feel like she could have more control over her mornings. It has been amazing! Other than the one time that she slept through her alarm (that morning was TERRIBLE), it has been a miracle worker! She has been so much better!