Lee's Gone Leopard

When did Lee Press-On Nails go leopard on me?
They definitely aren't the French manicured ones I used to beg for as a kid. I pick my battles, and this one wasn't worth fighting. I mean, who am I to deny my child long, luscious spotted florescent nails? Exactly.

Thursday Afternoon Cheer Session

Yesterday afternoon was perfect weather for a sister stunt session. Bethany and Towns were supposed to be at gymnastics, but we decided it would be a better idea to enjoy the afternoon and go to the late night class instead (where B would end up getting her back handspring...so proud of her!!). It was way too tempting to agree to Bethany's master plan. And she's pretty persuasive anyway, so I usually fold under pressure! Towns does several stunts in her cheer routine, and being that they have a competition coming up she needed some practice. B's always sweet to take control of that because goodness knows I can't...

Towns loves to feel like she's big enough to participate in being a base, so Cate let them have their way with her...
Bebs and Cate after her cradle...
Here's where I really gave in...
Cate took charge of the camera right before B talked me into doing an extension. That's where our arms are fully extended and Towns might as well be 20 feet in the air with the way my heart is pounding. What we're doing in the picture is nothing compared to how high up she is when she's in an extension if that tells you anything. I would have been fine just doing it once, but what's the fun in risking breaking your daughter's neck just one time? After the second time, I couldn't take it anymore. Before we'd put her up in the stunt I caught myself saying, "this could be the time I accidentally drop her and she breaks her back." Not a pretty thought. Thankfully, Bebby's way more experienced than I am and she catches her every time. For some reason all I can hang onto is her foot which will surely end up breaking her ankle one day.

When my nerves couldn't take any more stunting, I convinced Cate to take her wheels for a spin...
This is much more my speed...
There's not much bodily damage that can be done with Power Wheels...ha!

This morning before school the three amigas were especially lovey dovey...
I have to capitalize on that opportunity whenever I can. It's not often Cate's that still or willing to be a part of such a love fest. Either way, I could eat 'em with a spoon!

Happy weekend!

All Is Well

I'm happy to report this morning that Cate's traumatizing finger accident bestowed upon her by your truly didn't keep her down for long. After some good lovin' for a couple of hours, she had her shades on, a lap full of babies, and she was ready to rock and roll...

She still can't bend them very much, but she's carried on like nothing ever happened.
Until this morning...
That's when she started milking it. She didn't want to take her 'pack-pack' because it would be too much to carry with her hurt fingers. So she insisted on carrying only her lunch box with the strap so that she could put it on her shoulder and not have to use her hand. And if she reminded me once, she reminded me fifty-six times to tell her teachers that hand sanitizer would burn her fingers really bad. I assured her I wouldn't forget and then reminded her what a mess she is!

Blondie was in rare form this morning, too...
The world is a stage and she does not discriminate against where she performs...

Rough Morning

This morning got off to a great start. Everyone was dressed, fed and ready very much ahead of schedule and even had time to play before we left. This Tuesday was going to be a great one. I just knew it. And the cherry on top is that it's Cate's favorite day of the week. While everyone else is in school, we have a couple of hours to ourselves and then she gets to go to her dance class. That's the one and only extracurricular she's old enough to do, so it's a pretty big deal. When we got home from dropping Towns off at school, she begged to go ahead and put her 'liptard' on. It was still hours before she needed to be dressed for dance, but you know, why not. She's still so tiny so it's hard to find dance clothes to fit her, and her ballet shoes are so small they fit in the palm of my hand. They're so darn cute! When she was fully dressed in her get-up, she asked if I'd take a picture of her and "Elizabef"...

Then she showed me a little of what she does in class...
This is her mid-twirl and oh so excited that it's dance day...

Until Mother of the Year here had the bright idea to leave in time to stop by the grocery store to get food to cook for the fiesta I promised Towns we'd have tonight. It would have been fine, just fine, had it not unfolded the way it did. I got Cate out of her car seat and she was standing beside the passenger's side door waiting for me to shut the door I'd just gotten her out of. Little did I know, she'd stuck her fingers down in the crack of the door that was still open. I slammed it and she let out a scream like I've never heard before. When I realized what was going on I dropped everything and tried to get her little fingers out. No such luck. They were so far in there I had to open the door to get them out, which would have been easy had the doors been unlocked. I fumbled for my keys to press unlock for what seemed like a month. When things like this happen it seems like it's slow motion and you can't do anything quickly. By the time I got her precious little fingers free, her knuckles were already blue, didn't have much skin left on them, and were bent in a way that's definitely not natural. I scooped her up and held her so tight I think I could have cut off her air supply. She cried, I cried. It was absolutely horrible, and it was all my fault. She's a tough cookie, so I knew by her reaction that she was in major pain. Nothing much ever bothers her, and she's never been one to milk it when she's hurt. She doesn't even cry when she gets shots. So when she does cry, she's hurt. When I got her calmed down, I put her back in her car seat and came straight home. I'm not sure which made her more upset...her crushed fingers or having to miss dance. She was pitiful. I doctored her up with some Tylenol, princess band-aids, and pink fingernail polish to take the attention away from her swollen fingers. She told me that it was ok and she knew I didn't mean to do it. I wanted to cry all over again. She also said, "it doesn't hurt too much anymore, only a little much." She's curled up on the couch getting lots of TLC...
So much for being productive today. If you need me, you can find me holding on tight to my sweet Buggy and her all but broken fingers. I have a feeling she's not going to let me forget about this one. She just asked Bethany this morning if she remembered "ripping her arm out of a socket" and us having to take her to the ER. And that was almost two years ago.
Heaven help us...

Formals and Races

Last weekend was a full one. Full of firsts and full of fun. You can opt out of reading this one because it might get a little lengthy...

Bethany's first JUG winter formal was Saturday night, accompanied by the first time she's had to ask a boy to be her date. Talk about two biggies rolled into one! Mercy. She was so excited about the big day. She loves the getting ready process and wanted to make it last as long as possible. She was in the best mood when she woke up Saturday morning because she had a day packed full of it! After she helped get things ready at the Country Club that morning, we went to get her hair done. It started out great and ended in tears. We had almost decided to wash it and start all over, but I begged her to let me give it a last ditch effort. It's a good thing the original 'do didn't work out because she would have matched every other girl at the formal. Shortly after noon, she was fully dressed with her make up done. And believe me when I tell you she looked absolutely gorgeous. Just take a look...
She didn't know I took this one of her walking down the front steps, but I love it...
Towns got busy coloring her a picture of the two of them. She even drew B a side ponytail. It looked a bit Pippy Longstocking-ish, but it's the thought that counts. I think she loves her Bebby just a smidge...
She was ready so early that all there was to do was sit. And wait. We're not very good at either. Thankfully B's mom and her two aunts came not too long after!

Her date finally arrived and we gave them a round of cameras in their faces. Like April said, the fella needs to watch his hands...
But they do look cute together!
This one still makes me laugh...
Not the picture itself because it's a great one, but the fact that Sam relied on crutches to walk and after that picture B walked off. The boy was stuck there without being able to move on his own. She finally figured out what he was waiting on and kindly handed him the crutches. We all reminded her to make sure she took care of him and his crutches the rest of the night. :)

After the girls and their dates had a fancy dinner, we all met them at the Club for lead out. We spotted B as soon as we walked in and she was kind enough to humor me with more pictures...
Here's a picture of B's date sign...
Friday night we went on a mission to try to find supplies to make it with...we do love an artsy project. I still can't quite get used to seeing her name, a boy's name, and the word "and" joining the two. Wow.

I took a video of lead out while April snapped pictures. Between the two of us, we had it covered. Sam didn't use his crutches for lead out, and you can tell by the crowd that everyone got a kick out of him hobbling down the aisle with Bethany on his arm. It was too cute...


Before we left them to have their fun, the 9th grade JUG girls posed for a group shot...
She looked fabulous and had a great time...mission accomplished!

Sunday morning we were up by 4:30 getting ready to head to Maplesville for J's first motocross race (since his beloved injury). Can you say mixed emotions?! I can equate his excitement to what I feel like when I enter Auburn's city limits on game day. It was race day and he was like a kid at Christmas. I love that aspect of it for him, but there's also the part of me that gets physically sick at the thought of him getting hurt again. Possibly even worse than the last time. I speak for the four girls in his life when I say that we sort of like him in one piece!

Grandmommy and Pop met us there. They know our girls so well that they came armed with bubbles, Play Doh, and their four-wheeler...
The children probably could have gone back to bed by 10 a.m., but when Grandmommy and Pop are around they don't want to miss a single minute of it...
When it was time for J to get on his motorcycle for his race, I didn't know if I wanted to watch or not. But I did...
And I'm glad I did because I got him crossing the finish line in 1st place on video...

I'll admit that it was pretty neat to see his friends from Selma and some of their parents standing at the fence cheering him on. I've been to watch J and the boys ride for fun, but it's the first time I've been around their wives and children for such an event. It was definitely an all day affair, and one in which I could get used to!
When he got back to where we were, he and his friend Eric had to recap the whole thing...
His fan club was lined up waiting to shower him with congratulations...
If he would have been still long enough, she would have gone right to sleep on his sweaty, muddy shoulder! It was a great day all the way around, and my most favorite part of it was not having to make a pit stop by the ER. Next week is T week at school, and Towns has already proclaimed that she's taking his trophy for show and tell. God love her...

Party Heart-y

Yesterday was packed full of parties, sweets, ice skating, a sister's only Valentine's dinner...and did I mention sweets?! I'm thinking we need a vacation to recover. Anyone got any good ideas as to where I can unload all the candy we acquired throughout the day? It can't stay here. We like it too much which is a major problem! It seems like all we did all day is party. I suppose that's the beauty of Valentine's Day, right?

The morning started with Towns passing her goodies out to her friends at school. Shortly after, it was time for a field trip to the ice skating rink for her class party. She's only ice skated once before which was almost two years ago with her cousin Keaton. She caught on really quick during that skating trip, but I wasn't sure how she'd do since it's been a while. She wanted to start out holding on to the trusty bar as she skated around...
Then the Jonathan in her came out...
Dare devil!
It took some convincing but I finally got her skating on her own. She only did a little of this...
But she never once got upset about busting it. She laughed every time she fell. And trust me, she had some hard falls! For some crazy reason, I let her talk me into skating with her...
I'd be willing to bet she's been on the ice more than I have in the past few years. The things we do for our children! The highlight of the morning was giving the kids a push on the 5 gallon buckets Mrs. Pace brought. Oliver's mom started it off...
As long as they remembered to keep those skates off the ice we were good, but believe me when I tell you it wasn't so good when they forgot. As in adult going head first over the bucket and the kid because their skates would stop us in our tracks.
And then I had the bright idea to get them going really fast and before we let go, we gave them a huge spin. They loved it. J wasn't there, so I had to take over the role as the irresponsible, wild parent. I mean, someone had to do it. Hearing them laugh and scream was all worth it!

Towns is turning into a photo fanatic and wanted her picture made with everyone. Josie, Oliver and Conner were the only ones who would stop long enough...
The hour and a half time slot allotted to the kindergartners ended up being a little bit more than their poor ankles could handle. Case in point...
Blondie found a place to rest, and you can tell by the look on her face she was over it. There were 5 and 6 year olds laying all over that place. We didn't let that stop us, though. Shine's mom used to figure skate and us parents spent the rest of the time learning any move she could teach us. Talk about a sight...kids sprawled out on the bleachers while the adults acted like total crazies on the ice. I couldn't pass up a picture Mrs. Lindsay and Jonica trying out their spin move...
Which ended in Jonica lying flat on the ice. We peeled her off and kept right on at it!
I think the children were rather embarrassed by us, but we wouldn't be parents if we weren't slightly embarrassing at times. We snapped back to reality and remembered what we were there for. So we fed everyone hot dogs and cupcakes and called it a day...
One more of my sweet Valentine...

We ducked out of the skating party just in time to make it to Cate's Valentine's party. They were feasting when we got there and were hyped up on cupcakes. Therefore getting any sort of organized group shot was completely out of the question! Cate and Ella are a sight for sore eyes when they're together. They carry on conversations that are anything but what you'd typically hear from three year olds. Where they get it from, I'll never know...
Just to hear them talk to one another, you'd think they were 25 with a husband, a job and ten kids. That's all they talk about!
Mrs. Connie had them sit in their spots on the floor to get ready to go to the gym for PE so I seized the opportunity to get a picture while they were still...
We didn't stay for PE, though. We decided to meet Emma and Conner and their moms at the Mex for lunch. Ella left at the same time, and it was a perfect time to get just one last shot...

After lunch and a quick trip to the park, it was time to get Bebs from school. The girls were oh so excited to see her and always act like it's been a month since they parted ways...
B's assignment in Spanish was to make a Valentine's card for someone. She made one for Towns, and even though the child couldn't read a word of it she thought it was absolutely made of gold...
Buggy wanted to know where hers was which made Bebby feel bad...so she gave her a little extra lovin'. Right before she pointed at me and gave me this "you're so weird" face for taking way too many pictures...
Except when she says it, she says it with Cate's pronunciation which is more like "who so we-ahd". Love her!

J had arranged for Bethany to babysit while we went to dinner that night. Dinner turned out to be a complete nightmare when we lost our spot on the waiting list at the Japanese restaurant which ended in us being gone for three hours. On the bright side, three hours of face time with J is rare these days so it was very much enjoyed. Since we wouldn't be at home to spend time with all the girls, I thought it would be fun to have a VIP Private Sister's Only Valentine's Dinner which came with invitations, naturally...
The VIPs ready to get their date on...
At that point in the night they were rushing us out the door. It wasn't long before B was begging us to get back home, though. Bless her! Those two little ones are a handful. Especially at night time. I made it up to her with a late night trip to Target tonight because she was having "green tea withdrawals". It's sad when the people at Starbie's start ringing us up before we've even gotten all the way through the door!

Perhaps my favorite part of Valentine's is the underlying thought that it's the last holiday of winter. Towns is so big on holidays and can identify the seasons by them. She knows that fall is Halloween and Thanksgiving, winter is Christmas and Valentine's, and thank the good Lord above now that it's over...spring is just around the corner! Can I get an amen?!