Wordless Wednesday

Where has the time gone? My last blog was in April?? Are you kidding me - - geez that was quite a while ago! Well, I will say that things have been go, go, go since April so that's my excuse and I'm sticking to it!
Doodlebug #1 started baseball around that time and it was practice and games every week. Congratulations to him again because he made All-Stars! That is when the go, go, go really started. Not to mention that school was still in session for the entire regular season and a portion of the all-star season! It was loads of fun though, even if it was hot...well what we thought was hot!
School finally was out for the summer, we went to more all-star games and then it was time for vacation!! YES!! By this time though, a night at the Best Western in town would have been a vacation! We enjoyed a great night of racing at the Coke 400 in Daytona on July 3! Out of the 8-9 of us that go, I don't think anyone pulls for the same driver. So needless to say, it is one great night of racing with everyone going against everyone else.
On July 4, we enjoyed hamburgers and hotdogs at my sister-in-laws house with most of the family attending. There was lots of swimming, lots of eating and lots of fun! Thanks for having us all over!! :)
School is now back in session and both of my doodlebugs are attending. Doodlebug #2 is now in Pre-K and she already knows it all!! Can't tell her a thing that I don't get the response "I know, Mama."


Doodlebug #1 is in the 5th grade and a Senior at the Elementary school..LOL He has just grown up entirely too fast!!



Both bugs are doing well so far and having a great year with some great teachers!


So I need your thoughts....I am thinking about doing another blog or either changing this one to Candi's Candids to include some of the pictures I am taking. Can't decide though whether to have two separate ones or an "all in one" ... hmmm....I just don't know.
Well, I'm suppose to be working (shhh!!) so I better be going. I do appear to be busy with all this typing though :)
Have a great one!!

Easter Fun

It's been a while since I have blogged...been so busy with Easter hunt preparations, baseball practices, work, etc. I do have to say that we had a wonderful Easter and wonderful weather for an egg hunt.
The first egg hunt I attended was the one I helped to plan at my daughter's school. I and another mom were told to keep it simple. Little did they know that "simple" requires a good bit of preparation for a dozen 3 year olds. Plan, plan, plan. Prepare, prepare, prepare. Attend the egg hunting party and try to keep 12 little ones contained and moving from one activity to another. I will say this...I worked myself up for so much more excitement than the kids had to offer. Now, when I was little if you told me I couldn't go hunt eggs yet, I'd be about to jump out of my skin to do so. These 12 adorable, sweet, loving children just stood there patiently. Then came the words..."on your mark. Get set. GO!" "Go!" "Go!" "Okay kids...this is what you do; you run after the eggs and try to find as many as you can." I figured either they are still half asleep OR drowsy from Benedryl for allergies. Slowly but surely, they crept through the gate and picked up an egg or two. AFter a few minutes...it was like they had ants in their pants. One could not have stopped them from running and hunting. Now the party has started. Bring on the sugar!! They decorated cookies, made bird nests, made butterflies, played egg bowling, and had an egg race! LOADS of sugar were consumed and LOTS of fun was had by all!!
The Saturday before Easter, my best friend and I went to take some pictures of our children. Our local phone company has an area that is beautiful with bright, vibrant, yellow and red tulips. So we dressed our kids and went on a photo shoot. Here are just a few of the ones I took.



Later that evening, we boiled and dyed some eggs, grilled a hamburger and just spent time relaxing. Sunday morning I couldn't believe that I had to actually wake my doodlebugs up to see what the Easter bunny brought. They were excited about what they received and in a rush, I moved them along to get ready for Sunday church services. Then it was to my mom & dad's for lunch and an egg hunt. The kids had fun so much fun. There was a little bit more excited as they came through the back yard gate than at the last egg hunt.
Easter was filled with lots of love and laughter, family and friends!
"The resurrection gives my life meaning and direction and the opportunity to start over no matter what my circumstances." ~Robert Flatt

Traveling to "Mecanos"

Doodlebug #2 has gotten into the whole nursery rhyme scene lately. She is always talking about how Humpty Dumpty fell or how that precious lamb followed Mary to school. My favorite though is her version of "So-So" It goes like this:

"So, so, suck your toe all the way to Mecanos.
When you're their, brush your hair and don't forget your undawah."

Now last I checked Mexico was not spelled nor pronounced like that but hey...whatever works for her. You can't correct her because it always comes out at Mecanos. And as for the undawah... the WAH part of that is exaggerated speech so it is more like waaah and goes from a low sound to a high sound...as if she is going uphill...quickly. I laugh every time! I hope you enjoy the following video....and I apologize for the words in the middle of her face!

Lessons Learned at 10

Yesterday, as I walked in the door of the babysitters to pick up my Doodlebugs, I was greeted with a not-so-energetic 10 year old boy who looked like he had just lost his favorite Nerf gun. He said, "Mama, come here I have to talk to you in private." Okay, you have to picture the scene...all kids are in the playroom, except for my son, the babysitter is in the kitchen, and we are standing in the den with nobody, not even Casper the ghost was present. Private enough? One would think but we must step out onto the porch. I know it is going to be something that is not going to please me even a smidgen of an amount because it begins with the look...puppy dog eyes and a forced smile that he believes is going to win me over before we even get started. Patience I tell myself. Taking a deep breath, I remind myself to speak calmly. I have geared myself up for the worst. As his crystal blue puppy dog eyes blink hard at me, he tells me this, "Mom, you know the other day when you asked if Ihad done my homework and I said we did it in class?" I calmly answer, "Yes, son, I do." His reply, "Well, I got a zero on it for not turning it in." Blink, blink, blink. I answer him with, "Didn't you know that you should have turned it in if it was homework?" and this was said after another deep breath because like I said, I had prepared for something ALOT worse. He, at this point, tearfully says, "No" and heads to get in the truck.

As I gather my other Doodlebug, and her things, the babysitter says that she was asked to speak to me by a very worried little boy about some homework that he didn't turn in and received a zero on. Now, mind you, this is the first thing I am greeted with from my son as I enter the house. I tell her that he has already told me and she says that she is glad he got the nerve to tell me himself. Okay, now with everything in hand, including my daughter, I head to the truck to go home.

I find my oldest Doodlebug sitting there in the passengers seat with Niagra Falls streaming down his face. My heart begins to break. I was strong through the puppy dog eyes and I tell myself again to be strong through these tears. He is now not only upset but MAD that he got a zero. I ask him what made him think that his "homework" didn't have to be turned in. Much to my surprise he replies with "because we did it in class." Now my child is smarter than this. He KNOWS that he has to turn in homework. What happened? Did he have a complete brain fart? Homework MUST be turned in whether you do it in class or at home. It has been 2 weeks since it was due. I guess he thought that he could just leave it in his book and somehow she would find it and be able to grade it.

I first have to get the tears to stop. Okay, I don't quite get this part accomplished but I do manage to get them to slow enough that he can actually hear me over his sobs. I explain to him that this is a bad situation he's found himself in and yes, I am upset about the zero and his lack of understanding that he should have turned it in to the teacher. But, I continue, the lesson he is learning is that no matter if "homework" is done in class or at home, it should be turned in so he can get a grade.

Now that he is calmed down and the wetness from his eyes is no more, I ask him how he thinks he can remedy the situation and raise his grade. The smart Doodlebug that I know he is looked at me and said, "work harder and get 100s on my other papers in math to bring this zero up." YES YES YES!!! I knew he was smart!!! Not showing my excitement, I calmly tell him that he is right and that it is very important to pay close attention to the problems in math so that he doesn't make careless mistakes which could lead to more bad grades. I also tell him that through this lesson he is learning, he will find that hard work and paying attention will reward him with better grades and bring that zero up.

We now resume to our usual evening routine and as he finishes his math homework for the night, he writes his teacher a note asking if there is any extra work he can do to help bring his grade up. Now he is thinking!!!

As the night continues on and I put my Doodlebugs to bed, I tell my son I love him, that I am very proud of him and that sometimes in life, there are just lessons we must learn. For the ripe old age of 10 , this is one of them. He tells me he is sorry for his lack of attention to things and that he loves me. I walk out of his room a proud mama who loves her kids more than life itself and with a smile on my face!!

Introducing the Okey-Dokey Doodlebugs

Hi!
You may be asking who or rather what in the world are Okey-Dokey Doodlebugs. Well...let me explain...we are a simple family of 4 with the last name Dokey. My husband and son are most often called Dokey and my son, on occasion, has been called Okey from time to time. My nickname is Doodle and my daughter is Lil' Doodle and I call both by children Doodlebug so......It's Okey-Dokey Doodlebugs. I thought it had a cute little catch to it. Don't you?
You can imagine with the last name Dokey just how many different things we are called, especially from telemarketers. Let's see, I have been Mrs. Dokey (very rarely), Mrs. DoNkey, Mrs. DoOkey, Mrs. DoRkey and that's just to name a few. Once in a blue moon some not-so-brave soul will just simply ask me to pronounce it for them. Now I must admire these people because at least they have the foresight to realize that they are going to get it wrong from the beginning and therefore, decline to make the ultimate name calling mistake.
Anyway...that is who we are! The four "Okey-Dokey Doodlebugs" who live in GA and are loving life, for the most part :)