Silly faces

On Thursday Munchkin had swimming like she always does. Her buddy The Ballerina is in her class and they actually learned how to do a sitting dive. Angela had another one of our friends kids with her so we all went to her house for lunch. An added bonus for Angela was it was her birthday. Thankfully Beth's boys are both well mannered good boys. The kiddos played hide and seek for awhile and I got a few pictures of their silly faces.

The Ballerina

The Big Kahuna

Captain Jack

The Mild Child

Munchkin

They are all so silly!

Gardening

I am not a fan of gardening. I like gardens. I respect people that have beautiful yards and the work they put into them. I myself am not a gardener. I don't like to be sweaty, I don't like spiders, I don't like weeding, and I pretty much kill every plant I touch*. We have been fortunate because the people that lived here before us had tulips, daffodils, and irises that come back every year. Our yard looks pretty decent with those until the weeds come. My neighbor made me feel guilty enough that we actually got out and weeded today. I was sweaty, I was dirty, there were spiders everywhere and we were pulling weeds. The only redeeming factor was that Bobby and I were out weeding together. Someday when money is no object we will have a gardener.

*I planted hydrangas last summer and they came back, froze a couple of weeks ago and are starting to sprout again...they are apparently very hardy.

Self Portrait

You Are Special

I got the book You Are Special at my first baby shower for Munchkin. My friend Amy gave it to me. We love books in our house so I was excited to get a a new one for our sweet baby. We started reading this to her very early even when she couldn't really understand. It has been a while since we read it and she pulled it out last night to read before bed. What a fantastic book. Every time I read it I smile because it talks about Eli's unconditional love for the Wemmick People. Just like Gods unconditional love for us. We matter to God no matter what others think. The illustrations are so sweet. If you don't have this book you should get it! Thank you Amy B!

Let your yeh be yes

Little Man has been having some issues with his speech. At his evaluation he was in the desired range for comprehension but had a significant delay in articulation. We are still waiting to hear if he is going to get speech therapy before he ages out of early intervention in a month and a half. All that to say that all of a sudden a few of his words are very clearly articulated. In the last three days he has gone from yeh to yes, da-ee to daddy, coo-ies to cookies, he can even say his sisters name very clearly.
Not only has his articulation improved, his sentence structure has as well. Tonight he said "Mommy, you get up. Follow me that way" When I asked him what he needed he gave me a cute shy little grin and said "More cookies please."
As he is able to communicate better with his words he is throwing fewer fits, not that he threw many to begin with.
He will be testing soon to see if he qualifies for preschool and services in the fall. He is doing really well in all areas though. There is still a slight gross motor delay, some sensory issues, and some fine motor delay but if you just looked at him you wouldn't even know about the ACC (Agenesis of the Corpus Callosum).
I just love my sweet Little Man. It makes my heart happy that he is progressing so well but there is always that little twinge that he is growing up. I just want to hold onto every moment that I can.

Beautiful day!

What a lovely day. We got outside and enjoyed it too! Angela's little guy (the Big Kahuna) is turning 2 so we went and hung out in their cool backyard for a little BBQ (uh I me we grilled out hot dogs)...well, there was Whitts BBQ there too. Anywho, they got a water table for the Birthday Boy and it was a huge hit with all the kids. As soon as water was poured in it was like a magnet. Sometimes my daughter does things I think just to see what will happen. She took a full cup of water and poured it over The Big Kahunas head who just shook it off. I think Ron and Angela have a linebacker in their future!

After the party we headed for home stopping on the way at Dairy Queen. Cuz, ya know we just didn't have enough cake and ice cream for the day. We hung out and watched a little TV and then went back outside to enjoy the rest of the afternoon.
Our neighbor brought her little boy over to play with my kids. She was out in her yard weeding so she could see him from where she was. Since there were so many people out on the street I felt pretty good about getting some of my yard work done. Bobby has a gig tonight so I am home with the kiddos. Munchkin, Little Man and our friend from down the street rode bikes, ran races, blew bubbles, and even played with a worm I dug out of my tulips. Munchkin learned all about regeneration in worms. I got my porch swept and my tulip bed all weeded while the kids played.
My child is an accident waiting to happen. She scraped her toe riding a bike after I told her to put her shoes on. Then she and the neighbor boy were running and ran their foreheads right into each other. She had a meltdown and he pointed to his head and said "ow" and was done. I think hers was right on her eyebrow though and that may have hurt worse. The neighbor boy fell off a bike and scraped his toe and that was the end of playtime. We finally came in the house around 7:45 and I just got the kids in bed. Whew.
We have got to take advantage of the days like this. It is beautiful and the mosquitoes are not out yet making it an ideal time to be outside!
What are your favorite outdoor activities?

MOPS Tea Party

Last night was my MOPS groups 2nd annual Tea Party. Last year we had it at a local tea house. This year it was at one of the girls houses from the group. It was a beautiful house in a lovely location. I wish I had taken a picture of the front door when we got there because it would have been a really cool picture. The steering team had put 3 tables out with china tea cups. Each person got to pick what kind of a mom they were. The titles ranged from Loving Life Mom to Oprah Loving Mom to Hiney Wiper. We all got a good laugh over that. The food was really good and the conversation even better. I do not really like fruit tea but I need to get the recipe for the fruit tea we had last night. It tasted a like there was cinnamon and cloves in it. It was yummy.

This is my friend Amy that rode out with me. I felt bad because I had to leave after the tea part. The ladies were headed up to hear several girls testimonies. I wanted to stay but we didn't have a babysitter and Bobby had a rehearsal so I had to get home. We each left with a bag of Wild Strawberry Tea and a spoon with chocolate on it. That will be a nice treat later this week.

There were lots of photo opportunities so I am putting up a few of the pictures I took.

Our table.

The tarts that were on our table.

One of the girls in our group makes cakes. If I can get a website address I will post it later. If you get a chance to try this cakes you will be amazed. The 2 cakes looked beautiful and tasted even better.

Details.Roses.

This was such a fun event. I loved going to it last year and I am glad we did it again this year. I think I even liked it better at the house. It seemed to make it a little more intimate. If any of you ladies that put the tea on read this you did a fantastic job! I would love to hear how the rest of the night went.

Worship night

On Sunday Bobby had the opportunity to play a worship set with our friend Andrew at Harvest View Church in Murfreesboro. He used to play bass in Bobby's band Salient. It was a really cool night of music with several different musicians coming in to lead different songs.


The had this table set up with all of these candles lit. Unfortunately they were all blown out by the time I got over to take a picture. Both of the kids had kind of a hard time sitting still. Munchkin more than Little Man. She always seems to have a difficult time in a setting where she is supposed to listen to what is happening. But, she loves music so I am not sure what the problem was this time. I did bring an arsenal of snacks in my purse so that helped a little bit.

Little Man had moments of rapt attention and even danced a little bit to the music. The rest of the time he was sprawled on the floor playing with his matchbox cars.

This is a picture of Andrews parents. They both sang and lead worship for part of the service. It was so much fun.



This is Andrew and Vanessa's little girl. She is so precious! We went over to their house before the worship time to hang out and my kiddos wore her out playing with her. She fell asleep in her swing not long before we were supposed to leave to go to church. I love this little babies eyes! She always looks a little surprised and has a great laugh!

Here she is again with her sweet mommy Vanessa.
It was so cool to go hang out and just have a night of worship. I hope we get to hang out again in the near future!

What a difference a year makes

Last Year

This year

Last Year

This year

CMT

Last night was so much fun! I got to go to the CMT Award show with Angela, Becky and Sherry. Since Angela has a personal connection we got great seats. There was only one row in front of us and we decided we were sooooo over 30 since we were glad to be in the seats instead of smushed in the mosh pit. They packed the people in like sardines down there.

This is right before the show started. The stage was set so there was a ton of space for people to crowd in around the stage. We got to see some of the behind the scenes stuff too like how they get all the gear on and off the stage so fast...someday Bobby you will have roadies too!

Toby Keith walked right in front of us to head to the green room before the show ended and the crowd shots of Jeff Foxworthy we right in the section in front of us. Sorry for the quality, these are all from my camera phone.


Here is Carrie Underwood, the big award winner of the night:


A huge crow favorite: Bon Jovi
This is Becky during Hank Williams Jr. She was so excited and knew all of the motions to the song. I was really excited but this girl put me to shame!
One of the crowd favorite moments of the night was when Jeff Foxworthy said "We write songs about God because we believe in him" That statement said it all for the crowd that was there.
Thank you Angela and Ron for letting me be a part of this last night! I had a fantastic time with all three of you ladies!

Blades of Glory

is a very funny movie....but only if you like Will Ferrell and Jon Heder. If you see it stay to the end!

Southern Womens Show

If you are a snob like me from California the thought of a Southern Women's Show sounds...well...kinda froufy. It conjures images of little girls with giant bows on their heads, extremely large hair, and gowns from Gone with the Wind. When I mentioned it to Munchkin she was so excited. I think it was the free samples that got her interested. Yes, we are that family that traipses through Sam's Club looking for the free samples after church on Sunday. Admit it! You do it too!
After parking downtown and finding our way to the Nashville Convention Center I paid my $8 to enter the convention. We were overwhelmed to say the least. Little Man was in his stroller, which was great because he gets kind of nervous in big crowds. Our first stop was the Crocs booth. I picked up a pair of navy blue Crocs for me and hot pink Mary Jane Crocs for Munchkin. She had been eying them for awhile so it was an opportune time to get them. They also had mini donuts coated in Cinnamon Sugar. Since it was lunch time the three of us shared a small bag of them.
One of the vendors was called Eye Kandy. The little sign said $2 for application or free with purchase. Well, one look at Munchkin and the girl asked if they could put it on her. They gave her a little red heart and some white sparkles on her cheeks. She got comments on it the rest of the day. She also spun the prize wheel at a modeling booth and won some gold Mardi Gras beads.
There were tons of booths for travel, ring cleaning, losing 20 pounds in 5 days, and ummm girly parties (if you know what I mean). There were booths for scrapbooking, rhinestone cowboy hats, tons of jewelry, a couple of embroidery companies and even 1 astrologer. Yeah, we skipped that one.
One of Munchkins very favorite things was that she "got to dance with a ma-yun!(man, yes she sounds country)" There was a dance company giving lessons and the man (he was about 19) started spinning her around in the aisle while I filled out a form to win a free dance lesson. He then spun her out onto the dance floor and even dipped her at the end of the song. It was the sweetest thing. She was just thrilled when she got done dancing. After that I am pretty sure I saw Little Mans Kindermusik teacher MCing the HCA Broadway Hits show. We stayed and watched 3 songs until we realized we need to keep moving if we wanted to see everything.
Munchkin spotted a big colorful prize wheel at the Tennessean booth and we each got to spin. Munchkin won a little coin purse and I won a comic strip umbrella. That came in handy since it was raining when we left the convention center.
Feeling lucky I played Plinko at the Curves booth. You could win a free week, 2 free weeks, a free month or a small gift. I won a month free to Curves! There is one fairly close so that will be fun to try out. After all that we stood in a line that stretched all the way around one end of a row and halfway down the other side to get free ice cream. We made it to the Purity Frozen Yogurt and tried that out instead of waiting until we got all the way around. The kids didn't see any difference between that and regular ice cream and ate every bite. While in that line we saw a little animal flying up in the air and had to check it out. The guy at the booth was shooting the little flying monkeys 50 feet in the air. So, we of course had to have 2 of those. I for some reason didn't anticipate exactly how annoying they would be. They didn't sound nearly as loud and obnoxious as they are when we were in the convention center.
The very last thing we did was go back to the nail polish booth. Munchkin wanted to have a butterfly put on her thumbnail so, since she had been so good the entire time we went back and did that. I got suckered into buying that kit but it has come in handy tonight since I am watching a friends kiddos.
oh yeah, a plumbing company also gave each of the kids a mini plunger. They were immediately attached to their chins which garnered them even more attention for the other convention goers.
We had a fantastic day. I know it would be a lot of fun to go to with a girlfriend and leave the kids with a sitter but I had so much fun with both kids today. They both had great attitudes, followed directions, and asked before taking candy off of any of the tables. I think I could see myself taking Munchkin in future years for a mother/daughter date. I did run into a couple of ladies from church that seemed shocked that I would bring my kiddos with me. I think more that I wasn't taking a break for me to be there.
As far as the snob from California, we all have our stereotypes and the big haired, catty, plantation one was broken when we moved here. This was a great convention to go to and will I probably go again in the future.

Party Girl

Whew, I feel like I have been the party girl lately. I think I am just about done selling Pampered Chef so it has given me time to host a few parties. I just had an Arbonne party where I got $100 worth of free products and now I will be hosting an Usborne Book party next week. I go to these things thinking I am not going to host a party but then I get there and the products are so good and I want them all. I might as well get some for free right? I also usually do them to help out a friend that is selling the product. Maybe because so many friends helped me get started with PC. At least they are fun and I get to hang out with friends when I host them or go to them. Plus, I love entertaining and having people over. What do you think of all these home based businesses? I would love to hear some opinions.

Growing up too fast

The other night we had to run a couple of errands. Munchkin was none to happy that we decided to skip Walmart and go home instead. With an exasperated sigh she said "I need to get my license...and soon!" Did I mention she is 4? :)

Happy Easter!

I hope and pray that today was filled with family time and time to remember the Resurrection of Jesus.

Gatlinburg

A friend of mine has a Timeshare. She sent out an email a couple of weeks ago to several friends to see if any of us would like to use it. Her family was going for the weekend but didn't want it to sit there empty for the rest of the week. Bobby had a huge work project so I didn't think we would get to use it. When I talked to her and no one had said they would use it I thought it would be a great opportunity to take the kids and some friends to stay out there. Since we didn't have swimming or church due to spring break it was an ideal time to go. I have been out to Pigeon Forge twice to the scrapbook store but hadn't actually been in yet. The first time it was a week from opening and the second time was on a Sunday when it was closed.

Beth and Angela both were able to work out their schedules so we packed up all six of our kids and went. I drove up a little bit early in Tuesday so that Munchkin, Little Man and I could find a letterbox on the way. We also were able to get out and walk up the strip for a little while. That whole area is just like any other tourist destination with candy stores, fudge shops, a million t-shirt places, and olde time photo shops. I was glad when they called and said they were driving up the strip right then. I was almost back to the resort so it worked out nicely.

All of the kids were so excited to get out of the car. They ran around like crazy for awhile and finally crashed about 10. I almost didn't feel like busting out the scrapbook stuff but Angela made the first move and got me motivated. We popped in a girly movie and chatted for a long time. I think Beth and I finally went to bed around 3. Angela had her daughter and Munchkin in the king size bed, Beth had her two boys in a full size and I had Little Man in the pull out couch with me. Angela's little guy was in the pack n play in the big bathroom. We had thought about each of us getting a bed and throwing all the kids in the king but each room had a big jacuzzi tub so that made us a little nervous. Especially since none of the boys could keep their hands off of it. Munchkin and Angela's daughter showed off the tub for the picture.


On Wednesday we had a tentative plan to get up, have breakfast, hit the scrapbook store and take the kids to Wonderworks. Little Man and I were the first ones up followed by each of the kids. We all had cereal, got dressed and headed to Your Scrapbook Superstore. We hit the clearance center first. Everything is 50% off the marked price. I found some cool guitar picks that I had been looking for. Then we headed into the big maama jaama store. I am not sure how long we were in there but it was so huge that it was just overwhelming. Angela and I spent the same amount...and I will leave it at that. These bears were outside getting their picture taken so we thought we would join them for a couple of shots. I have pictures of almost all of the kids being bears too.

One of the coolest parts of the scrapbook store was the play area for the kids. There was a play house, cars and truck and all kinds of stuff to play with. Munchkin is playing checkers with Beth's oldest boy in the dad waiting area. As cool as it was it did not keep the kids from coming out to find us. Next time it will be a mamas only trip to the scrapbook store!After the scrapbook store extravaganza we hit Fuddruckers for lunch. My kiddos hadn't been there before but both really liked it. Especially since they got a cookie on the way out. A really cruddy part of the trip happened while leaving Fuddruckers. I was backing out around a giant UPS truck, had waited for cars to pass and started to go. The guy across from me chose that moment to back out as well. Our bumpers collided. There was a scuff mark on my bumper and nothing on his so we just left it at that. What a pain.
Wonderworks was not far but it was just long enough for Little Man to fall asleep in the back seat. He woke right up once we got out of the car though.

Wonderworks was a lot like the other Children's Science Museums we have been too. The difference was that the building looked like it was upside down. The lobby was also upside down so it kind of freaked the kids out a little bit. It was also really busy because 4 tour buses got there just before we did. Once we finally got in the building everything was OK. To get in the main building you had to go through a tunnel that was spinning and was lit with black lights. Beth was laughing hysterically at me when we got through the tunnel because I couldn't actually walk straight! Poor Little Mans sensory issues were going full force as we went through there. He had a good time dancing in different areas and doing some of the different activities. There was one area called the Wonder Dome. The kids all got in there and probably stayed in there for a good twenty minutes. Different images were projected on the floor and it seemed like the kids were able to interact with it. They especially liked the water one and pretended to swim.
When we finally got tired of the museum we went back to the room and made dinner. Beth made spaghetti, and bread and I cut up some strawberries. We popped in movies for the kids and they played with the V-Smile for awhile.On Thursday Beth and Angela needed to take off fairly early to get back for a dance class....I will let Angela post about the drive home. :)
We took the kids down to the pool before everyone had to take off. I took an underwater camera with me so once I get those back I will post some of those pictures....if any of them turned out. Little Man came down to the pool with us. he has been taking swimming lessons for the last 8 weeks. You would think at this point he would be comfortable with the pool. He can't stand it. So, I told him he could just sit on a chair and watch. He finally said "I come in" So I lifted him into the water. He got about to his waist and wanted out. Back to the lounge chair he went. He finally came over and stuck his feet in the water. That is progress I guess!

Since we didn't have to be anywhere at a specific time I drove around the Arts and Crafts loop. We stopped at a few of the stores on the loop and went to the Nifty Fifty Cafe for lunch. I am not sure why but my kids both like fish. I am not going to stop them. They had a fish sandwich for lunch along with water because there was not enough milk for the ice cream...whatever that meant. Each of them got a little teeny teddy bear from a strange guy at the teddy bear store and then it was time to hit the road. We didn't hit too much traffic and made it home the same time as Beth and Angela did.


All in all our 6 kids did really well the entire time. I think each one of them had at least one meltdown but that was to be expected. It was so fun to go with my girlfriends (even with all the kids), get some scrapping done, and just get to hang out together for a couple of days. I hope we will get to do it again in the near future...maybe next time without the kiddos.

Whew!

I just got back from a whirlwind trip to Gatlinburg with Beth and Angela and our 6 kids. I am exhausted and I am sure they are too. As soon as I can get pictures off the camera I will get some posted and tell more about the trip.

Easter Egg Hunt #1

Last Monday was our first Easter egg hunt of the season. We met our MOPS group at the park and hung out for a few minutes while we waited for everyone to arrive. The first thing we did was check in and get a colored note card necklace for Munchkin. She got yellow and was instructed to only pick up yellow eggs. At first I wasn't sure how well that would work but it was a fantastic idea. The hunt lasted a lot longer than it did last year when it was a free for all. Little man isn't 3 yet so he hunted with the all the kids 3 and under in a different section. Last year he was not walking by himself yet so it fas fun to see the difference in him.

After the big hunt we hit the park for a picnic lunch and let the kids run wild. Munchkin took off with two of her friends and played with them the entire time. Little Man wasn't so sure but finally took off and climbed a little bit on the low equipment. Everyone was tired and dirty by the time we left.

My cuties before leaving for the park.

Bucket head boy.

Silly girls waiting to get hunting.


Check out all of my eggs!

Look at me jump!

Easter Egg Hunt #2

When we went to the Easter Egg hunt yesterday the kids when ahead of me. They were so sweet holding hands and walking down the street I couldn't help but snap this sweet pic of them.



Munchkin found a ton of eggs. This was right after she finished gathering as many eggs as she could.