Sweet Sophie is Three!

I will have to admit that this birthday has made me a little teary....my baby is 3! It just seems so much older than 2! She is not a baby anymore! Despite her silly Mommy, we had a good day. She took treats to school and as per our family tradition, she got to choose her place to eat dinner. Much to my delight she chose Pei Wei because she wanted "edamame and a diet coke." She ate her little heart out and then we had cupcakes and presents. Target has these cool dolls (Only Hearts Club) and one of the dolls is named Anna Sophia....so of course she had to have one! We took the remainder of our cupcakes to the ball field to share with her friends while we watched Elijah play ball. It was fun times and I am so grateful that one of the biggest "surprises" that Dann and I have ever received has brought us endless joy for the last three years. I love you Sophie girl!

Splishin' and a Splashin'......

with a special emphasis on splashin'! After our festivities last Saturday and all of the outside play the kids were dirty beyond words. Needless to say, a bath was in order. We decided to put Will and Sophie in together and the chaos ensued! We had to dry the walls and I had to change clothes! They thought it was a blast and they really liked their mohawks!

If you have a friend named Jessica................

and you shamelessly follow her to Food Lion..... this is what you can buy for $3.77!


Jessica is an extraordinarily talented couponer and I am seeking to learn all I can from her! We have spoken often of her setting up a blog to share her knowledge with us all at once instead of one by one as she is so gracious to do! When it happens I will be sure to let you know!

Happy Birthday to you and you and you..............

This weekend we went to Knoxville for a bit of fun and frivolity. It seems that we have 6 family birthdays in April so we decided to have one big party. This April was especially special because it was Jadyn's first birthday with us. The other birthdays included Dann, Sophie, Zac, Patsy (aunt), and Stacy (cousin). Amanda's friend Melissa made the cake and I thought it was extra cute! It tasted great too! Enjoy some photos of our day :0)!

Confession........

It is good for the soul....but terrible for the hips! I got a bag of this snack mix (and some others) for Dann for his birthday on Thursday. This morning before church he opened this one and asked me if I wanted a bite. I had a handful and then he left it sitting beside my computer and we went to church. Well..........this afternoon while he was fixing the bathroom faucet and I was doing our taxes I ATE THE WHOLE BAG!!!!!!! I really did not mean too, it was just SO good.

I confessed to my dear sweet husband and he was very gracious. He said "I wasn't THAT crazy about it!" Well, clearly I was!

I ripped this photo off of another blog because I could not find the bag in the garbage and was not willing to dig too deep. What this bag does not tell you (apparently I had an updated receipe) that it has all of these ingredients plus a kick of cayenne pepper. MERCY, that spice just took this snack to a whole new level!

Next time you visit our Super Target $3.00 will buy you a whole lot of happiness ;0)!

Honestly

We spent a little time under the Golden Arches tonight as a treat for our kids. We NEVER go there for dinner so they were very surprised when we pulled in and parked. It is more of a get the kids out of the house and talk to some other moms for lunch kind of place. As usual, the play place offered an interesting cross section of the population. My main observation of the evening was the amount of t-shirts with questionable messages. Tonight's fare included "If you don't get caught it does not count" (worn by a mom with 6 kids), "Naughty girls have more fun" (worn by a girl about age 11) "I want what I want when I want it" and "I won't tell if you don't" (worn by elementary age girls). I know this rude t-shirt thing is a trend and I am a fan of shirts with random sayings. ("I do all of my own stunts", "It's all fun and games until the flying monkeys attack", "Recess is my favorite class", just to name a few.) The rude ones really disturb me. First of all, I feel bad for the kids whose parents let them wear these things......especially the naughty girls one on the adolescent girl......what kind of message is this sending? Secondly, I really don't want my kids to read the shirts and think the messages are okay. I don't know that there is a solution to the problem because they are everywhere. The only thing I know to do is to continue to talk to my kids about what is right and wrong and to keep their bodies "rude saying free" until what they wear is out of my control (when they are 30 :0) ). Am I overreacting or does this bother you too?
P.S. I asked Dann if this post is too soapboxy. His reply"Isn't that what a blog is?" Huh!

(when he saw me typing the PS he said "Sheesh, you'll write anything!" :0)

~Good Night~

Happy Birthday Honey!

Happy 44th Birthday to the BEST husband and Daddy anyone could ask for!

We love you!

Thoughtful

Tonight we had the privilege of taking Johnny home from church. If you do not know Johnny, he is a man who attends our church. Johnny is blind and he has an interesting gift with numbers. He can remember most any one's birthday that he knows. He remembers the month, date and year you were born and when he learns your birthday for the first time he can tell you "You were born on a Friday" or whichever day applies. I have never known him to be wrong. Anyway, when Johnny was in our van tonight he was telling our children when they were born and on what day. They were pretty impressed! Macklin said "Mr. Johnny, when is your birthday?" He replied "My birthday is March 30th." In all of the 13 years I have known Johnny I have never once asked Johnny the date of his birthday. Macklin is like that. She is forever thinking of others. (She felt really bad for the crabs who lost their legs when Elijah and I were eating crab legs the other night). I am excited that she has this personality trait and I am excited to see how it develops as she grows. She is certainly teaching her Mom lessons every day! Maybe we will remember to send Johnny a card on his birthday next year :0)!

Root Root Root for the Home Team

Today was the official start of Elijah's baseball season. He is playing with most of the same kids from the last few seasons but now they are the Astros instead of the Braves. I thought he looked so handsome in his new uniform (he rolled his eyes) and I am so happy it is not white on white like the Braves uniform (Elijah is an enthusiatic slider and it is hard to get a white uniform clean!) It was a beautiful day and a great game! Elijah played third base for the first time and they won 9-1.

Spring Break Fun

We spent a fun spring break day with the Gibsons and the Chapmans and Emily K. at the Adventure Science Center. We got there early and stayed most of the day. The kids had a great time. The ASC is a really cool place with lots of interactive exhibits. My favorite is the Body Quest. The exhibit takes you thru all of the systems that make up your body. The digestive system takes you from the beginning (when you eat your food) to the end.......at this point you get to climb a small flight of stairs into the "colon". When you slide down the colon you land on a very large whoopee cushion with appropriate sound effects. This was Sophie's absolute favorite part of the day. The first thing she told her Daddy about the day was "The slide pooted!" Needless to say, this took some explaining! FUN TIMES :0)!

Happy Easter

I hope everyone had a blessed Easter weekend! We sure did!

~Happy Spring Break~

An Update

Brenda's surgery went well. She had a valve replacement. Thanks for praying. Dann's other sister Deanna sent a well written email to her friends and our family outling specific things to pray for. I will (with her permission) outline them here if you would like to continuing praying.

Please pray:

1. for wisdom for the doctors that care for her

2. for quick healing (no infections/complications)
3. for peace for Brenda, her husband, Billy, and their 2 girls: Rebekah, 13, and Emily, 10
4. for school to go well for the girls. Brenda is a very organized, conscientious homeschool mom! It will be hard for her to “take it easy.”
5. for peace for our mother, as her “baby” goes through this time

~Good Night~

A Simple Request

Dann's baby sister is having heart surgery in the morning (3-19-08).

If you will please take a moment to pray for her we would greatly appreciate it!

She is having a valve replaced or repaired (they will not know until they get in there).

Thank you and I will give you an update when I know more.

~Good night~

A "Bear"el of Fun and Games!

Last night we made the trek to Opry Mills to spend some birthday gift cards. The Hoods got Macklin a Build-a Bear gift card and Elijah had Game Stop gift cards from the Hoods and the Gibsons. Sophie got an early birthday gift from Mommy and Daddy so she got to build a bear too!

Macklin's High School Musical Bear.

She chose bejeweled crocs for her too but they were in the box!

Sophie's "Beariel"

If you know Sophie you know that this bear is perfect for her!

Don't you love the red wig?

Elijah's Toy Story and Tony Hawk game choices.

He thought the bear making was "boring" (his words) but the game shopping fun!

We didn't shop anymore after we purchased the bears. Shopping with two girls carrying bears and us carrying the large cardboard "houses" that the bears live in just was too much of a challenge. We loaded up the car and went to KRISPY KREME! (and yes, the hot light was on!). A great end to a fun evening.

~Happy Soggy Saturday~

More Blogging Friends

If you have a minute, glance over to my blogroll. You might notice that I have two new blogging friends. I can honestly say that these are two of my favorite people! I have known them both for several years and I just love them! They both are very much "what you see is what you get" type of people (that's the kinda people I like). They are very genuine,caring,and honest ladies and I am glad that I get to share even more of their lives through their blogs! Maybe one day I will get to link Jana :0}!

P.S. In case you don't have my blogroll memorized (I don't know why you wouldn't) the links are Leslie and Shelly. ~Happy Blogging~

Frinkles

Sophie was sitting on my lap tonight and I noticed she was closely studying my face. Finally she said "Mommy, Daddy and the cats have whiskers and you have frinkles!"

Now, I am not entirely sure what "frinkles" are but my best guess is it is a combination of freckles (had them all of my life) and wrinkles (a glorious by product of being on the other side of 30).

All I can say is whatever they are I've earned 'em! :0)

~Have a great night~

Sophie's Shoes

Sophie wanted to send a shout out to Addie Mei for the new bag of shoes! Addie was very generous to share shoes that she has outgrown with Sophie. Sophie has been changing shoes about 20 times a day!

In the Meadow.......

we can build a snowman! Okay, on the deck we can build a snowman! Well, it snowed (not 6 inches) and Elijah made the best of it! He wants to make sure that Aunt Amanda knows this is for her! For all of you Snowman's rights people out there you will be glad to know the little guy is living in my freezer! Hope you enjoyed your snow day! Now let spring begin!

Double Digits!

My brown eyed baby boy turned 10 today! It makes my heart sad and glad all at the same time. I miss the little guy who always told everyone "hi-ya" and loved his meet-meet (blanket) but at the same time I am intrigued by all that he is becoming. He is so insightful and thoughtful, always making sure that everyone is okay. I love seeing his talents develop, whether it is piano, baseball or in school. I love that he loves to learn. I pray that this year he continues down these same paths and I hope he knows how much I love being his Mom!

Finally!

After taunting me for months from atop the hill with it's shiny red sign the day is finally here! SUPER TARGET is open! We went tonight for a brief shopping trip with Elijah's gift card (Tech Deck ramps and skateboard) and left with a nifty bag of samples. Sophie enjoyed the cupcakes, salsa and chips, fruit and other samples that abounded! Trouble is that she will expect this every time we shop there :0)! Good night and happy shopping!