She Here...and We Are Home!!

Yeah!! She is finally here...litle miss MJ was born Thursday evening alittle before 9 pm! So far she has been a wonderful baby...very much like S in the fact that she is easy going (I hope she stays that way!) We got her home today and are getting settled in to becoming a family of 6. Here are a few pictures we took after coming in...





Thanks for all your well wishes, notes, and encouragement (and beautiful pink blankets)! :) We can't wait for everyone to meet her! Love you all!

Happy Birthday little man!

I wanted to take a few minutes out of my busy weekend to post about my precious boy! He is growing up So fast...it seems like just yesterday he was taking his first steps while we were moving into this house, and now he was talking yesterday about how big he is and that he wants to be a daddy when he grows up (just like his daddy...I hope so Buddy!)

Here is a quick picture of what he found this morning (his birthday surprise as he calls it). Mamama helped him plant seeds for his "mini garden" on our side porch, which he loves and waters every day! So I thought it was neat that the "first fruits" came on his birthday!

Random Thoughts, Happenings, and Musings...

We just got back a week ago from a grand (but long) car trip that took us through 7 states and 1740 miles! And did a mention that this was in 4 days? One of our friends (and the intern at the church) got married in Indiana Sat, May 3rd, so we decided to make a road trip out of it and see a few things on the way. It was also fun because Mamama and Aunt Martha got to come too! So the 7 of us piled in the 15 passenger van early Thurs morning, and off we went. We spent 2 days in the Amish country of Ohio...going shopping, to a cheese factory, and eating Amish food (but we're not talking about that)...and just having a good time spending time together!! Then off again Sat to Indianapolis, the wedding, and finally to Kent.- all in one day!! (That was alittle crazy!!) But you know it was a good trip when P woke up Mon morning asking where we could go today. The kids traveled beautifully and really enjoyed seeing the sights (and the tunnels)! :)

Now we only have 2 weeks left to go in school (that has flown by as usual!). And then hopefully have a little more laid back of a summer, esp because after bible school we have nothing planned! But I am sure it will still be busy.

Mainly because...we only have alittle over 12 weeks before the new one gets here!! Now that sounds crazy!! These months have flown by!!! She (yes, it is a girl. Sorry I haven't offically said that here) is doing great and moving just like she should! In fact, last night Izz & P felt and saw her move for the first time, which was neat for them!! P kept pushing on my stomach (like it was a balloon) saying, come on my baby girl, move for me! :) And yes, no official name yet, but we are working on it...hopefully closer every week. :)

Hope all is well with everyone! We would love to hear from you!!

Here are just a few pictures from the road trip...

Easter Pictures

Every year Easter takes on a different look...some have been spent with extented family and one year good friends came from Hickory Grove to visit. And following suit- this year was no different. Unfortunately we didn't get to see family or friends, but this day was good too! We didn't do ANYTHING (which sounds boring, but it was quite the opposite)! We went to lunch with just the 5 of us, came home and spent the day together! We have been SO busy, things pulling us in different directions, that it was nice to spend a lazy day together- playing outside, reading books together, and just hanging out!

This is S and his buddy at church, the day before, at the easter egg hunt. They set a special egg hunt for these 2 in the nursery. They picked up a few eggs, but had a better time trying to pull them apart and then throw them! :)
I have pictures that I will try to post later of the other 2 at the hunt and doing different things this past weekend, but I wanted to get the family pics up now.

Happy Spring!!

Easter

Hello out there...(and yes, I am still alive)! I have had 2 people ask me lately if I am going to post again..sorry. With a limited amount of time that I have to be on the computer, I have gotten sucked into the world of facebook (something new for me to explore and I have gotten reconnected with some friends from college!)

We are doing great here. Finally over cold and stomach bug season (hopefully). And the wierd thing was that it was S who started this round...who knows where he picked it up- probably the store! The pregnancy is moving along fine (it seems to go faster with every one), and it hard to believe that it is halfway over! Our ultrasound is scheduled for next Friday..I can't wait! The funny thing is that my tastes change or something wierd happens to me every time (i.e after S, I now like spicer foods)! Well, last night I order and drank coffee- and enjoyed it! Most of you are probably thinking, so what; but my family understands! I am the ONLY one who didn't like it, in a huge coffee loving/drinking family- in fact when we moved here my mom bought us a coffee pot so that we would have one when they came to visit! They always told me, as I was growing up and would turn my nose up to it, that I would start liking it when I went go to college...but it never happened, until now. We were sitting in Dunkin Doughnuts when I smelled K's and thought I would take a sip. It really tasted good and I am thinking that I would like another one right now! Who knew? :)

We are heading out tomorrow (which I really should say today now...Aggh) to get spring/Easter pictures taken of the kiddos... hopefully I can get those up soon. Hope all is well with each of you. And hope you enjoy Easter and the start of Spring- I love to see everything changing and in bloom!

Update

Hey Everyone!! Just wanted to give a quick hello to everyone 1-to let you know that I did survive Christmas, 1st Birthday, and the new year, and 2-to tell you that I am working on a limited Computer time and resources.
Right before Christmas my computer at the house decided that it just didn't "feel" like turning on (I guess I didn't inform it that it just wasn't an appropriate time to do that...not only was I planning on posting all these cute pictures from Christmas and S's birthday, but I didn't realize how dependant on a computer I had become until I didn't have one). So (until the guy comes to look at it-which should be next week) I have been either going to the church or K has been bringing his laptop home.

Things are going great! We FINALLY had a little snow. It was so pretty falling, but I wish it stayed alittle longer so the kids could have gotten to play in it. Izz is in a play/musical at school. She is very excited (she is the queen in a version of Cinderella). She has a few lines and a solo- I think I am more nervous than she is. (BTW- the play is the night of K's b-day for those of you who can make it). S is SO close to walking! He stood up in the middle of the floor without holding on today! He has tried to take a step, but leans forward too far so it is really rather comical!

Finally- our BIG news (for those of you who haven't heard) is that our family is about to grow again! YEAH! We are expecting baby #4 in August! I have been quite seasick, but HOPEFULLY I am about to come out of it! It is hard to believe that in just a few weeks we will (hopefully) be able to find out whether we will have a tie or izz will still be our only princess. We'll keep you informed!

Hope all is well with you and your family! And as soon as I get back online full-time, I will post a few pictures!

Merry Christmas!!

Merry Christmas everyone! I had great intentions of putting lots of pictures from this season here, but my computer had other plans...I am just hoping that I can get the rest of my pictures off of it!

I hope everyone has a great Christmas, and I can't wait to hear from each of you!

Christmas time...

I LOVE christmas. It is probably my favorite time of the year! Here are a few shots of what we have been doing these last few weeks...


Picking out our Christmas tree... (I will try to put one of it decorated later)

The kids getting their ornaments this year.


Well, not every part of December has been that great. S got a cold that he couldn't shake, which turned into bronchiolitis and an ear infection. Here he is taking the breathing treatments...hopefully we are on the downside of all of this!

I got tagged!

I was tagged by Shea at http://tapsalteerie.blog-city.com/ so here is the deal...
*link to the person who tagged you
*post the rules
*name 8 things others don't know about you
*link to 8 other blogga-mamas

1-I REALLY don't like these- tell something about yourself or pass along chain letters, BUT because I love you Shea-I am doing it for you! :) I think I don't like the tell about yourself because I don't like writing about myself, but let's see how this goes...
2-I love mayo! I will sometimes eat in right out of the jar (P also got this love from me)
3-I have always wanted to be a wife, mother, and teacher! When I was little, I used to line my stuffed animals up to "teach" them.
4-Even though I miss teaching right now, I LOVE being at home with my kids (even when I have days like I wrote about last). In fact (crazy as it sounds), I am thinking about baby #4!
5-I really like Disney movies- most, but NOT Dumbo. We watched it in 8th grade, and I cried like a baby...haven't liked it since!
6-I love to laugh!! That's why comedies are one of my favorite kind of movies. Also, for those of you who know my husband, that is one of the many things that attracted me to him!
7-I love to make lists! I make them almost daily-not that I always follow them or even keep them, but I think it makes me feel in control and somewhat organized.
8-I am a big supporter of our local library! Not only do we go there to get books, but I am constantly giving them my money from fines...OUCH! There is one lady there that always jokes with me about it. I keep trying to convince her that I am vying for the new wing of the library to be named for me! :) Maybe I should follow #7 better! :)

Now I don't know 8 other people that blog (well I read other blogs, but I don't know then well enough to "tag" them..don't want to seem like the stalker type) but here are 2... Erin at http://tindalsataglance.blogspot.com/ and Erika at http://erikacounts.blogspot.com/.

**Maybe #9 needs to be that I still have ALOT to learn about computers!! I tried to set a link to the 3 others blogs, BUT it would not show up, so I had to do it manually. (sorry there are no links to these 3, but the links are over on the right side of my blog)

How should I Label this Day???

"If you don't laugh, you'll cry"
"Find the Humor in any situation"
"I have had more fun than one should be allowed"

Oh, the labels/fun phrases that people like to say just flood right in now...

I guess you could say that this day o fun (24 hours) started last night when E began throwing up! YUCK! AND, of course, she had laid down in the boys room right before she got sick. So I had to scramble to find other sleeping arrangements for the boys in between helping her.
The morning seemed to go off without a hitch, and the 4 of us had a good time together, resting and watching tv. Then, while I was feeding S (ie occupied, unable to get to the others... BTW, why are kids programmed that when mom is busy, that is their signal to either get into trouble or REALLY need you???) I heard P screaming for me. I sent Iz to check and her reaction... "you REALLY need to get in there!" But P came to me...naked from the waist down, streaked in poop! (sorry- I am going for the mental image now, so you can feel ALITTLE what my afternoon was like) :)
He then leads me back to the bathroom where I see poop- on the floor, all over the toilet, and all over my child - with P VERY quietly & pitifully saying "sawwy mommy, I not make it".
After I clean him up, I realize that I need to clean not only the bathroom, but also the hall, the den and the florida room (remember he came to me having poop on the bottom of his feet) AAGGGHHH! "ok, I can do this"

Well, while I am getting afew cleaning things together, I go into the kitchen...
and there is S, sitting on the floor, playing in something. As I get closer, I realize there is something shiny on his head too. All I can think of is to yell my middle child's name. He comes around the corner, with that sheepy smile on his face, "yes?".
me- "what did you do?"
P- "I helpin to clean?"
me- "what is on S? and why do you feel the need to clean him too" And he shows me the small bottle of Dawn!! AAGGHH!

So I calmly take both boys to the bathroom to scrub them down, and as I was stripping S down, he decides he needs to go to the bathroom...all over my legs!!! AAGGHH!


Here they are during the clean up...notice the shine/bubbles all over S's head!! HA!! And Poor P, he had a rough afternoon too!

OH- I just thought of another "cute" expression...
"What doesn't kill us, makes us stronger" HA!!

Happy Thanksgiving and Fall

Here are a few shots from the last few weeks...

Dad and the boys in their Thanksgiving clothes.

Ps preschool had a Thanksgiving program and lunch.

After lunch, he was playing with a few of his friends so I thought I would walk over and get a few shots. (this is what my boy did when he saw the camara) :}

Hear no Evil, See no Evil, Speak no Evil
Since he wouldn't smile anyway and the girls were in a playful mood, I had a little fun with our 3 little monkeys!! :)

Happy Halloween

Here are a few pictures from last night...

My Audrey Hepburn. I have some other pictures of her from far away, but I love this close-up!


My Cowboy and cow. P LOVED his cap guns at his sides!!



One of the games they played (they are trying to feed a doughnut to those sitting down) I liked it because it shows some of K's costume too.

October...so far

October started with my birthday on the 2nd. The day went pretty good (except for worrying about my niece who ended up in the hospital for a better part of the day with a head injury! Sophie gave a quite a scare, but I am glad to say that she is all better) Between friends and family calling to wish me well and then the family took me out to eat-YUM, I had a good day! Oh, and then my friends at church surprised me (and Katey) with pizza and cake the next day at circle-Thanks guys!

Lorri made sure S was decked out for the festivities!


Then the church went to Bonclarken for the weekend. We had a great time hanging out and spending time together! We also got to see the gamecocks play one more time!

Have a great rest of the month! Can't wait to see some of your fall pictures and if your kids dress up, I would love to see those too!

Was it really that long ago??

I promise that I am still here...
I noticed today that I haven't posted since August 24th!!! I really can't tell you exactally what happened to me (I would love to say something exciting like a big trip or cruise..even abducted by aliens would be a grand excuse) nope... just life. It's just harder to find time when S wants to climb all over me while I type.
Oh, and how sad is this... I went to the dentist today to get 2 teeth filled and I fell asleep in the chair!! Can you tell I don't sit down much!

OK, quick update... (and pictures)
Izz is in soccer and still doing great in school. She had her 8th birthday last week! WOW! She took a few of her friends to a pottery studio and painted different pieces.



P started pre-school this month and loves it! He is in class with one of his best friends, Lisey Lou (check out Erin's blog for more pictures of the 2 of them)



S has really come into his own in the last 2 weeks! He is interacting with us alot more and LOVES exploring in all the corners of our house! AAGGH!!

Here he is with his "play buddy" Lauren.

We got to see K's family last weekend and my whole family will get together this weekend!! We haven't all been together since last July!! I will post again soon!

In the Blink of an Eye...

My kids are growing and changing SO fast...
Izz started 2nd grade this week. She was so excited, and now she is back to waking up before me and begging me to get her there early!! Oh, and for the last 2 days a boy from her class has been calling (it was just about playing on a computer site together, but still...) :) She is also ready for soccer to start in a few weeks!!

Here she is on her first day. It is so hard to believe that my baby will be 8 in less than a month!!


p is getting to be such a big boy!! He is now potty trained!! YEAH!! Well, he still has an accident every once in awhile, but I will take those!! He LOVES being a big brother and momma's helper!! He is also getting to be quite the storyteller and has a vivid imagination!!

Meanwhile, S has changed SO much these last 2 weeks! He is now sitting by himself (in fact, he is trying to sit himself up now too), he can roll and scoot anywhere (quite quickly)& yesterday he was up on his hands and knees rocking- so I guess we will be totally mobile soon, he can hold his sippy cup/bottle by himself now (which frees up my hands some!), and is eating almost every kind of baby food now!! Oh, and has his first tooth too!

I know you all are busy, but if you have time- I would love to see or hear what you have been up to too!

Middle School Retreat

K was the morning speaker at the middle school retreat this summer at Bonclarken. He did such a good job!!
I am posting these pictures of the week though because of their humor value...
Near the end of the week, K and Sam challenged 2 of our friends (the MCs for the week) to a dance off. The middle schoolers LOVED it! And yes, I have the video to prove that Kyle did dance.


This last picture came right after we got home. Another friend told P, at the retreat, that he would look "stylish" with his hair spiked. I didn't realize he understood Patti until we got home. He said that he "fixed" his hair like Ms. Patti said. When I questioned how...he preceded to take me in the bathroom and show me the Lysol!! Evidently it makes great hair gel! ha!

Going, going...soon to be gone

It is so hard to believe that summer is almost over. By this time next week, Izz will know who her teacher is and will be starting school in less than a week! WOW! I have a second grader!!
Izz and I were talking yesterday at Carowinds about what a fun (and busy) summer we have had. I thought it would be good (esp since I went so long without posting anything), if for the next few posts, to put up some of the shots from this summer.
So- here starts my trip down memory lane from the last 3-4 months...
(These are not in order of how/when they happened...just random events and snapshots)

The Wises are some of our dearest friends! And even though we live many hours away now, I like knowing that we get to see them at least once a year! This past May (while our husbands were at a Minister's Conference) we met a the zoo and then went to lunch.



Izz and F were such good buddies when they were younger, it is funny to see P & K.R. now!

Colorado

My sister and I (and S) just got back from CO- visiting our brother and his family, which we haven't seen in alittle over a year! We had such a GREAT time (thank you Bry and E for your WONDERFUL hospitality)!! It was good to be able to catch up, laugh, see the sights- I just wish we had longer! Here are a few of the pictures, and hopefully we can get some more up later...



This is a picture at The Garden of the gods. It is incredible to see these "sheets" of rocks rising out of the ground!!




Here we are at Salida (that is the Arkansas river behind them). E- too bad I didn't get the famous "S" behind you! :)

Birthdays and Rainy Days

We had a party for P last night, and yes it did rain. This was his first birthday party with friends- so he was SO excited! It was a firetruck party and 2 of our good friends are volunteers so they brought the truck for the kids to play on and with. Besides the thought of having 20 kids in my house, I really didn't want it to rain because the truck might not get to come. I shouldn't have worried because (as usual) I was taken care of and it all worked out fine! It didn't start storming (and I mean stormimg-lighting and thunder along with a little rain) until almost everyone arrived and was in the house, and then stopped when the truck got here!! In fact, the lawn got wetter with the deck gun than the rain!! :) AND- the rain started back as everyone was getting in the cars! How cool is that! But the most important thing was that P had a BALL!
Here are a few shots from last night...



After the party, Tom drove P around the block


Here he is with his COOL cake that everyone raved over! We ate the cupcakes at the party, and then we took the cake over to the fire department and he shared it with C shift!


Getting this many kids kids to be still for a picture was funny! Here are the older ones that weren't scared of the truck! ha!


If you have access to a fire truck, I highly recomend this for a kids party! It was cheap, and the kids had a good time!