LATELY WITH THE LINKS

Friday, January 23, 2009

Great-Grandpa's House in the Woods

This past weekend, we went to Byron's Grandpa Waldron's house in Arkansas. He lives in a beautiful town in the middle of the Ozarks. Needless to say, there are a lot of trees--these of which we don't have much of here. My kids were in heaven. Even though it was not any warmer than 50 degrees, they stayed outside for hours playing in "the woods". They climbed trees, stacked rocks, stacked branches and sticks, and played swords. Brynna came inside after a day of adventure and told her daddy, "Daddy...we need to get some woods". I wish it was that easy to just get some woods.

It was cool to have Byron's mom and dad there too. Grandpa Waldron is Byron's mom's father and we were able to take four generation photos of each of the kids with their dad, grandma, and great-grandpa. That doesn't happen very often--what a great opportunity.

We loved just spending time with everyone. We watched football, watched movies, ate great food that Anna made (she did a great job cooking for 8 extra people), played in "the woods", and Grandpa taught the kids to play chicken-foot. I pray that my kids will lock this weekend away in their memories and remember how cool their great-grandpa is and the adventures they had. And..I hope they remember how much their grandpa love's them.

Wednesday, January 7, 2009

Potty-training starts TODAY!!

Let me tell you why.
Maggie was close to completely potty-trained a few months ago--but, she got sick and is now terrified of the toilet. Kicking, screaming, the works. Plus, she's had a tough time lately, so we haven't pushed it. But, events of last night made me think she's ready.
The girls had just been bathed and they were both wrapped in towels heading to their bedroom to get jammies on, when the phone rang. I say to them, "I'll be back in a second." Too long of a call, I guess.
Brynna comes out of the room with a look of confusion and disgust and says, "Mom. Maggie peed in a box!??" "What?", I say (as would any mother. these words aren't common everyday words) "Maggie peed in a box in my closet!"
Then out comes Maggie with a little, plastic, yellow box approximatley 4X10 inches. She also has a look of confusion and disgust. Sure enough--she peed in a box!
The first thought that came to mind was "how in the world did she aim and make it in that little box?" Then, "why didn't she just go in the toilet?" She obviously knew she had to go, which is great. Her choice of potty places, not so great.
So...we start today. Wish us luck....we're gonna need it.

Wednesday, December 24, 2008

There's no place like.....the hospital for Christmas!

Here we are again with our little Maggie. We're not sure how long we will be here this time--but we're definately missing being home for Christmas morning. So, we're going to take Christmas to her. Apparently, after he has delivered toys to boys and girls all over the world, Santa Claus comes to Chilren's hospital to visit the kids there. It's not the perfect Christmas that we imagined in our head. We won't be able to do the traditional things we do every year. However, it does make you stop the hustle and bustle and really think about the important things in your life--Your kids, your kids health, your husband, your moms, dads, brothers, sisters, and those that you love dearly. So, to all of those that we here at the Link house love--MERRY CHRISTMAS TO YOU and remember the reason we celebrate. Hug your little one's and remind them of the importance of Christmas and that the best gift ever given is our Savior, Jesus Christ.

Magdalene--Maggie Mae

Little Miss Sass is actually what we should call her. Lately, she's been "testing her limits" or should I say "her mom and dad's limits"--Just a little here and there. She's really decided that she has an opinion on every single thing and that it's her way or the highway. I guess we can just call her "Miss Independent". No more holding her hand while walking down the sidewalk, or helping her into her stroller. She'll do it "by self". "By self" is just one of the funny little things she says. "Or not" is big in her vocabulary, too. If you ask her if she wants a snack or not, if she doesn't, she'll say "Or not". She's just so funny. Conversations are never dull and always cute.

Brynna-Bel

My heaven's--getting older every second. She's no longer a little girl. She has turned into, simply, a girl. Not little, but not too big either. We are young enough to still love Barbie--but old enough to really care what Barbie is wearing. A good thing, right?
Bel is in the 1st grade now, and love's to read. She really loves school too. She loves her teachers and her friends. Can you say Social Butterfly? Talk-talk-talk-talk. She's never been considered shy. Everyone is her best-friend, you know, even if it's the first time you've ever talked to her. I love that quality about her. She is a friend to everyone. What a good and sweet girl she is.

Caden--C Dog

I just love my little Caden. He is THE sweetest and nicest kid around--and did I mention handsome. He's now in the 5th grade--the year when things get a bit more hectic. He has more work and he's expected to be organized enough to get it all in one day, do it over the next week and then turn it in. We're still workin' on that one. Organization is not a strong point for us. He changes classes too, which is new to him. I tell you what--he absolutley LOVES science. Almost every day he comes home telling me of the experiment that they did in science lab or goes on and on about protons and neutrons and electrons. I have a hard time following because he goes into every single little detail--and he remembers every-single-detail. What a smarty-pants. He's really discovering how funny his personality is lately, too. He now know's he's funny and that he's got the gift of gab. He takes after his dad.

Greyson--G Money

You'd think I was giving this kid steroids at the rate he's growing. He's only 15, but people ask if he's 17. He's very tall for his age. He might think he acts like he's 17--but we know better. Maturity-?-it's comin' along. We'll just say we're working on it. No, really-all kidding aside--he's a really good young man. He's at the age when typical teenage angst sets in. And..we have our fair share of it. But, all in all, I think he really tries to keep a cool head when he thinks we've asked him to take out the trash one too many times. He's just at an age when we can really count on his help. He is a great helper to me. He even folds laundry (don't tell his friends).
Greyson is doing really, really well in school so far this year. He's got and extra load-basically doing two years of school in only one. We thought he'd really have to bust it and be doing work constantly to keep up. But..he hardly has any homework and he's making all A's. He has a 100% in Geometry!? I asked him if he just has never missed any question ever on anything to get that average. He replied by saying, "No--I've missed stuff, but I got a 120% on a project". Whatever--wouldn't it be great to be that smart?