Audio/Video cables broke off into DVD player

Have you ever had a device where the red and white audio cables and/or the yellow video cable broke off into the machine?  We bought an extremely cheap DVD player on Black Friday ($10), and within 15 minutes of opening it I had dropped it and the buttons were stuck.  Still functioning at this point, I moved forward to set it up and we watched a couple of DVDs over the next day.

Then Jack our one year old struck.  He knocked the DVD player onto the floor and the ends of the cables broke off into the DVD player.  I finally got around to trying to fix it today and Google saved the day again.  The best advice I found was to use a small drill bit.  So I did the following:

1. Found the smallest drill bit I have
2. Drilled into the broken off piece that was in the back of the DVD player about 1/4 of an inch
3. Took the drill bit out of the drill and inserted it into the hole
4. Used the drill be to pry the broken piece out

Perfection.  Our $10 DVD player seems to have more lives than a cat.  Since this solution worked for me I wanted to share the solution with others in hopes that this may solve someone else's issues with a much more expensive device.

Mentone!

Before I start the Mentone post, we find out if our new baby is a boy or a girl on Wednesday!!! I can hardly wait. I am very excited to find out who will be joining our family and to pick a name!!! :)

We spent Christmas night in Gadsden with Rick's parents, went to worship with them Sunday morning (Rick got to preach which was great) and then we went to Mentone for a couple of days. We had the best time! There was a good bit of snow everywhere which we all loved. It was FREEZING cold but that didn't stop our good time!

Christmas

I'm terrible about taking pictures. I'd rather just enjoy what's going on and forget the pictures. I only took about 9 total on Christmas day. Here are some of them:

Jack enjoying new car

Henry and Percy

Claire and AquaSand

Kate

Sisters

The girls with mom!

We woke up at our house, went to my parents and then went to Gadsden to see Rick's family.

I don't have one single picture from Gadsden. How bad is that.

Luke 2:1-14

We memorized Luke 2:1-14 in the past couple of weeks. We weren't really working with Henry but just by listening in, he was able to memorize almost the entire passage. Why do we memorize scripture? Because 2 Timothy 3:16-17 says that, "All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be competent, equipped for every good work." Psalm 119:11 says, "I have stored up your word in my heart that I might not sin against you."

Deut 6 instructs parents to teach the Word of God to their children at all times. We cannot change their hearts, that is of the Lord, but as believing parents, we are called to be obedient to His word. We (children and adults included) should hide God's word in our heart. Hebrews 4:12 says, "For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart." May the Holy Spirit use the Word implanted in all of our hearts to make us more like Christ in all ways.

Zoolight Safari

We went to Zoolight Safari last night! The weather was perfect. It was 62 degrees so we didn't even wear coats. It was the best time we've ever had there. There was no rush and surprisingly, it wasn't crowded at all! I assumed that since the weather was so nice that it would be packed!

They were all so excited! (And yes, Henry got a haircut today)

We go for the "free" rides at the zoo. It would have cost us $21 to ride the train for 2 mins. Crazy

My 3 little snowman

Picture taken by Kate

Ok this requires some explanation. They have an Auburn and an Alabama section at the zoo and you can take your picture by the inflatable mascots. There was A LINE at the Alabama section and NO ONE at the Auburn section. Come on people. They were also giving out Alabama signs but not Auburn ones. CRAZY!!

We had fun on Kate's last night to be 5!

If I was going to do a Christmas Card...

I couldn't get it together to do a Christmas card this year. I took this picture this morning so consider this our blog Christmas card!

Updates

Well, we are in a rest week from Birthdays. We've had one the past 2 weeks and Kate's is next week. We all have a bad cold so I guess we'll just lay low for a few days.

I had a doctor's appointment today and everything was great. We find out on January 5th whether this little baby is a boy or a girl. I can hardly wait! Only 22 days left!!! According to the poll on this blog, it's overwhelming that y'all think it's a girl. I actually did too, until today, and now I'm just confused again. The baby's heartbeat was 154 and that's what Henry's and Jack's heartbeat was at this point. The girl's were both in the 170s. The suspense is killing me now!!!!

The countdown is on!

Jack - 1 year old - December 9, 2010

To my baby son,

Today is your first birthday! I know time goes by quickly but I can't even remember our family without you. You are certainly adored by your sisters, especially Kate. I think she really thinks she is your mother sometimes. She is always looking out for you and loves you to pieces. And you love your brother and sisters. Every time they leave the room you are in you scream and crawl after them. You do NOT want to be left out of all the fun. I keep telling you that if you'd learn to walk, you could catch up but your content to crawl for now. One of my favorite things about you is that whenever I pick you up, you pat me on the back. It's like you are saying, "thank you." You've done that since you were about 6 months old. Oh, I love it. You are our first child who has actually liked milk and I think you'd be content to live off of that and bananas.

I want to tell you about your name. After Henry, I was pregnant with another baby before you, and miscarried. It was awful. I prayed and begged the Lord for you. I knew the Lord's ways were not ours and that He might not see fit to give me another baby; to give you to us. But He did. When you were a born and were a son, I knew I wanted your name to be John because it means, "God is gracious." In the Old Testament, there are several examples of people encountering the Lord in a meaningful way and those people would set up monuments to remind themselves of what the Lord had done to or for them. Now, God is always good and always gracious but I was reminded of His care and graciousness when He gave you to us. Your name is a reminder to me of what He has done. May I always be mindful of this and thankful beyond measure. I pray that the meaning of your name will not be hidden and known only to me, but that your life will be as a banner to show of the wonderful grace and mercy that comes from the Father.

All of my love now and forever,

Mommy

WAR EAGLE - BEAT BAMA

Our kids learn to say War Eagle as soon as they can talk. My sister Sarah stepped it up a little this year and taught the kids to say "WAR EAGLE - BEAT BAMA"!!!! That is after all, the point of every season right? During every game, we heard, "WAR EAGLE - BEAT BAMA!!!" We played LSU and it was "WAR EAGLE - BEAT BAMA!!!"

Well, we beat bama and had only 1 game to win and then we'd be off to the NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP!!! It was against South Carolina. So last week I had the bright idea of teaching them to say something different. We were in the car and saw a blow up "Aubie" in someone's yard so I heard, "WAR EAGLE - BEAT BAMA!!!"

I said, "Just for this week, let's say "WAR EAGLE - BEAT THE GAMECOCKS."

I heard crickets in the back seat and then all at once, "WHAT DID YOU SAY??? What's a game cock?? A what?? What is that?? Mommy what??

I said, "OK. Well how about WAR EAGLE - BEAT SOUTH CAROLINA!!"

Claire and Henry started to say it but Kate said, "We've been there, that's where Hilton Head is. I like South Carolina."

So I just said, "Nevermind."

And the "WAR EAGLE - BEAT BAMA!!" cheer started again.

I think we'll just stick with that. I'd try to teach them "WAR EAGLE - BEAT THE DUCKS!!" but I'm pretty sure I would be met with, "But I like ducks! Why would you beat a duck?? Can we get a duck??"

And in case you missed the best play ever, here is it:

Can I get a "WAR EAGLE - BEAT BAMA" for that play???

Henry - 3 years old - 12/3/10

To my son on your third birthday,

Herny - how I love you! What joy you have brought into our family in the short time you have been with us. You are a treasure! You brought trucks and train, dirt and rocks into our house that was once full of dolls and princesses. You are kind and you are a boy and I can tell you have 2 big sisters. A few weeks ago you were playing outside and ran in to give me a rock that you said was just for me. (The girls bring me flowers all the time so I guess boys bring rocks.) After about the 15th rock of the day you said, "Mommy you need to put these rocks in a vase with water in them." I put the girls' flowers in water, so why wouldn't I put your rocks in water.

You are a smart boy and have learned many bible verse and the first 4 catechism questions. We have starting asking you to pray at lunch or during worship at night by yourself instead of repeating after us. Two weeks ago during your prayer you said, "Father, help me to love you." What joy that brought to my heart and I earnestly pray the Lord will draw you to Himself and you will love Him with all your heart, soul, strength and might. During that same prayer, you also said, "Please help Jack learn to obey Mommy." You're always thinking of others :) Last Sunday was your first week to come into worship with us and that was a great time for me. I love having you all in with us. We take you out right before the sermon but there were actually 2 songs that we sung that you knew so that was perfect.

When I ask who your best friend is, you say, "JACK"!! However, right now Claire is clearly your best friend. The 2 of you are peas in a pod and do almost everything together. Right now you seem to have similar personalities so I can't wait to see if that stays true. Jack is teaching you to share which is a wonderful thing. The girls never take your trains or rocks away from you but Jack will. I am just thrilled you have a brother and can't wait to see how the 2 of you relate once Jack is a little older.

You love Thomas the Train and the Wiggles. You love trucks and Crocs and actually have slept in your Crocs the past 2 days at nap time.

As tired as I am at the end of the day, I'm so glad you are all home with me. You will be sent out into the world soon enough so I am soaking in every minute of every age. It goes by too quickly.

Thanks for my rocks, keep them coming.

I will love you forever,

Mommy

McWane Commercial

Last week we took the kids down to the McWane Center to film their holiday commercial. Someone from the McWane Center contacted someone from Rick's company and asked if they had any kids that wanted to be in their commercial and we said yes! There were about 60 kids there so I doubt if we'll see our sweeties but they had fun. They were in the snow scene. Here are some pics to document the occasion. Once again, their favorite part was getting their "trophy."

What we've been up to...

Birthday Bash

Today was the Birthday Bash! We had a great time and the weather was perfect! We are so thankful that so many of our friends and family could come and help us celebrate. The kids greatly appreciate all their new gifts and they'd still be playing if I wasn't so tired that I put them all to bed. We had a inflatable but I didn't take any pictures of the kids jumping. We also played on the trampoline and rode bikes. Really, thank you all. It meant a lot that you came!

Kate and Henry

Aunt Sarah and Jack

Henry and Claire

Trying my best to get a group shot!

Boo, Jack, Emma and Charlie

Update

I went to the doctor today and got to see the baby again. Everything looks great. I was glad to have another ultrasound because I could see the growth from our last ultrasound 4 weeks ago. I could easily make out the head, arms and legs and the baby was moving all over the place. I loved seeing that little heartbeat. I'm still pretty sick but I'm thinking that will be over in the next couple of weeks. People have asked about names and I really haven't brought it up to Rick in a few weeks. I guess it's time to start that conversation again. :) We'll find out what we are having in 8 weeks. It looks like it will be Jan 11th! I can't wait!

The Most Wonderful Time of the Year

It really is the most wonderful time of the year around here. In addition to all the excitement that comes with Thanksgiving and Christmas, we have THREE December birthdays! I knew 3 people growing up that had birthdays in December and I always felt sorry for them. Well, the Lord showed us His plans are not our plans with Kate, and then again with Henry and AGAIN with Jack. Now I love December birthdays! The excitement is at an all time high and it's just a lot of fun.

Also, this was Rick's last full week of work until January which is even better!

Here are our next weeks activities:

Next week: Birthday Bash for Kate, Henry and Jack (it was the best week to get family together for their party)

Week after: Thanksgiving

Week after: Henry's Bday! December 3rd

Next week: Jack's Bday! December 9th

Next week: Rest week :)

Next week: Kate's Bday December 22nd and Christmas!

Next week: New Years! (Ok we never do anything for New Years)

I can't believe this little guy will be ONE in less than a month!

I'm Officially....

the worst soccer mom ever. Why?? Because we finished the season tonight and I did not take ONE picture. Not one. When we got home, I made the girls stand at the door and I took this:

That was the best shot. So I guess I did get one, after the session was over. As a side note, this will probably be the only soccer picture I ever have of them. They were much more interested and impressed with the medals than with soccer.

Treats

We went trick-or-treating last night and had a great time! We walked around with some of our neighbors and were gone almost 2 hours! We got a TON of candy!!!! I can't believe how much we have.

Kate was Snow White. She acted like Snow White too. She picked up her dress as she walked and had perfect manners.

Claire was Dora. She acted like Dora. She was on a mission to get candy. She didn't care how she got there as long as she got there the fastest way. First you go through the leaf pile, then over the sidewalk, and that's how you get to the candy!

Henry was a mailman. And believe it or not, he acted like our mailman. Our mailman is not the most reliable. He's a little like Newman off of Seinfeld and that's what Rick was calling Henry by the night's end. If it's raining, we may or may not get our mail. If we are expecting a package, we normally just get a slip in the mail telling us to pick it up at the post office. If it's a nice day, our mailman decides that since there are only5 houses on our circle, he'll just drive on by. About halfway through our route, Henry decided that was enough for the night. He just rode in the stroller and then every once in a while, he'd see a house he liked and decide to go get some candy. Otherwise, he just sat back and skipped the houses. It was pretty funny.

Jack was nothing. Now I know you first/second/third time moms are horrified. The first baby always gets dressed up. It doesn't matter if that baby is 3 days old or 10 months old, he is getting dressed up. And it must be some big huge hot furry costume. Crazy but hey, I did it too. Second babies get dressed up. It gets tricker with them because you have to decide if they should wear big brother/sister's old outfit or better yet, if you should dress them in some theme. Third baby, same as second, although sometimes, the oldest child can now decide for themselves what they want to be so sometimes matching is out. I'm telling you, by the 4th one, you come to your senses. Look, Jack is 10 months old, sat in the stroller the entire time, and won't even get any candy. He's happy with a bottle and so no costume. Don't worry, once he can walk, he can get a costume.

When we got home, our obsessive traits came out. We made the kids dump all the candy on our dining room table and sort it all. It was a very fun night.

And be sure to vote "boy" or "girl" on the sidebar!

Thank you!

My friend Johannah gave over today to visit us and bring our new baby a sweet gift. I LOVE it! It's a blanket and a little lamb. I'm going to keep it out in the nursery so I can look at it everyday. She is pregnant with her first baby, a boy named Jack. As you can tell, she has excellent taste in names!

She also brought pumpkin bread for each of us. I LOVE pumpkin bread and the kids do too. They broke right into their bags as soon as they got them.

Thank you Johannah for your thoughtfulness. I really appreciate it and it helps me get even more excited about our new baby.

I've had 2 other friends bring dinner, Jessica and Elizabeth, and I can't tell you all how much it has meant to our entire family and how much it has helped me out.

I love you all!

Thoughts

I am sick. Really sick. This baby is making his/her presence known. It's OK because I am more than thankful for this new life. I was hoping though that my sickness would give me a hint about gender. With both girls, I actually GOT SICK, but then I'd be fine the rest of the day. With both boys, I FELT SICK all day long but rarely got sick. This time, I feel sick ALL day long but I'm GETTING SICK as well. So, I have no idea as to what I think we're having.
Also, I've never really had cravings before. Now I get them and then that's it! I don't want it ever again! For example, this weekend I had to have Krystal hamburgers. Ate them, it was good. Now never bring them to me again. I mean it. Then I had to have nachos from Moes. Once again, good, but now, never again. That is crazy.
Henry wants a brother. I didn't think he would care but he says he wants a brother every time it's discussed. The girls are convinced it's a girl. Kate says we've had 2 boys and so it's time for a girl. She is very "matter of fact" about it.
We are going to find out what we are having. It looks like it will be the first week in January so I can't wait. One reason is because Rick does not like to talk about/pick a name until we know for sure what we are having. I would like to pick it out before I'm pregnant. I think we actually do have it narrowed WAY down this time (down to about 2 names for girls and maybe already a boy's name) because there are only so many names out there and we've probably discussed a lot of them in past pregnancies. I'm still holding out hope that we'll have our names going into the ultrasound so when the tech says, "it's a ______", that I can think, "it's (baby's name)"! I know we have plenty of time though!

What's more exciting than Disney World???

THIS:

Disney - LAST DAY

On our last day, we went back to the Magic Kingdom. My parents and sister Sarah left early that morning so we were on our own. I was so glad they came with us. We had the best time with them.

We were sitting in front of the castle for a show. All of the princess danced and it was cute. I love this picture because everyone was still happy, even after 8 days of fun! They were tired but no bad attitudes which we were thankful for. We've been back for 16 days and I still am asked at least 5 times a day, "When can we go back to Disney World?" I hope we can go back in 2 or 3 years! We LOVED it!

OK, that all from Disney World! Stay tuned in the next few days (maybe Monday) for something even more exciting than Disney World! :)

Disney - Day 7

Are y'all getting sick of Disney yet? We weren't! This was our next to last day. We went back to Epcot! We got to ride some of our favorite rides again (boat rides in Mexico and Norway, Test Track, the big Earth ride) and ride a new one, Mission: Space. I only took a few pictures on this day so it was hard to find one to post. I decide to post this one so you could see that Kate loved pin trading. Claire and Henry never did it but Kate wore her necklace and was on the look out for new pins everyday. You wear this necklace and buy pins of characters, rides, hotels, etc. Most everyone who works at Disney also wears a necklace and if you see a pin you like, the worker will trade with you. Kate only wanted Princess pins. It was so cute and I think that was one of her favorite parts of the trip.

Disney - Day 6

We went back to the Magic Kingdom on Day 6! The girls LOVED Slash Mountain and Thunder Mountain. I think Thunder Mountain was their favorite ride. They rode it 9 times. Kate was tall enough to ride Space Mountain so we rode that on this day as well. The great thing about going in September is that there really are no lines. We walked right on most rides. We also went to Tom Sawyer's Island. I didn't think the kids would like it at all but they LOVED it! We played there for a long time. They loved all of the secret passage ways and the forts.

Disney - Day 5 - Epcot

We went to Epcot on Day 5. We had a princess breakfast in "Norway." It was great! We met Belle, Cinderella, Sleeping Beauty, Ariel, and Snow White. Kate said, "This is amazing!" about 4 time during our breakfast. I didn't think there would be much for the kids to do here but they all actually loved it! There are a couple of boat rides in Norway and Mexico, Soarin, and the Test Track were great! This is my favorite picture from Day 5. Kate thought this wig was the greatest thing ever. She was so proud of it and all of the princess mentioned how much they loved her "hair." It was so funny.

Day 4 - Magic Kingdom

We went back to the Magic Kingdom on the 4th day. These 2 were happy all day and held hands as we walked through the park. Lately, these 2 have teamed up and do everything together.

As you can see, we all still having fun on day 4!

Day 3 - Hollywood Studios

We went to Hollywood Studios on our third day. The Tower of Terror, the Rockin' Roller Coaster and the new Toy Story ride are all here. There were not many rides for the kids (expect for the Toy Story ride) but there were plenty of shows that the girls loved (Beauty and the Beast and the Little Mermaid.) The highlight of the day for the kids was when Rick was in a show. It was on the Back lot Tour and he volunteered to be an actor. They were showing us how you can make a movie and it was so funny. The kids thought he was the hero and were so proud.

Disney - Day 2

On day 2, we went to Animal Kingdom. My favorite ride is there, Expedition Everest. It was so great! There was a ride called Dinosaur that was fun there as well.

We share a lot in our family. When we told Kate, she could have her OWN snack and didn't have to share, and that it could be the huge Mickey Mouse ice cream, the result was my favorite picture of the day:

Poor thing. It was hot (very hot) and this ice cream melted fast. First, it fell off the stick and into her hands. Then it just was dripping everywhere and she was trying her best to eat it as fast as she could. Finally, I told her it was time to give it up and we threw the rest away. She didn't even care. She was just so happy.

Disney - Day 1

We recently returned from Disney World! We had the best time and it was probably the best vacation I have ever had. The last time I went was 20 years ago and Rick had not been in about 15. The girls were the PERFECT age because they still were in awe at all of the princesses and characters but wanted to ride all of the rides. My parents and sister Sarah went with us which was wonderful. We had 8 days in the parks which was awesome! I was a little concerned that would be too many days but it certainly was not. I have decided just to post my favorite pictures from each day. I took about 200 so I'll spare you.

Here my favorite picture from Day 1 - Magic Kingdom:

This was the best picture I could get in front of the castle. We were having so much fun I never tried to get another one. I think this one is perfect though. They were a bit confused when we first got there anyway. They didn't really know what to expect or know what was going on. It took them about 34 seconds to get it and to LOVE it! This picture was taken on second 29.

Sabbatical

Rick works at a great company, Daxko! They give every employee a 4 week Sabbatical after every 7 years of employment. This is in addition to the 25 PTO days he has each year. We are half-way through his Sabbatical and I am LOVING it! We went to Disney World for the first 9 days (I'll post about that soon) and now we are just hanging out at home working on projects. I feel like I'm on a Sabbatical because I can go run all my errands by myself!!! We are really enjoying all of our family time and I get sad just thinking that he will have to go back to work soon.

MUCH more to come :)

When Momma gets sick

I was sick last weekend. I really was. But you all know, Momma's can't get sick. Friday morning after I returned from the doctor (bronchitis), Rick sat the kids down and gave them the Momma's sick speech:

"Your mother is sick. I need you all to show her you love her and be very calm the rest of the day. Let her rest and y'all just play and don't ask her a million questions."

Then said, "O yes sir" and proceeded to sit quietly until Daddy walked out the door. Then they all ran over to me, "MOMMY I'M HUNGRY. MOMMY CAN I PLAY A COMPUTER GAME. MOMMY CAN WE GO TO YOGURT LAB. MOMMY CAN WE PAINT. I'LL PAINT A GET WELL PICTURE FOR YOU!"

Somehow I made it until Rick got home. Saturday morning I woke up to feed Jack and then went back to bed. I woke up every 2 hours, would walk into the den, Rick would look at me and tell me to go back to bed. This went on until 3pm. That was very, very good of him. Even better, he cleaned out the microwave and the refrigerator and brought me these:

Ok, they are a little dead in this picture but they were beautiful when he gave them to me.

Laundry in a family of six is challenging to say the least. So this was what was waiting for me once I felt better:

I'm still working on it.

Claire - Ballet

Little Claire started Ballet this week. She LOVES it and thinks she's so big. She ran out of class and said, "MOMMY, I GOT TO DO A GRAND JETE!" Her teacher also gave her princess gummies so I'm pretty sure Claire will be happy in that class. Here are a few pics:

This is Gigi 2.0. The first one is lost forever.

As, you can see, this one works just as well as Gigi 1.0

Kate says "WAR EAGLE"

And here come the 2 pics that always happen when I pull

out the camera:

"TAKE A PICTURE OF ME HOLDING JACK"

This is normally followed up by, "Oh Mommy,

that's so cute. Put that one on Facebook."