Childhood: The Simple Pleasures

Today the kids and I went to "Ms. Christy's" house for a visit. It was the first time the kids visited her home, and they were so excited! On top of the excitement of just going for a visit, Ms. Christy was having a yard sale--talk about double excitement! After "shopping," the kids asked for a tour of her house.
Our boy was fascinated with everything. Here are some of his highlights: a light switch on the wall with 4 switches, a basement with lots of light switches and other cool stuff for a boy to investigate, a 4-bay garage, an out building, an aged-swing set, an apple tree with apples to test out a boy's throwing arm, and a Duck-Duck-Goose game that has a goose that talks/makes all kinds of noises.
Our girl also enjoyed the visit. She was most excited about her very own bottle of Gatorade that Ms. Christy offered her. Our girl drank the whole thing (all 20 blue ounces) while we were on our tour. She also loved the shopping-she found several movies. Ms. Christy also gave her a pair of long, white Cinderella gloves and a fun mini-notepad.

Check out some photos from our day:

Duncan hasn't put down the goose yet! Look at the grip he has on it!

Here's our girl writing a note in her mini-notepad.
















After all the excitement, we got home. So...what's a girl to do, but put on some lip gloss. How many glosses does a girl need? I'm not sure, but our girl put on some of each of these. Be sure to notice the one on the far right. It says..."Moose Poop: It doesn't heal chapped lips, but it sure keeps you from licking them!" Thanks Nana and Papa for bringing that home all the way from Alaska!
















Being with children helps you remember to take time for the simple pleasures: friends, light switches, spider webs, and lip gloss!

Have you seen Elvis lately?

Well, if you haven't seen Elvis...just look at this photo below. Yes, that's my sister preparing for her Elvis Cruise with the"Young Elvis"! You heard me right...I said an Elvis cruise! Don't ask too many questions because I don't have too many answers, but I'm sure that I will. They were due to set sail around 6pm tonight from Mobile (by way of bus ride from New Orleans). My daughter saw this photo and said "Mommy, why does E love Elvis so much?" What could I say..."Baby, That's a gooooooooooooood question." Who better to go on an Elvis cruise with my sister than...my mother! Here she is with the King of Mardi Gras in New Orleans prior to the cruise festivities. What can I say...she's the only sucker who was crazy enough to go on an Elvis cruise! Well, my kids both wanted to go really bad, but thankfully they have school-maybe next time!

Jesus or Troy?

Our girl has been wearing a necklace that she got when she was Christened. It is a dainty gold cross on a delicate gold chain. She mostly wears it to church. However, this morning she wanted me to paint her fingernails...and when I said we didn't have time because we were on the way out the door...she said..."Well then...let me wear my necklace." So tonight in the bathtub, I was taking her necklace off. She asked to look at it, and then said "T for Troy...like the necklace Troy gave Gabriella (in High School Musical)." I responded saying, "No, a cross for Jesus." Then she asked..."Where's his picture?" Let me just say that she knows all about Jesus (remember...I said she usually wears the necklace to church!!), but a 'T for Troy necklace' was fresh on her mind because we saw one today at Wal-Mart!

Our boy spent the morning with his Daddy building houses for Extreme Home Build at his school. They were framing 6 homes through Habitat for Humanity that will be given to families in the community. Well, the parents did most of the building. Our boy and some of the other kids sat in a Suburban watching movies (good thing the weather was cool so the kids could sit contained in a car). Tonight during stories, he was so tired that he passed out before we were done with the first book!

Happy Birthday to Daddy!

Today is Hubby's birthday! We celebrated with a variety of activities. First, Hubby spent the afternoon with our girl getting an x-ray at Children's Healthcare. This morning Hubby said she was complaining of her leg more frequently. Thankfully, the x-rays did not show anything unusual...so now we have more "peace of mind." We just give her Motrin, and pray it goes away as mysteriously as it started.

Tonight for dinner we ate out (again)! :) We went to a restaurant close to our house where they give you $15 toward your birthday meal! How could we pass that up? The kids were past tired, but they did pretty well under the circumstances. Then we came home and had birthday pie (with candles and everything)--Mint Chocolate Chip ice cream in an Oreo crust! I brought home the ice cream and pie shell last night to make it for Brian, but he was so excited about it-that he started the project himself! Our girl picked the glasses and plates for the party--see photos below!

Meanwhile, our boy and gril came up with a good use for a battery-powered motorcycle, a pink horse trailer, and lots of Star Wars and GI Joe Action Figures. Check out the video:

Go, Princess Leia, Go!

O for 3...

That's right--we're O for 3 for eating dinner at home this week! Monday was dinner at Truett's (with the tire episode); Tuesday my mom and our girl cooked--so we ate at her house; and tonight it was WAFFLE HOUSE! :)

Let me explain--our girl has been limping (favoring her right leg) this week. On Friday at school, she fell on the playground. So....we've been watching it. Well, today when I picked her up at school, she was running all stiff legged and it seemed worse to me. Therefore, after asking for some opinions--I decided to take her to the pediatrician. He said that she didn't flinch when he pressed on it (or whatever terms her used)...so he feels it's a sprain or might not have anything to do with the fall at school--could be her hip-what?? He said he didn't feel x-rays would show him anything, and suggested ibuprofen every 6 hours looking for improvement by the end of the weekend. Then he said to call if she gets worse or starts running a fever. I think I should have paid myself the $20 co-pay!

Well, back to the dinner part--we were at the doctor's office for ~2 1/2 hours because there was only one doctor on duty this afternoon. Imagine this--2 tired kids and 1 tired K teacher in the doctor's office for 2 1/2 hours!!! That explains the WAFFLE HOUSE on the way home tonight! Hubby did make it there for the last hour of the visit to experience the fun.

Tomorrow is Hubby's birthday--so I'm not promising we'll eat at home tomorrow either! Tomorrow (or maybe I should say next week) is another day!

"A Flllllllat Blllllllack tire"

That's exactly how our boy's speech teacher taught him to say it..."A Fllllllllllllllat Blllllllllllllack tire." He was working on his 'l-blends' last year when my mom had 2 flat tires while he was in the car with her. Well, we had one today-our boy and me. Well...it wasn't completely flat--about 1/2 way flat. On the way to school this morning, there was a car behind us honking their horn like crazy and pointing to the back of our car. I immediately thought..."What did Hubby leave on the bumper now?" He's always putting something back there that I end up driving all around town. But today when I got out to check the bumper, it wasn't the bumper at all--it was a flllllllllllat bllllllllllllack tire! The car drove fine...so we drove on slowly to school. Thankfully Hubby was able to come around lunch time to change it. Then after work--it was off to Sam's to get it repaired. Two hours later--we were back on the road--don't worry...we worked in dinner while we waited!

You just never know!

I'm telling you...you just never know what our girl will say next. Here are some examples from this past week:
1. Hubby is off on Thursdays; therefore, he drives our girl to and from school that day. On the way to school, Hubby was singing in the car. Our girl said, "Dad...you can sing in the car, but you CANNOT sing inside my school-somebody might hear you!"
2. When Hubby picked her up on Thursday wearing a Vandy t-shirt, our girl said, "Dad...you can't wear your lawn-mowing shirt to my school--and why do you have whiskers on your face?"
3. Friday morning she told my mom that she would not be able to play with her and EJ (my dad) on Sunday because she was going to a birthday party. Then after that...my mom told her she was such a big girl and our girl responded saying, "I know it and soon I'll have my driver's license."


Here's a picture of "Sassy" and her brother today after church. We celebrated DoDo's, my mother's, birthday last night. She had a princess cake, and our girl picked out all the cupcakes she wanted to eat prior to the party.
Here's our boy helping blow out the candles--that's his favorite job!

1st Day of Preschool

Our girl had a great first day of school. Her Daddy went in late to work so that he could drive her to school on her first day. He was singing on the way there. Our girl told him that he could sing in the car, but he could NOT sing inside her school because somebody might hear him! I guess it starts earlier that I remembered-getting embarrassed by your parents.

I thought I was being so prepared. I ironed all the kids' clothes for the week on Sunday (and even planned out my own clothes for the week too). So this afternoon when I picked up our girl from her first day, I noticed that her capris barely fit (the ones that I instructed her Daddy to put on her for her first day) . What??? When I asked the Daddy, he responded saying, "She wanted to wear them." Thankfully she had on a long top today!

Are you a mermaid?

I'm breaking one of my blog rules...posting without adding a photo! Anyway...I have another story about our 3-year-old daughter. Tonight I was washing her hair. As I was rinsing it, she was running her hands through it. I finally asked her, "Are you a mermaid" (doing your hair like that)? She responded saying, "No, I'm just relaxing!"

End of a Long Week

Well, we all made it! We made it through the first week of school (for our boy and me anyways). So, after the end of a long week...it was time for...what else??? Open House at 6:30pm at our girl's preschool. She is soooooooooooooooooo excited about starting school. We had to muster up some energy and excitement for her. You can see our boy mustering up that energy below at dinner at Chick-fil-A prior to Open House (his Daddy had to carry him in from the car).

Our girl said on the way from dinner to the school, "You can just leave me in my class. You don't have to come in with me..I'm a big girl." Here she is helping her brother build train tracks in her classroom. She was trying to act shy asking for someone to go with her to play once we were in her room.

Here's the big girl-ready for school!

A funny story: Our girl is a talker-especially when she is tired. This morning she woke up about 5:15 (that's 5:15 AM!!!), and didn't go back to sleep nor take a nap today. So, needless to say, tonight she was REALLY talking! We were getting ready to leave for Open House, and she said, "Has my name always been _______ or was it Hot Dog _______?" She was very serious!!!! I busted out laughing (which she didn't like), and called her Daddy to relay the question. Then we were both laughing. I finally pulled it together for a response..."Your name has always been just ____-no hot dog!"

That girl!!!!

DoDo and EJ have been helping with our girl this week because she doesn't start school until Monday. Yesterday they took her to vote and the lady there gave our girl a sticker. Later she took it off giving it to DoDo saying, "Here you go DoDo...I'm through voting." You just never know what she's going to say next! Here's another example: Today she went to lunch with her GG (great-grandma), and then told her, "I won't be able to eat lunch with you again for a while because I have to start school." Oh me!

Look out Kindergarten-Here I come!

Monday was our boy's first day of Kindergarten! His Daddy brought him to school, and there was no holding back! Look at that big guy heading off to school.
This picture was taken in my classroom right before our boy went to his own class on the first day.
Here's a Kindergartner on the way home from his 2nd full day of school! School is tough work! I carried him in from the car, and when I got him to the sofa he woke up saying, "My legs are going to break" (because he was so tired)! Needless to say...he went to bed early.

Have you ever ironed and baked sugar cookies?

Yesterday we went to visit Nana and Papa. They just returned from a 2 week cruise to Alaska! The kids were greeted by Nana, Papa, Aunt T, 3 dogs, 3 cats, and lots of butterflies. Nana said that she's never seen so many butterflies on her butterfly bushes, and the butterflies must have known that the kids were coming!

This morning at church our boy went down for Children's Time during the service. The lady leading the service asked all the kids..."Are you sad that summer is coming to an end?" Then she asked if anyone had traveled far away this summer. The first child who answered responded that she had been to Paris. Then our boy raised his hand saying, "I went all the way up to Florida!" :) Good thing it wasn't our girl who said it because she would have been sooooo mad when everyone laughed! It didn't phase our boy.

This afternoon was busy with activities for the first day of school tomorrow. I made hand print cookies with Hershey's kisses on them for 54 Kindergarten students for tomorrow. In class, we read the story The Kissing Hand. The day ends with the cookie snack reminding the students of the kiss Chester's mother puts in his hand. So...while I'm baking (thinking why did I want to roll and bake 54 cookies?), I was also running back and forth to iron our boy's school clothes for the week. Have you ever tried to iron navy clothes with flour on your own clothes from cookie baking? Let's just say that it's not a good idea!