Babbling

The highlight of my week has been the obtaining of a new vacuum cleaner. Exciting I know. My old one broke which caused much hyperventilating on my part as I HAVE to vacuum every day, it has something to do with my obsessive compulsive disorder when it comes to clean floors. So I dropped the oldest 3 off at AWANA's and went to Wal-Mart to purchase a new vacuum, only to discover that they were out of most of them. I immediately called my trustworthy friend in NY and she began to search out said vacuums to check out their consumer responses. Needless to say that I walked out of Wal-Mart without a vacuum as the only ones that had decent reviews were $400.00. Don't get me wrong, I liked these vacuums, but I just have trouble paying that much for something that is going to suck up dirt off my floor when I paid the same amount for my first car... Call me crazy, but if I am going to pay that much for a vacuum it had better last me a L O N G time. So instead I went to Lowes and purchased a vacuum that was within my price range that had great reviews and so far so good. It has strong suction and I love the on board tools. So a big THANKS A BUNCH Melissa for helping me out in my vacuum dilemma. I am so glad you had your hi-speed in time for my crisis! :)

Now, on to more activities of the week. My son had his first baseball game of the season in which they won. It was an exciting game. I have to confess that I HATE it when my kid is up to bat. It is a stressful time. I sit and watch them and see the anxiety on their faces as they wait for the pitch. Watch them swing and if they miss I can see their stress level rise as they set up to try again. But boy when they connect with that ball and take off running I can also feel their exhilaration that they did it! I unfortunately did not remember my camera so I had to settle for a picture of him in our kitchen after the game. He cannot wait to play again tomorrow in his next game.


The other activity this week was my daughters gymnastics/dance class. She does this at the school on Fridays and I just had to take a picture of her doing her spider walk. It is basically a bridge in which you walk while maintaining this pose. It is a tough thing to do and I am proud of how well she is doing in her class. She is cartwheeling, front flipping, spider walking all over the place!
Of course my 3yr old has to get down and try to do what the other girls are doing. In her own version of course. Here she is showing me her stuff against the bleachers of the gym. Next year she will be old enough to take the class. The better question will be whether the teacher will be ready for her! LOL

Well that is what we have been doing this week. We are still looking forward to their daddy coming home albeit later than what we planned. That is the way it goes in this business, you can't really plan for things as you never really know what will happen. It will still be great to see him again and get to enjoy some of these fun activities with him. It is always nice to be together as a family. I have much more respect for families of truck drivers now that we are one. I had no clue when he started this venture what it was really like. It is a hard road to travel that is for sure. All the little things that you took for granted before that you miss now that one of you is away. I will be glad for his home time that is for sure!

Fun Times

Spring is making a mighty appearance with all the lovely flowering trees and sweet smelling blossoms. By next week all our trees should be in bloom and the yard will smell so wonderful and be so pretty with all the pinks, deep purples, and white flowers. Here is the start of our apple trees blossoming out.< >


We are in full swing with baseball season, birthday parties, spring cleaning, and homeschooling. It is a busy season and one that the kids are enjoying very much. The birthday party was for a little girl that I used to watch and she is the same age as my 7yr old and they are the best of friends. Her mom made 2 Barbie cakes since our daughters birthdays are so close together which my daughter loved. The party was held at the playground and the kids were all hyped up on cake and ice cream and running around having a grand time. The kids were all laughing, screaming, playing, the usual crazy stuff kids do. When it was time to cut the cake, the mom pulled out the Barbies which had plastic wrap around the bottom half of the doll and frosting was covering the top half of the doll to look like a dress. When she handed me the doll for my daughter with frosting all over it, my 3yr old rushed up to me and asked in a loud voice, "Can I lick the girl Mom?" That is NOT something you normally hear at a birthday party for a 7 yr old! Needless to say all the parents started to laugh and my 3yr old then grabbed the doll and began to lick the frosting of it. Not a dull moment with that child. I gently took the Barbie and steered her to the cake which was being put onto her plate. Thankfully it diverted her attention long enough for me to put the Barbie in a secure location so no more licking could be done. At least not until we got to the car and she found it again. :) Below is the picture of the now infamous Barbie cakes. < >
And here is my crazy girl after consuming all that frosting and cake. Gotta love her my little cutie! < >
Here are the girls having fun on the slides. Notice my little tag along who thinks she can do anything sister does. < >
The other fun thing we did was purchase a battery for our 4 wheeler. This was my son's when he was little and it has been a big hit with our children. My 3yr old is learning to drive it around which means lots of running into stuff and calling for help. It is funny to watch her as she will not only drive into stuff, but continue to hold down the gas pedal while calling for help. She has finally learned to stop pushing the gas pedal and shift it into reverse and I am also glad to say her steering is improving. < >
With baseball season upon us, my son feels the need to go out each and every day and play baseball even when he does have practices or games, it does not matter. My arm will be in top shape when this season is done I tell ya. Notice the serious expression on his face before he makes his pitch to his little sister. He is very serious about this game!

Now look at his sister. What? Doesn't everyone play baseball in a bathing suit and pink princess slippers?


And that folks is the fun times we have had this past week. Now we are eagerly awaiting their daddy coming home and enjoying some fun times with him!

Enjoying Spring!

We came home to wonderful weather. All the trees are starting to get their leaves and the grass is turning greener, it is very beautiful. We decided to take an afternoon and go to the park. This park has lots of things for them to do. It has play houses, a nice level walking track, a river to explore, fish, and swim in, a really nice playground, and fields for playing soccer or baseball. The kids have to try everything of course so by the time we are through they are pretty wore out. They love it though and I am glad that the weather is nice enough for us to go. We have not been since before winter so it was nice to be back their again.


Here is my 7yr old in front of one of the little wooden play houses. In this case it is a play store. She is the shopkeeper.
Here is my 3yr old in one of the little log cabin playhouses. Her favorite game is the 3 little pigs in which I am the wolf trying to blow down her house. She loves to say, "Not by the hair on my chinny chin chin" and then run off to the next house for it to start all over again.


Here she is moving a chair into one of the log cabins. She carried this chair from one house to the next so she could have somewhere to sit.

Here are my girls riding their bikes on the paved walking trail. My 3yr old can actually peddle this year, last year she would just scoot along with her feet.

Here is my son on his rip stick that he got for his birthday. He remembered the stick but not the helmet and pads. Luckily he never fell off. He is actually pretty good at it. It really looks like fun and I am considering trying it out. Although I am no where near as skilled as he is at this kind of stuff. He is pretty natural with it.


Here she is on the big slide. She was scared to go down it at first but once she tried it she loved it and wanted to go down it over and over.


That was our afternoon at the park. We hope everyone is enjoying spring weather and that the snow in the west stops so my hubby can at least have nice weather to drive in.

Pictures Of the Past Week

Well, we made it through the week at cousins with only a few minor disagreements, much needed sleep, and lots of fun memories. My sister and her husband came back from their cruise bearing smiles and presents and were received with lots of hugs and snuggles and I tried to take pictures during the week, but my camera would not always cooperate so here are a few of the ones I was able to get.

Above: Here is part of the motley crew The three on the right are mine and the three on the left are my sisters. Two are missing from this picture. This was taken before the big egg hunt. Can you see the excitement on my littlest ones face. (The Dora PJ wearing girl)


Here is a picture of one of the crafts we did. They found objects out in nature and then glued them together to make their own winged creature creations. This was a big hit and they were very creative with what they found. I wish I had taken more pictures.



Here is my 3yr old with her aunt who is my favorite sister in law! :) She is my hubby's sister and brought the kids their Granddaddy over with her and her hubby to have Easter Dinner with us.


Here is my 3yr old in her new hat and shades from the dollar store. Doesn't she look CUTE!


Here are the two oldest boys playing a little one on one b-ball. These guys are very competitive. This week was great for my son who is usually surrounded by all girls because my sister has all boys. I learned a lot after living a week with these boys. Fun tidbits like: "Its best not to question what the wet stuff is you just stepped in upon entering the bathroom barefoot, just remember to wear shoes next time and bring the paper towels." and "Anything becomes a competition, from walking down the driveway to brushing your teeth. Its all about seeing whose fastest, strongest, smartest. etc.." I have to say it seems quite tiring from a female standpoint.


Here is another fun project we did with the abundance of paper towel tubes. You coat them with glue and roll or sprinkle sand over them and create castles. The littlest ones liked this one the best. I had pictures of them making these, but I could not post them as it was impossible to keep clothes on them throughout the day as they would go swimming in the little kiddie pool, then jump out and strip down and start to play. The yard looked like I had a wild frat party going on. Clothes and towels were thrown everywhere. It was a battle to keep them dressed. Good thing we were out in the country!


They have a big swing in their yard which my kids love. Here is my 3yr old waiting for me to let her go. She loves it when you stand in front of her and hold her up high in the swing and then let her go.


This is her after I let her go. See what a daredevil she is!


I am sure my sister and brother in law wondered what in the world this creation was attached to the side of their house. The older boys made a marble run out of the paper towel tubes. They planned it out on paper first, then put it together on the side of the house. It took a few trial runs to get it just right. They were very happy with their creation and even the little ones sat and watched while they made this and tried it out. Much clapping and cheering was made when it was finished and in working order.

Here are my sisters twins with my daughter in the middle. They are 6 months older than her and love her to pieces. Even though she is often mean as a snake to them. Aren't they cute together! Let me tell you, these little guys will keep you on your toes!

So we all had a fun week and now we are back to the spring baseball season and finishing up school and looking forward to summer fun! I am personally looking forward to my hubby coming home in a few weeks! We are trying to plan a mini get away, just an overnight away from home. We have tried to do this for 3 months now and either the weather or his delay in coming home has made it not happen. I am hoping that this month it will all work out. I would love to get away with him even if it is only for a short time. After him being gone 328 days last year one could see why I would be eager for some alone time!

Day 2

DAY 2

The kids are still getting along pretty well. Only a few squabbles and threats of not being someones cousin anymore have erupted. It was a pretty hot day but we did manage to have some fun making bugs out of rocks and leaves and other odds and ends we found. Once we glued everything together they did make for some interesting creatures. The wind picked up in the afternoon so we decided to make homemade kites and try them out. They worked and the kids had fun until the wind died back down. More playing in the mud and splashing around in the kiddie pool. Mental Note: Don't leave boys alone with a water hose. You never know what will happen. Something about a boy and a hose... Their was water everywhere! I think they thought the whole world needed washing including those standing withing 10 feet of them. The trees, house, cars, bushes, ground, you name it, it was drenched. So I guess I will have to learn to pee outside from now on. Just kidding. Those boys do enough watering of the plants in that regard. Lastly, all I have to say is one word.... TICKS. I HATE them. They are EVERYWHERE. I cannot go outside without having the little annoying things attach themselves to me. I look down to find them crawling up my legs at the speed of light. Each night I have to inspect all the children and rid them of any that I missed during the day. I do NOT miss these annoying blood sucking leeches! I don't know if it is because my sister lives in the middle of numerous pine trees or if they just prefer this part of NC, but I will take my snow and coyotes any day over these pests! So on that note I will sign off now. I have to go check myself!

Spring Break Babysitting

First of all, I hope everyone had a wonderful Easter. We came downstate to visit with family and enjoyed a wonderful church service and great dinner with all the family. The only thing missing was my hubby. That would have made for a perfect day! We enjoyed visiting with family as it has been months since we have seen anyone. Another reason for coming downstate for spring break was so I could watch my sisters children while they went on a much needed cruise. This is their first cruise in 10 yrs and they were looking forward to getting away for a few days and reconnecting. They left Sunday afternoon and the kids and I are enjoying our time together. I have her 4 kids, ages 8, 5, and twin boys who are 3, plus my 4 and so far we are all getting along nicely. Any disagreements have been worked out peacefully. We will see how that continues as the week goes on. :) The great thing is that they are all so close in age that they tend to pair up and play together. I cannot post any pics as I do have my camera but no way to upload to my blog so I will post them next week upon our return home. Today we enjoyed the nice weather and spent time outdoors creating a marble run out of paper towel holders. This was a big hit with the 9 and 10 yr old. They created it while the others watched. Then everyone got to take turns dropping the marble down the chute. Later in the day we played an outside game called "Guard" which I will not go into details on but it was a big hit. I think the most fun was had when we pulled out the water balloons. Needless to say they had a messy muddy wet fun time. My sister was worried about us since we have no way to go anywhere since we have too many people to fit in a vehicle, but I am perfectly content to stay at the house and occupy the little ones. So we are staying busy and I hope the weather stays nice so we can continue to enjoy the great sunshine. My oldest is spending a few days with a friend and will be back in a day or so. She is enjoying catching up with her long lost bff.

I got good news that my hubby put in for time off in a few weeks so I am already planning for his time home. Now if only I could get US some alone time sans children......hmmm. That would be perfect. Either way, I have some surprises in store for him when he comes home. Just a little something to look forward to! Love ya honey~

7 Years Old!

Today you turned 7. You woke up exclaiming in that oh so loud voice that you were 7 now and letting everyone know that today was your birthday. It did not matter that your 3yr old sister was still sleeping, all that mattered was that you saw me taking the cake out of the oven and that presents were involved. You had the day planned with all sorts of activities and informed me that your brother had promised to pick you daffodils for a present today. What you did NOT know is that he had gotten up early and had already gone out and picked you those flowers. He is such a good brother. He then packaged all your presents and some other things around the house he thought you might like. He has no shame in re-gifting. :) I proceeded to tell you that yes you were indeed 7 now because you had been born at 7:00 am and I was still waiting to hold you at 9:00am. I did not think they were EVER going to bring you in. You were my first scheduled c-section and I was so very nervous. Thank God your daddy was there to help me through it! His gentle assurances calmed my nerves as they sliced me open. Although he did fib and tell me they were just about ready to cut me when in fact they had me laid open and was about to take you out. :) I understand why though, I was frantic that I would feel them cutting me. I also remember the way his voice cracked with emotion when he told me we had a beautiful baby girl. Then he left me to go to you. He was so proud of his little girl! I also remember that you were the quietest baby I had ever seen. You never cried, fussed, nothing. Everyone would comment on what a good baby you were. I on the other hand was used to more boisterous children and was worried that I would leave you unattended somewhere and became vigilant in keeping you in sight. You went on to be very quiet toddler and rarely spoke and when you did it was quiet and reserved. You had the cutest cheeks and I could not stop kissing them! They were so adorable!

Then all that quiet reserved demeanor changed. Something happened when you turned 3. All of a sudden you found your voice, boy did you ever! You went from a quiet child to a loud boisterous one overnight. When you were frustrated you called people MEANIACS! Which we found a bit funny. You were way to cute to be that mad!

You became best of friends with your brother and now the two of you are thick as thieves. You are a perfect mixture of tom boy and princess. You are by far the fastest runner in plastic play dress up shoes I have ever seen!

I often refer to you as "little mama" because you act just like a mama to your little sister. Now you have someone to play dress up with and house and all those other fun girl things that your brother is not so fond of. You also have someone to teach all those cool things like coloring yourself with markers, putting on play make-up, and just plain having fun. Another partner in crime.

You have your daddy's brains and are very smart! I now see that those first few years you were sitting back taking it all in. Now you are ready and willing to show the world you are here and nothing can stop you. You are fun loving and enjoy making new friends wherever we go. You are more outgoing than ever!


We love you little darling and I am looking forward to whatever this year brings! You are my little sunshine girl!

Some Fun Things

My children LOVE to dye eggs. We will dye eggs and hide them at various times of the year just for the fun of it, plus they love boiled eggs. So, since we had some nice days coming up they decided it was time to color eggs. We use the food coloring method as it gives such nice dark colors. They love experimenting with the different color combination and the last egg is usually the one that gets to go into each color and starts out looking cool, but in the end it is a brownish ugh color. This year they decided to stop at "cool". Here they are coloring the eggs (not to mention their hands, legs, clothes, etc..)

Now comes the fun part where they each take turns hiding them while the others count. They have fun trying to stump each other on who can hide the eggs the best. But they also have trouble keeping the hiding places a secret and often direct the seekers to the hidden eggs which makes for very short egg hunts but lots of smiles. I do think that my 3yr old was the best. She hid the eggs really well, called her siblings to come look for them. As they started to look for them she grabbed her basket, squealed and ran around and gathered ALL the eggs she had hidden so well. They proceeded to follow her around in disarray while yelling about the injustice of it all. It was so funny to watch her lead them all over the yard running in every direction while she collected each and every egg with such zeal! Needless to say they did not let her hide the eggs again.
Once the egg hunts were over and appetites had kicked in. They sat down on the back lawn and peeled their favorite colored eggs and ate them. The rest they gave to me to make egg salad.


My youngest decided to stick the whole egg in her mouth at once. Thankfully when she peels them she peels half the egg away with the shells so at least it is not a WHOLE egg really.. The look on her face cracks me up!


Then since it was such a nice day we decided to pick up my oldest from school and go to one of our favorite places to hike, Moses Cone. The views are so awe inspiring and the kids and I love the trails.

Below: This hill is one that leads up to a tower that we have yet to make it to due to our lack of time. We are determined to take a day when it is nice and travel to the top to see this tower. My son was disappointed that we could not go this day, but we had to get back to town for AWANA's and his first baseball practice.



When we got to the top of the hill and took some pictures we decided to start back down. My 6yr old ran down the trail through the grass and I took her picture from where we were at the top. She patiently waited for us to come down. My 3yr old decided to roll part way, then run so her and I made it to the bottom before my son and oldest did. Needless to say after the trek up the hill and then back down my 3yr old decided it was time for a rest and then had to be carried the mile back to the car. Good thing I started working out again! ;)



I had to snap this picture of sisterly love. My oldest says this sib is her favorite. I wonder how long this will last. :)


When my youngest told me she couldn't walk anymore I picked her up to carry her. She was apparently feeling very loving as she told me how great I was and gave me a big kiss which my son captured on my camera.


Here is my sons face after I asked him if he had a good time. I guess that face says it all. :)

Below are some pictures that my son took that I told him I would put on my blog. They turned out beautiful but the views in person are soooo much better.