McClendon, Party of Five

Ben Davis Got Talent

2012-02-17T13:22:00.001-06:00

My, oh my, how Townsy has waited for February 16th to roll around. Since the very beginning of school she's known about Ben Davis Got Talent which has been in the forefront of her mind constantly. A talent show? At school?! It just doesn't get better than that, people. She has schemed and planned and planned and schemed for months. It was finally decided that she would do a dance with Mary Bibb and Emma. Much to their dismay, we didn't have time to pull together a dance of the hip hop variety and had to settle for a modified version of a dance I'd used in a recital before. So "Kickin' It Country" was then the name of the game. Emma happened to have a dance class she couldn't miss during the talent show, but she got there just in time. These two monkeys were ready get the show on the road and were the first ones there...

They were just that excited. We had to be there 45 minutes early!

They practiced their little hearts out and were pretty serious about this thing.

They had the ultimate fan club, that's for sure...

Before it was their turn on the stage, Towns played "Mary Had a Little Lamb" on the piano...

I was a bit nervous for her as she's never taken piano lessons. All she knows is what her mama has taught her...and teaching piano is definitely not my forte! I had to put a smiley face sticker on the key she was supposed to begin on as a little reminder. That was for her peace of mind, and mine too!

I love a lot of things about Ben Davis, but one thing I really love is how the kids are so encouraging to each other. Let me be clear here...it takes A LOT of nerve for a 1st or 2nd grader to get on stage in front of a huge audience and sing a solo, do a dance, or what have you. I was blown away at the confidence those kids had. I would have never done this at their age! Sitting in the floor in front of the stage were students who clapped, sang along, and waved their arms in the air to make the performers feel at ease. It was just plain sweet...

And don't even think that all the teachers weren't dancing along to Katy Perry and Taio Cruz. Priceless!

When it came time for the girls to do their dance I was a nervous wreck. Why? I don't know. Guess it's a mom thing!

They nailed it and even if they hadn't, it would have been perfect anyway. It was all for fun! The video is horrible quality, and you can barely tell who is who. Towns is on the left, Mary Bibb is in the middle, and Emma is on the right...

They were the cutest cowgirls I ever did see...

Plans are already in the works for BDGT 2013. Heaven help us...

A Happy Heart Day

2012-02-16T12:59:00.000-06:00

Well, Valentine's Day has come and gone and we've consumed enough sugar to last a lifetime. Going into it I always say I'm not going to let it happen, but inevitably it always does! At 9:00 Tuesday night, J and I were ready to put an infinite ban on sugar in our house because these two just wouldn't give it up...

I suppose that's just the way it goes on Valentine's Day! Bethany got her basket full of goodies before school along with Towns and Cate, but she refused to get in the picture. Should have known better than to ask that early in the morning. Ha!
Overboard is usually my middle name, but I promised myself I would keep it simple this year...

And simple it was! They'd had their eye on those sweet pink dogs at the Hallmark store since the first of January. I told them that might be the perfect Valentine's treat. When Cate saw hers she told me she was so happy I "kept my promise". If that's all it takes to make her happy we'll have it made!

It was party central in Mrs. Propst's class that day. As in a party at 10 and a party at 1. They were partied out before it was all over with...so was I! They had a blast and were pretty cute while they were at it...

Cate doesn't stray too far from Towns. She's usually right in the middle of whatever is going on...

They ate (and ate some more) and then had a Hershey Kiss relay race...

The object of the game is to put on a pair of mittens, unwrap and eat a Hershey Kiss, take the mittens off and then pass it to the next person in line before the other team is finished. It was absolutely hilarious!

I couldn't let the day get away from me without this one...

We ducked out of school a little early only to come home to find some really fun treats Stephanie left for the three girls...

Thank you Mrs. Stephanie!! You're SO sweet!

This has week has been a busy one at our house. Between Valentine's Day, a school talent show, a field trip and three birthday parties, well, let's just say this mama will be ready to crash!

I'll be honest, caffeine is my best friend these days...

Lesson Learned!

2012-02-13T11:55:00.000-06:00

Yesterday provided a very teachable moment. Especially for two little girls who love, I repeat love, baking sweet treats and all that comes with it. The kitchen happens to be where we spend most of our time. And it's all the more fun when what we're doing in the kitchen is baking something sweet. It's always a meticulous process that Towns and Cate enjoy from start to finish. Particularly the "finish" part, even though taking turns adding ingredients with such care is still high on the list. We southerners are guilty of "licking the bowl" after it's all said and done. It's part of our genetic make up or something. One of my favorite things to do growing up was to eat the batter from the beaters after my mother or grandmother made a cream cheese pound cake. Give my girls a beater, a spatula, a spoon or the bowl itself after the necessary batter has been used and they couldn't be happier. I've taught them well, trust me. So yesterday as we were making something along these lines for Cate's Valentine's party...

I turned my back for two seconds to grab a couple of eggs and noticed some of the cake mix had made its way to the counter from the bowl. Hmmm. Here's how the conversation went:

Me: Did y'all just eat some of the cake mix?

Towns: Noooo. We didn't do that.

Cate: Nope.

Towns: Actually, Cate did.

Me: So Cate did, but you didn't?

(Mind you they both have chocolate all over their mouths.)

Towns: No ma'am.

Me: So both of you feel good about telling me that you didn't eat any of the chocolate? Because I'm thinking that's not the truth. Why do I see your little faces covered in it?

Both of them: Wellllll....

Here's where the teachable moment comes in. For a solid ten minutes they had to sit on their stools at the counter and watch me finish adding all the ingredients (this killed them), mix it with the hand mixer (borderline agony), drop the cookies onto the baking sheet (they're almost inconsolable), and then watch me eat the rest of the batter while making sure they knew just how good it was (pure torture). And that, my friends, was the hardest thing I've had to do in a while, but it had to be done. They've never been sorrier in their entire lives. They told me over and over and over again.

I hope they'll think twice before trying to pull one over on ol' Mom again. Highly unlikely, but...

J was out of town most of the weekend. That, coupled with the fact that it barely reached 35 degrees means we spent lots of time at home watching movies, making friendship bracelets, playing babies, and crafting like crazy. We stayed indoors as much as humanly possible. I don't do cold weather. I'm sure you're just as ready for Spring as I am after hearing me talk about it so much.

Towns had to take a decorated box to take school this morning in preparation for her Valentine's celebration tomorrow. There's only one place to go to gather supplies for that. Hobby Lobby, of course...

If it sparkled, glittered, had zebra stripes, polka dots, or was even remotely red or pink we had to have it. Towns was in heaven. I'm pretty sure it would be a toss up between Hobby Lobby or Disney World if the choice presented itself.

She worked so hard making sure everything was just so...

It's as gaudy and tacky in real life as it is in this picture in case you were wondering...and little blondie couldn't love it more. Me either. When we took it into school this morning Mrs. Propst and I sort of gave each other a look and she said, "well it's exactly what it's supposed to be." It screams Valentine's, that's for sure!

We're gearing up for a fun day tomorrow...

A day centered around pink, red, candy and love is right up our alley!

No News

2012-02-10T10:38:00.000-06:00

We must lead extremely boring lives. There's really nothing new and exciting to blog about. Other than the fact that Cate's dream came true the other day. She got a lap full of sweetness to love on when the Pylant girls were over...

Annie is the sweetest, most precious thing and Buggy truly thinks she's babysitting her whenever she's around. She's totally and completely smitten...

The baby talk was beginning to die down a little. Until the last week or so when Cate and Annie have lots of snuggle time. Now it's back to wanting to know why God hasn't given us a baby!

Even Towns is into the idea...

She and her little sister had their babies in carriers and were ready to roll before school this morning. And I'm not going to pretend I didn't let them buckle them in the car and all. Some things are worth fighting and some things aren't. This was one of those that wasn't!

Did you know that today marks exactly one month and ten days until the first day of Spring? It's true.

We're excited about that...

Winter is for the birds!

All That Glitters

2012-02-06T11:30:00.001-06:00

Is gold...isn't that how it goes? Either way, Bethany was totally rocking it Saturday night at the JUG winter formal! She'd had her eye on a sparkly gold number for months. I know this because she sent her mom and me an email with a link to the dress and casually mentioned how cute it would be for formal. Hint, hint. Little did she know, Grandmommy and Pop had it wrapped up underneath their Christmas tree for her. Talk about a fun surprise! She's one to look at a piece of clothing and instantly plan an outfit from head to toe. That's what she did with these really cool heels and necklace that tied it all together...

And an up close because I think she's pretty...

Saturday was a soaker, so sadly there were no pictures taken outside. We had to settle for the corner of the dining room once her date William arrived...

Beautiful!!

They had dinner at her friend Madison's house, and then we all convened for lead out. All that preparation and it's over just like that...
But it was totally worth it! She told me the next morning that the band party was a snooze fest because it was nothing but Michael Jackson cover songs. I couldn't tell her that my friends and I would have been all over that. And thus, you can tell my age. There was some talk a few weeks ago of her wanting to be social chair. Now she's moved on because she doesn't want the responsibility, but I couldn't end that conversation without telling her I once lived with the best social chair on the face of the earth. Fun times, right roommate?

While we were doing it up right for formal, all my sweet friends were showering Tara and Baby Carter with lots of love and girly gifts in Atlanta. I know it was fabulous, but I sure did miss seeing everyone!

It's always fun to have a packed weekend, but now it's back to the daily grind and all that comes with it. Like spelling words. Spelling words might be the death of me yet. Sometimes Towns is all about schoolwork and sometimes she's not. Friday afternoon she wasn't, so I had to spice it up a little...

She says I'd win the award for craziest mom. I won't disagree. Can't remember who said this, but I like it...

"Imperfection is beauty, madness is genius, and it's better to be absolutely ridiculous than absolutely boring."

Amen!

Here's to an absolutely ridiculous Monday...

Hot to Trot

2012-02-02T14:08:00.000-06:00

The other day Bethany strolled in from school looking like she'd been to game day on the Plains. Hence the title of this one. My heart sort of skipped a beat. She'd left in such a hurry that morning that I didn't see her dressed and ready to go. She was so stinking cute. Naturally, I had to break out the camera...

I couldn't get over her cuteness. However, she could totally get over me and my camera. Really quick! That's her "what in the world are you doing" face. Love her!

That same day blondie soared through a check up at the dentist and afterwards decided she wanted to try to build her own basketball goal. Don't ask...no idea where that came from. The good news? No cavity bugs...ever! So proud of her. Especially since brownies, cookies, candy, etc. are her favorite foods. You name it, she loves it. And I love her...

I must be in a lovey dovey mood today?! I think it's the sunshine. We haven't seen it in a while!

Cate and I hung around Towns' class this morning to see if we could catch a certain bookworm's report on sea horses. She worked diligently trying to prepare for it last night. Right down to the numbered note cards, I might add. I did my part and made her a shirt to go along with her theme...

Look at those sleepy eyes! When I tried to wake her up this morning she wasn't really going for it. But when I reminded her that it was book report day those eyes popped open and she was out of the bed in a flash.

J says she's such a nerd. We're not complaining, though!

She makes me laugh...

I printed out a picture from when we went to the Georgia Aquarium back in September for her to use as a visual. She read through her facts about sea horses and took questions from the class...

Have I mentioned how much we adore Mrs. Propst? Let me say it a few more times.

Adore, adore, adore her!

This is the new background on my phone from our girls-only date to Zen Beri...

Blurry, yes. Could they get any sweeter? Nope!

We've Arrived!

2012-01-30T11:12:00.001-06:00

Where have we arrived, you might ask? To the days of Little Miss Priss wanting to flaunt her own style.

Exhibit A:

Have you ever seen such in your life? Once Cate saw them at Target, there was no turning back. She begged. She pleaded. She told me she'd never ask for anything again. She even pinky promised and bit her thumb. That was Saturday morning. Everywhere we've been since then that she's asked for something I've reminded her of her of her promise and she's said, "oh yeah, that's right...I do love those shoes." She wore them Sunday with her stockings and smocked dress. She's serious about those kicks! They sort of remind me of a pair I used to have when I was her age so I can't say a thing about it.
Now on to Exhibit B:

This would be the outfit she meticulously chose to go with her bright blue tennis shoes.
I rest my case.
She used to be the one I could count on not to argue about what I lay out for her to wear in the mornings. Those days are long gone. And in the grand scheme of things, is it really worth it? Contraire mon frere.

One of the reasons Cate wanted those shoes was because she said they'd be good bike riding shoes. She's all about her bicycle these days. Rightfully so. She's practiced so hard. You know there's some dedication in the mix if she'll get out in the misting rain to ride...

If only you could have seen the spill she took that landed her face down in the mud. You can sort of see the result of it in this one...

That's one dirty little love! J and I always say she's the boy we never had...she's about as rough and tumbled as they come. I asked her if she wanted to go change after she got that muddy. She said no thanks because she'd probably be wrecking a few more times. Towns has been really helpful in the process. She's a great encourager and constantly tells her sister she's doing so good on those two wheels of hers. Sweet thing...

Love this one...

He's such a good Daddy! There's nothing I love more than seeing him with his girls. They adore him. And he might just be wrapped around a few fingers!

On a different note, last Tuesday was monumental for these two...

Bethany's last time to cheer and Towns' 100th day of school...although I suppose it was Bethany's 100th day of school too now that I think about it. The difference in the two is that Towns wants the next 80 days of school to creep by whereas for Bethany they can't be over soon enough! So hard to believe she's almost halfway done with high school. I say it all the time...someone please hit the pause button!!

Somebody Call 9-1-1

2012-01-24T13:16:00.003-06:00

Yesterday was one of those days. You know, one of these kinds of days...

The kind where you're desperately trying to get a home cooked meal in everyone despite the crazy Monday night dance schedule and you end up using your daughter's take home folder as a fire starter because you inadvertently turn on the wrong eye of the stove. Yep. That kind. (And apparently today's the kind of day where run on sentences are perfectly acceptable.) It's a miracle we still have a house standing after that episode. Goodness.

The good news is that despite melting Towns' folder to pieces, these two are always willing to provide a few laughs right in the middle of the chaos...
Towns was doing her spelling home work (I didn't set that on fire) and had to pick five spelling words from her list of ten to use in sentences. Being the ever so helpful sister, Bethany gave her a couple of suggestions:
1. My sister Bethany is my favorite.
2. My sister Cate is scary.
That's when Towns did this...

And said, "ohhhh Bethany." She ended up using the one about Bethany being her favorite. She did not use the one about Cate being scary. Instead, she should have used this one:
3. My mother's ability to set things on fire in the kitchen is amazing.
Did I tell you about the time I laid J's brand new motocross pants on the kitchen counter...right over a lit candle? Better keep that one to myself. He's yet to let me forget it. Especially given the fact that they were so hard to find. One of a kind. Straight from Australia. I doubt I'd let me forget that one either.

Speaking of laughs...
The Wii has been a good source of them lately. The other night the little ones begged J to play Just Dance Kids with them. Bethany and I stood in the background laughing until we were crying while we got it all on video and camera...
He'll kill me for this. Oh well...'tis better to ask for forgiveness than to ask for permission! I'm pretending I didn't hear him say, "those pictures better not end up on the internet."

Our family has reached a whole new level as of Sunday afternoon. All five of us are now capable of riding on only two wheels...
Buggy was beyond excited to learn how to ride her bicycle without training wheels! Actually, this is Towns' old bike, and the only way she can stop is to throw both legs over to one side and hop off. When we take the training wheels off of her bike she'll be able to put her feet down to stop since it's smaller. Or better yet, use the brakes. There's a new concept! I'm finding out that she's learning new things at an early age. Turns out having big sisters really lights a fire under you. She definitely doesn't like to feel left out and wants to be able to do everything they do. Can't say that I blame her. If this isn't proof she there's something to the whole concept of adoring your big sister, I don't know what is...
Towns was already asleep the other night when Cate got right up under her and dozed off.
Sweetness!

I'll leave you with my latest obsession...

I stumbled upon it in Target the other night and told my dear husband that I couldn't live without it. So he happily purchased the Floral Cherrynova shampoo, conditioner and body lotion for me. It's divine. Seriously divine. The cherry on top (no pun intended) is that it's made by Burt's Bees! Usually I get things like this and love them for the smell or how pretty they are, but don't love them for the way they work. Proud to report that's not the case here. It's a win/win!

Bowling & a Half Birthday

2012-01-19T10:13:00.000-06:00

With Monday being a day of no school thanks to Martin Luther King, Jr., we made sure to fill it up just right. We had a long list of things to accomplish. All fun things, of course! It started out with Towns the Restauranteur opening Bananas & Candy for business. Apparently that's the name of her hot spot. She had two things on the menu: banana smoothies and candy. Sounds like a winner to me...

We didn't have plain yogurt for her smoothies which was totally unacceptable to such a professional. Cate agreed to let us use her beloved strawberry squeeze yogurt to improvise and made me pink promise to buy her more before the end of the day. Given the fact that Towns is really serious when it comes to playing restaurant, there was no way we were having anything for breakfast that wasn't on the menu. So strawberry banana smoothies and candy it was.

They were pumped about the day ahead. After a lunch date at their favorite Asian spot, it was time to trade in the sparkly silver ballet flats for the ever-so-stylish bowling shoes. I forget we even have a bowling alley. I'm glad I happened to remember Monday because it was great entertainment. For me and for them! They bowled, I watched and laughed. They're pretty funny...

They discovered this metal contraption that helped them get their ball going straight down the center...

I've never seen such in my life, but it worked!

They both got so excited for each other when they bowled strikes.

There were quite a few happy dances performed!

Next on our "to do" list was preparation for something really special...Mrs. Propst's surprise 1/2 birthday celebration! Since she has a July birthday, we thought it was only fitting that a "birthday in a box" be waiting on her Tuesday morning at school so the kids could celebrate with her...

With the help of other sweet moms in the class, we gathered everything needed for a super fun birthday party. Including a little Carriage House goodie!

It took four hands to get it there...

Two of those hands belonged to a very windblown Cate!

Mrs. Propst had to open a note explaining what was in store before she opened the box...

It was a note that went on and on about how special she is, how much the kids love her, and how they couldn't think of a more fun person to celebrate. I think it's safe to say that she was surprised when she opened the box and balloons popped out...

Especially since she had no idea it was even her half birthday!

Everyone absolutely could not wait for her to dig in...

She proudly wore her birthday tiara all day and proclaimed herself "queen of the world"...

To say she's loved would be an understatement.

That's one fabulous half birthday girl!

Sister, Sister

2012-01-17T09:07:00.000-06:00

There's nothing better than a healthy dose of sisterly love..

Ever since Bethany turned sixteen, naturally we see her a little less than we used to. And less than we'd like to, for sure. That comes with the territory and I totally understand. However, the two little sisters don't really understand. Whenever she walks in the door they run to her screaming as if they haven't seen each other in years. It's really sweet. So anytime she gives them a little extra attention (see above), they're in heaven.
Cate didn't want to miss out on the love fest, though. She jumped right in the middle of it. Literally.

You can tell by the look on her face she got the reaction she desired...

And of course, you can tell by the look on Towns' face she was none too thrilled about it being jumped on.

These girls make my world go 'round...goodness, I love them!

Today's a Monday and a Tuesday rolled into one, and my inbox looks like Mt. Everest.
If you don't hear from me for a while, send the search and rescue team...

Wishing and Hoping...

2012-01-13T12:51:00.000-06:00

Wishing and hoping and thinking and praying, planning and dreaming...

Isn't that how the song goes?

(Obviously I'm having a My Best Friend's Wedding moment, here. )

It's official. I'm craving summer like never before. Maybe that's because I'm frozen to the core. And there's snow on my car. I'm just not a winter person. I try. Really, I do. But it's just not for me.

I would give my right arm (and most likely my left) to be doing this right now...

Oh well...a girl can dream.

And wish. And hope.

At least it's a long weekend, though. Hallelujah!

A Little of Everything

2012-01-11T10:31:00.002-06:00

It's stormy here. It stormed all night long...which means sleep was minimal because our children don't value it much anyway, but definitely don't like sleeping through a storm. This is what I'm listening to right now. It kind of gets me going when my eyes are this heavy and caffeine isn't really helping! And with this weather also comes the lack of motivation to do anything productive at the moment. So with that...

What would you do if you walked into your kitchen, tripped over blankets, chairs and stools that were set out to act as a restaurant, kindly told your six year old that she needed to get a handle on the mess she was making so that I could have room to cook dinner, and she (not so kindly) replied, "well, Mommy, that's just what happens when you have creative kids" with that tone of voice that she knows better than to use? And then what would you do when she asked you to walk her into school and you find her brand spanking new Kindle Fire in her desk...the Kindle Fire you told her repeatedly not to take to school? Any answers? I need them, that's for sure. Blondie has been a firecracker here lately and I'm wondering where my real Towns has gone! I know she's just testing her limits. Cate went through that forever ago...she got a jump start obviously. But this is a new one for me because Towns is usually the child who would sooner die than break a rule. Praying it's just a phase and that enough tough love will do the trick. Minus a few little kinks like that to work out, she's as sweet as sugar and I couldn't possibly love her more. She's recently discovered that she loves history. Yesterday she got very animated while telling me the life story of Christopher Columbus and then decided she was going to make a globe. I printed out a map of the world for her to go by. She couldn't quite figure out how to make it round, and she didn't want to stick with the notion that the world is flat. This is what she came up with...

Love!

I'm also wondering where my ribbon-wearing girl has gone. She ditched bows a long time ago, so ribbons were our saving grace. And now it's this...

A barrette. So trivial in the grand scheme of things, but she looks so growny. Makes me want to press rewind!!

And then there's Cate. Have I ever mentioned that she desperately asks for God to give us a baby every day of her life? Towns gave her a dose of reality the other day when she was going on and on about the baby we're theoretically going to have. She said, "Cate you know that Mommy and Daddy are not having another baby, so you might as well move on to something else." To which Cate replied, "um, yes Towns, they are because I pray for it every day and God will give us a baby since I've been asking so nicely." I've had to put out a lot of fires lately in that area. She's told Sunday school teachers, school teachers, parents of her friends, etc. that we're having a baby, that it's a girl, that's she's very excited about it, and that it will be here in September. So if you've been on the receiving end of that story, I apologize. It's not true, but my child would give anything for it to really happen. Every time we're in Target she begs to go to the baby section so we can buy everything we need for this baby. She has it all planned out. The other day we got a Kelly's Kids catalog in the mail. She pays no attention to the fact that they're selling clothes...she thinks they're selling children. She asked if I had $48 to buy the baby she had picked out and that she was sure I could just order it online. Simple as that. It's time for an intervention! The only thing that remotely gets her attention off of a baby is talking about this...

That's her cousin Amy's Christmas present, Bennett. It's the tiniest thing I've ever seen and is just Cate's size. She says she would do without a baby if we'd get her one. J is definitely not going for that. For the most part I'm with him. But seeing how happy that little ball of fluff made her would almost be worth the feeling of having a newborn again. Almost. I hear having one that tiny is like having a baby all over again.
Moving right along...

How sweet are these three?

Friday night we went to watch B cheer at the big Decatur/Austin basketball game. Towns and Cate spent their time staring at their sister in hopes that she'd throw a glance their way. They felt pretty special when she came to give them a squeeze during halftime. They'd been working hard on a dance for a couple of months that she'd told me we had to see. I know I say it all the time, but I so wish I could slip into a cheerleader "unicorn" as Cate calls it and pretend I was in high school for just one night. It looks like so much fun!
Here's the video.

In other news, Buggy is the proud owner of her very own library card...

She has a new found love of the library and wants to go every day. I think it's partly because she loves books and partly because she thinks she's hot stuff with her new plastic!

I'll end with this...

Friday afternoon was perfect for a trip to the park by the river. It was actually warm enough to stay for a couple of hours, thank goodness! Emma and Towns spent lots of time making up dances and cheers, most of them involving trying to throw Cate up in a basket toss which never had the outcome they desired...

Word on the street is that there's a talent show coming up at Ben Davis. They've spent months talking it over and planning it out. Apparently they spend a lot of time at school discussing. I know this because I got a phone call from one of her friend's mothers asking when practice was. Then she informed me she heard I was making the costumes?! And to top it all off, the other day I found an outline in Towns' desk that went over outfit and song choices for their dance. I had to apologize to Mrs. Propst in advance if she'd seen it because it went something like this:
1. sports bra
2. tan tights
3. booty shorts
And I'll stop there. I gently guided them in the opposite direction while I had the opportunity to spend a few hours with them at the park. We'll see how that goes.

Happy Wednesday, friends!

Birthdays Galore!

2012-01-09T09:49:00.000-06:00

Two hundred and sixty two miles is a lot of miles. That's the number of 'em that separate me from my mom which is no fun whatsoever. Whenever we get together, it has to be for a decent amount of time to make such a long drive count. So the fact that we got to spend a couple of days together after Christmas followed by a few days with everyone at our house was a major treat. We also helped my mom and my sister celebrate their birthdays while they were here which was icing on the cake. Pun intended! J and I took charge and entertained all the kids while Steve took my mom to Simp McGee's for a birthday dinner shortly after they arrived. Can you say pizza buffet and ice cream? That's exactly what we did. And the muchkins couldn't have been happier! We tucked everyone into bed semi-early because the next day was a big one. My sister's 13th birthday to be exact. It's not just any day that you get to celebrate the first day of your teenage years, so we had to do it up right. We hit the ground running early that morning to make the most of Anna Grace's day. She chose to start out with a trip to the ice skating rink...

Now this is where it gets comical. Of course, YaYa (my mother) nominated herself as official photographer so she wouldn't have to get on the ice. That left Steve and myself to make sure no one scored broken bones or stitches. That's a tall order with our crew! It was hard to keep our eyes on that many children at one time because they were all over the place. Anna Grace is an old pro, Max is pretty experienced, Towns is finally good at staying on her feet, and Cate, well, is just Cate. She wobbled back and forth, side to side, and every other way possible but came home without serious injuries. Miracle!

As long as she kept her arms out to balance herself, she was ok...

But the thing about Buggy is that she only has one speed. Wide. Open. So the thought of gliding across the ice didn't appeal to her at all. She was only happy if she was all but running. You can sort of tell how her feet are barely touching the ice in those skates...

When she finally took a spill, she discovered that ice got all over her gloves which she loved for some reason. So then she spent the rest of the time trying to make herself fall so she could eat the ice off of her gloves...

We had a little conversation about how gross that was. And also about how she was going to be black and blue if she kept falling like that. With tears in her eyes she asked if she was really going to turn black and blue. She told me she didn't want to be a different color and promised she'd try to be more careful.

She stayed pretty close to Pappy most of the time since he's the fun one and all...

Bethany even cleared her busy schedule to join us for an hour or so. We felt so special! She's a girl on the go, you know. This was our attempt at a group shot...

My mom managed to shoot fast enough to catch us all on our feet, looking the same direction, and actually smiling after that commotion, though...

There were some really good ice skaters there practicing their turns and twirls. Towns was mesmerized and now thinks she wants to add ice skating lessons to her already long list of activities. She tried so hard to do what those girls were doing. But she was cautious and had at least one skate on the ice at all times...

Smart girl!

These two chicas were so excited that Anna Grace chose to start her birthday off with skating...

They've been begging to go for quite some time. In turn, I've been holding off for quite some time. That's something I can't tackle by myself. And truthfully, the aftermath isn't fun. I feel like I've fallen off a bucking bronco every time. How is it possible that it can make you that sore? Age. That has to be it.

Before we hit the ice rink, we'd made a stop by Gigi's for birthday cupcakes. We had an impromptu party after we hung our skates up for the day...

Oh, but the fun didn't end there. We headed to Bridge Street for a movie and dinner after that!

The fountain outside the the theater provided lots of entertainment for us...

I sometimes feel bad that Max is the only boy in the bunch and doesn't have someone to pair up with. Usually Cate's the one that can hang with him. But AG wanted a birthday picture with her girls...

Which left Max feeling left out. I ran and tackled him and told him that I wanted my picture made with him and only him...

Can you believe we're brother and sister?! Twenty three years apart, but I couldn't love him more!

I love this one...

Can't believe you're 13, sister! It seems like yesterday that I was at home for Christmas break my freshman year at Auburn, begging and pleading with Mom to let me skip the first week of going back to school if you hadn't come yet. I couldn't miss the day I officially left the "only child club" and gained a sister! Thankfully, you made your grand entrance into the world before I had to leave. I cried all the way back to Auburn because I didn't want to leave you...I came home almost every weekend because I just couldn't stand it! When I'd start missing you, I'd call and beg y'all to drive to Auburn just so we could go to dinner. And of course, Mom and Steve would make the trip with no questions asked. That's some love and devotion! After I graduated from college and was on my own, I'd whisk you away for the weekend and take you shopping. Just the two of us. It's so hard to believe that you're a teenager now. I love you so much and am so glad we got to spend your 13th birthday together!

What a perfect way to round out our Christmas break!

Christmas in the Country

2012-01-05T15:33:00.004-06:00

After Christmas, we made our annual trip to Mississippi to spend a couple of days with my mom's side of the family. This consists a four hour drive down the Natchez Trace with two little girls who don't love being confined for that long but really love it once we reach our destination. The have a ball when we get there and turn them loose on four wheelers and horses to let them rip and romp as the please. This translates into the men staying outdoors with the children while the women sit in the nice, warm house to catch up, eat, laugh, eat, solve each others problems, and eat. And eat some more. Did I mention we ate? Lord help us all. With my cousin Mary Catherine being the ultimate collegiate now, we don't get to see each other as much as we'd like. Naturally, we joined together at the hip upon her arrival and didn't part ways until we pulled out of the driveway. We bonded in the kitchen mostly, as we both have a dip fetish. We could eat our weight in any kind of dip. We cooked our little hearts out. We even tried our hand at buffalo chicken dip which was pretty tasty if I do say so myself. Miss you already, MC!

We had a big family lunch when we got to Jane's followed by present opening which the kids always look forward to. Anna Grace and Towns were ready to tear into their goodies...

So were Melissa and Mary Cat...
I don't get to see my favorite gal nearly as much as I would love to...
One day soon I think I'll kidnap her and bring her to our house for a while!
Whenever we're at Jane and Charlie's, Cate doesn't let Sweet Pea out of her sight...
And Towns doesn't let Mary Catherine out of hers...

Most of the next day was spent improving our equestrian skills. Let me start over on that. I shouldn't say "our" because I have no skills in that department. But most everyone else does...

Who knew my husband was a cowboy?!

On our way home he asked me what I thought about him getting into steer wrestling. Really?! His argument is that it is far less dangerous than motocross.

Towns enjoyed riding, but also enjoyed being a spectator...

Now that's more my speed! Actually, this was more my speed...

While the cowboys and cowgirls did their thing, Charlie built a fire and crafted genius utensils for marshmellow roasting out of coat hangers, wood and electrical tape...

Aunt Melissa helped Towns figure it all out...

Success...

After getting a marshmellow mouth, she decided that she'd stick with eating just the Hershey's chocolate bar...

Go figure!

We had such a nice, relaxing couple of days and as usual it was hard going back to reality! This is when I wish I had a big picture of the whole family to insert here. I'm definitely making that happen at our next get together! Our trip to Mississippi was followed by a few days spent with my mom and her bunch here in Decatur. We got to celebrate her birthday as well as my sister's big 13th birthday while they were here. Good times and lots of pictures for sure!

Jump Start on Valentine's Day!

2012-01-03T15:09:00.002-06:00

I have a confession. I detest cold weather with every fiber of my being. I can't accurately describe to you just how much I dislike being cold. I can handle it through December because Christmas totally takes my mind off of it. But y'all. January and February are long, hard months for me. I usually fill up a lot of that time dreaming about warm weather and every wonderful, heavenly thing that comes along with it. I'll plan an imaginary beach trip online right up to the point where I have to enter our check card information. Several times. A week. It's only January 3rd and we've already got Valentine's goodies ready for the girls' class treats. I justify this (very irrationally, I might add) by thinking that if we go ahead and knock it out, February 14th will somehow get here quicker. Which will in turn mean that there are only two more weeks left in these dreaded winter months. I realize that it's still chilly here in March, but March always signifies the coming of Spring for me. And it can't get here fast enough for this girl who would rather be baking in the sun rather than freezing in 20 degree weather! That said, I came up with a fun little Valentine's project to keep us busy the other day. You know, because if we get the ball rolling on Valentine's then it will obviously feel like it's just right around the corner. We kicked it off by peeling the paper off of dozens of crayons...

I should add a disclaimer. This will ruin your fingernails and is the least fun part of it all. The girls lasted approximately three minutes before they bailed and left me to do this part on my own!

They reappeared and were ready to join me again when it was time to break all the crayons into little pieces...

FYI, we stuck with trusty Crayolas instead of the off brand.

Then we put them in these cute heart-shaped silicone baking molds that we scored from the dollar aisle at Target...

I'm sure this is a one-time use sort of thing being that they were only $2.50 each, but it worked like a charm!

After a few minutes of baking at 350 degrees, they came out melted, bubbly, and oh so swirly...

Thirty minutes later we had pretty cool heart-shaped crayons that we'll put in clear bags with a fun label of some sort...

What was really neat was the one Towns made with silver, gold and white crayons. After seeing how she could customize her crayons for the perfect color combinations, she's decided that she wants to redo them all with a few favorite colors of each of her classmates. And of course she wants to add some kind of sparkle to them. We'll see if we can tackle that later on! Maybe after a week or two of a strict regimen of getting my fingernails back to normal. Only to do it all over again!

With the girls being out of school and having lots of time to spend together, I've had to pull out my trusty sidekick quite a few times...

If you don't have it, get it. It'll be the best investment you can make if you have young children. It's suggested for ages 8-12, but our girls are 6 and 4 and understand most of it perfectly. We've had lessons in...

And this...

Raise your hand if you're with me. I love our children dearly and most of the time they are well behaved and all, but I have to keep it real. The more they're together, the more they fight. It's an argument over whose hand stand is better, who has more strawberries on their plate at breakfast, who's taller, whose foot is bigger, who loves their mama more...you get the picture.
I've personally wrestled with this one...

And this one...

What can I say? I'm a work in progress. And I'm glad I have children who keep me in check just as much as I try to keep them in check. They're the first to tell me to put down the phone so I can give them my full attention. Even as I type Cate is literally sitting on my shoulders which is her attempt to tell me that she's ready to go to the library like I've been promising all day. Time to put my money where my mouth is. Actually, I'll probably be putting my money in the hand of the lady at the library because I'm pretty sure we have overdue fines! I wonder what the Bible says about that. In Heaven there will be no overdue books. I just know it...

Cruisin' for a Bruisin'

2012-01-02T13:19:00.000-06:00

Cruisin' for a bruisin', achin' for a breakin'. Call it what you want, but that's the way it's been around here for the last couple of days. Today marks the 8th day since Christmas has come and gone. That's 8 days of coming up with way to entertain ourselves. J's been on vacation from work through today which means that entertainment has been anything but boring, safe, and sensible. Last night he got the idea that it would be fun to play hide-n-seek outside in the trees and tall bushes at the park with flashlights. It really was fun, and the kids had a ball. But Towns was complaining that her face was burning. We all kept telling her to toughen up and that she was fine. And then we all felt extremely bad when we were back in the car and in the light. She was just the perfect height to get a face full of branches and limbs when she ran through the bushes and trees. Bless her little heart, her face was scratched up pretty bad. You can sort of tell in this picture from last night...

But today, it's even worse and she looks like she's been in a war zone. Her little arms are even scratched up. I'm thinking the next round of hide-n-seek should include some some face protection! And you better believe she hasn't let us forget just how bad her face burns from her battle wounds. She's been known to milk it a time or two!

The pink electric scooter Santa brought has logged a few hours of good street racing. I don't think we realized just how fast that thing would go. J's been letting Towns ride it with only half the battery power so she wouldn't kill herself. She's taken a few hits going full speed which hasn't been pretty. This morning he called us all outside for a family race. It seems that the one on the battery operated scooter vs. the manually operated scooter has the unfair advantage, unless you're as competitive as the crazy man pictured below...

Buggy wasn't happy her daddy left her and tried to catch up on foot!

Bebs makes me laugh...

This one could have ended one of two ways given how fast they were going...

Thankfully, Cate stayed in one piece!

Towns was kind enough to give up her scooter and opted to be the girl at the starting line telling us when to go...

Crazy kids...

This one plays it safe most of the time...

She keeps her hand on the brakes and jumps off when those brakes don't work quit fast enough for her. Smart girl!

Cate and I raced her, but we got stuck with the slow scooter. Notice that Towns had time to get back and take her place at the finish line before we ever made it back...

That's when Cate got mad, threw the scooter in the street, and fully intended to leave it there...

We're working on learning how to lose gracefully!

It's hard to believe that Christmas break is almost over. Where has it gone?!

Hope you've had a great one...we sure have!

And I'll be the first to admit I'm not ready to get back into the swing of things just yet...

Christmas 2011

2011-12-29T16:59:00.009-06:00

This time last year, this post was entitled "White Christmas". This year, "Wet Christmas" would be an appropriate title. The big, red sled Santa left under our tree in anticipation of round two of a white Christmas didn't get put to good use. With this Alabama weather it might very well be in March, but I have a feeling we'll eventually log some hours on that sled. I always think that our Christmas couldn't possibly be any better than the year before, and then it happens. It's better. Not so much in the "bigger is better" department, but more in the "we're blessed better than we ever deserve" department. If that even makes sense. We have a healthy family and more than we could ever need. I consider that blessed! It seems like we were reminded in several different ways this season that we're never promised tomorrow. I have been very much convicted that sweating the small stuff is hardly ever worth it, it's the little things in life that really make me happy, and it's not what you have but who you have that makes my world go 'round. That said, let's dive in head first into Christmas 2011...

The fun started Christmas Eve with a baking session with jolly ol' St. Nicholas in mind...
We didn't have big plans on Christmas Eve, therefore the day seemed to last forever. I remember that feeling when I was the girls' age. I had to fill their time with fun projects. Otherwise they'd ask me if it was "time" over and over and over again! We made peanut butter and Hershey kiss cookies along with a new cookie brownie recipe I found. We love cookies, and we love brownies. It was a win/win! My dad rolled into town to spend the night with us. After a warm dinner on a cold night, we hit the road to look at Christmas lights and see if we could spot Rudolph's bright red nose. That always makes getting in the bed a quick process once we get home. Everyone knows that Santa doesn't come until all the kids are asleep! That's when the fun begins...This year we had a conversation with Santa about keeping it practical and reasonable. In years past, it has looked like Toys R Us blew up in our living room. And truth be told, the girls end up not playing with half of what they get. So we did things a little differently this time. Towns is a big time reader these days and got lots of new reading material...
Peace signs are the name of the game at her age. So a new peace sign dance bag filled with new dance clothes was a must...

Buggy's really into trying to do everything her sister does which includes writing and spelling. She also loves to try to read. Santa totally delivered...
A last minute decision at the pet store was the real winner on Christmas morning...
Meet Cate's new male beta fish named Britney...
I suppose the girly name is fitting regardless of the fact that it's a boy. After all, he's orange, pink and purple and has the girliest home a fish could ever have!

Christmas morning came early. I always get up before daylight because I just can't help it. Towns was an early riser, too. She tiptoed into our bedroom, told me she'd waited as long as she possibly could, and asked if it was ok that she was up so early. God love her. I gave her a huge Merry Christmas hug and told her that I was wondering why she'd slept so late! We quickly woke Buggy up and they hit the ground running to see just what Santa had left for them...

They checked out a few things that Santa left out...

Cate was so happy to find a new arts and crafts box that was all hers...

The jury is still out on the pink electric scooter...

Towns is a little gun shy of going fast since her bike wreck a few months ago!
And cue the major smile when the fish was discovered...
Would Christmas be complete without owls? Hardly!

Little did we know, Grandmommy had a few owl treats waiting on the girls, too!
A quick picture before the wrapping paper explosion...

Commence operation destroy the living room...
We loved every minute of it, too!!
Even Cate got into opening gifts this year. Usually she'll open a few and then leave her daddy to finish the rest for her. Notice who was under the tree looking for more boxes with C-a-t-e on the nametag, though...
She knew she was caught in the act...
Towns told me when she woke up that morning that she had a dream about what it would be like to open a Kindle Fire on Christmas. I was glad it was hidden in the very back so that it was the last thing that she'd open...

She couldn't believe her eyes!

Besides Britney the fish, Cate's absolute favorite gift was her Baby Alive that she affectionately named Eloise. So far she hasn't let Eloise out of her sight...
I'm starting to feel like we have a newborn with the way Eloise is eating, drinking, and using up boat loads of diapers. But for now, it's cured Cate's longing for a real baby. Between taking care of Britney and Eloise, she's got her hands full. The baby thrives on being a mama of some sort!
Daddy and two of his three girls on Christmas morning...
And it wouldn't be complete without a picture with Paw Paw...

While I cooked a big breakfast, the girls played with their most favorite new toys...
This has been the scene around here ever since!
After our bellies were full, we made our way to Selma to meet Bethany at Grandmommy and Pop's house. Usually we pick her up on our way, but since she's a licensed driver things have changed. Last year we talked about how we couldn't believe that in 365 days she'd be driving herself to Selma on Christmas day. And here we are. It just wasn't the same, Bebby! But some things never change. Like her not being able to wait to dive into what Santa left for her at our house...

I dare not try to pick out clothes for her anymore, so she got but one article of clothing...

Other than a few things she'd specifically asked for, it was gift card central! She wouldn't have it any other way, though. What new driver wouldn't be excited about driving herself to the mall armed with lots of prepaid plastic?!
Sweet sisters...

We were so excited to see our cousin Keaton on Christmas day...

Although, I think we should have given him a new sweatshirt of the Auburn variety instead of a remote controlled helicopter!

The girls had a blast seeing what Grandmommy and Pop had given them...

Vera Bradley for Towns, and new Pottery Barn Kids doll treasures for Cate...

Bethany got a huge surprise when she opened the formal dress she's been drooling over for a couple of months. I can't wait for that post, trust me!
J looked on while carrying out the task Buggy put him in charge of...

Now that's a good man. And he's mine, all mine!

I think these two grandparents were in heaven having all their grandbabies under one roof...

We spent the rest of Christmas day visiting family we don't get to see nearly enough. It always comes too quickly and ends too soon. What a wonderful day spent celebrating the birth of our Savior!
Hope your Christmas was merry and bright!

Christmas Partying

2011-12-21T11:05:00.003-06:00

The past couple of days have full of parties, sweets, and good times. And quite honestly, after yesterday's festivities ended (the last day of school until next year) I thought I would drop. This time of the year is always so busy, but I don't ever remember it being like this. Regardless, the girls had a blast Monday and Tuesday at their PJ days and class parties. Cate's came first which was a treat because she feels like she's always last in everything. She took great pride in sporting her fleece jammies to school even though it was sixty-something degrees outside. These kiddos move too quick for me to ever snap a good picture, and this was the best I came away with...

Between pizza, cupcakes, Little Debbies, candy, chips, and Kool-Aid...well, you can only imagine what a sight it was! Afterwards, we headed straight to Ben Davis to help Towns' class make some special ornaments...

Those little boxes contain their Christmas wish lists. Emma's mom came up with the idea, I tried to do my part to help execute it. It's a treasure that's now hanging on our tree! Every child got three strips of paper to write their wishes on, and somehow my child swiped extras. She had so many wishes that her box would barely close. That girl is a mess!

Did I mention they spent the day in their PJs, too? There's just something about wearing pajamas to school that makes it light years better than any normal day. Why is that?

Usually getting Towns up in the mornings is a chore, but she hopped up with bright eyes yesterday because it was Christmas Extravaganza day. Before their big show, the kids took turns handing out stocking stuffers to all their friends. Emma, Towns, Mary Reese and Eliza were patiently waiting to fill their stockings...

Such a cute bunch of chickadees!

Here's hoping that our salt dough peace sign ornaments made it home with everyone in one piece. Probably should have given that a little more thought, but it was a fun project!

Group shot...

I didn't take nearly the amount of pictures I wanted to. Now is the time I start getting sentimental that the first half of the year is gone. Towns is going to have a hard time leaving Mrs. Propst's class behind. So am I. She's beyond phenomenal, and we might be a tad bit spoiled by her! Ok, ok. We're way spoiled.

After lunch, it was Christmas Extravaganza time which included some new twists on some old favorites. These 1st and 2nd graders sang like little song birds, shook what their mama gave them, and put on a great show...

Towns had a little part to say which was a whopping four words, but with the way she practiced you would think she had the lead role...

They all were great, and I must confess I had to watch it though a few tears in my eye!

We went back to the classroom after the big show to finish up the party. These two will likely be on a sugar high for the next few days...

Today has been a day already. Merry first day of Christmas break to me. Before I knew what was happening I caught Towns in my sewing box, Cate in my make up (after she'd drawn all over her shirt with purple marker), and they confessed to each eating three leftover party cupcakes while I wasn't looking. As if their faces covered in chocolate didn't give that one away. The cherry on top was Buggy's explanation. "We becided (or decided) that afteh thwee we wasn't gonna eat anymore." That's all it took to remind me that keeping them busy with organized projects is the key to survival.

Merry, merry y'all!

Toby & The Nutcracker

2011-12-18T12:28:00.000-06:00

The orphaned pooch is still a happy resident at our house, as is evidenced by these pictures...

There's no shortage of love where Toby (or Ears as J calls him) is concerned. I definitely wouldn't mind him staying around after he showed us what a good little puppy he is. Any dog that can tolerate being carried around like a baby 24/7 is a champ in my book. Cate eats, sleeps, and breathes playing mama to him. And a fine one she's been. If you'll notice, there's not a picture of the dog where she's not trying to get her hands on him if she's not the one holding him. But Santa's elves have put in a request to make someone's Christmas a little merrier by surprising them with Toby. We'll be sad to see him go, but he's sort of staying in family!

It was a whirlwind weekend with it being Towns' first ever appearance in The Nutcracker at the Princess...

She lives for the stage, so she was naturally loving life. Friday night dress rehearsal was long and we were all delirious by the time it was over and done with. Seriously. This is proof...

Buggy wasn't about to be outdone by her sister being decked out in ballet attire, so I pulled out my ballet costume from 1984 and she was ready to roll. Most days I wouldn't let her leave the house like this, but you know, sometimes you just don't fight it. It made her feel so special.

The four of us were there to watch Towns in the 2 o'clock performance Saturday afternoon. She nailed her role as a fluffy white sheep...

Of course, before the show started flowers had to be purchased. Little sisters don't quite understand why they don't get to do everything big sisters get to do. Which is why these two little sisters ended up with their own flowers too...

Remember that whole "not worth fighting" thing? That principle applies here.

Towns was so happy to see her daddy and Bebby after the show...

And after another show at 7 o'clock, the ballerina was ready to hang up her ballet shoes and call it a night. It's been a while since I've seen her that tired. There's no rest for the weary, though. We'll be Christmas partying all day Monday and Tuesday. Once that's under our belt, school will be out and we fully intend to enjoy the last few days before Christmas to the fullest. It's so hard to believe it's almost here!

Back Door Surprise

2011-12-16T09:38:00.002-06:00

Why I bother to iron clothes for Cate to wear in the morning is a mystery to me. I suppose it's just a formality, as she probably needs to be dressed when we go to drop Towns off at school.

We started out like this yesterday...

And not even five minutes after we were back at home she looked like this...

You know you're jealous. Doesn't everyone want to look like that?

If it weren't for funky dance attire, she wouldn't stay clothed.

Changing the subject here...

Why is it that if something crazy is going to happen, it's going to happen to us?

A faint whimpering sound kept me up all night Wednesday night. I searched the house in the pitch black dark trying to figure out what it was. When I was coherent enough to realize the sound was coming from outside our bedroom window, I looked out to find a teeny, tiny puppy on our back door step. So mysterious. Especially considering the fact that our back yard resembles Ft. Knox since our massive black lab is an escape artist. Even the tiniest puppy couldn't wiggle his way in if his life depended on it. My first thought was that someone put it there because they couldn't take care of it. Jonathan was quick to tell me I'd lost my mind and that no one would put an orphaned dog on our steps like it's a baby in a basket. I knew I should have gone with my instincts and not woken him up in the first place. It sounded totally rational and logical to me at 2 a.m. Not so much now, but regardless we have a puppy that our children think the elf left for them as an early Christmas present. Really? I mean, really?

Now the question is what on earth do we do with it? It doesn't look like a puppy someone lost and would be looking for. But I can't bring myself to take it to the animal shelter. He's cute and extremely friendly, but he's not staying here...

I may eat my words on that, though.
I'll gladly take an suggestions...or any offers to take him off of our hands!
Any takers? He would make a great Christmas present for someone, I just know it.
Maybe I'll start a game of Pass the Puppy and put him in my neighbor's back yard tonight.
Kidding. Well, sort of...

Christmas Owl & Christmas Ornaments

2011-12-14T11:41:00.000-06:00

I love having good friends. Especially owl-loving, creative friends. When the postman brought this to the door one day last week, I knew we were in for a treat...

We opened the box to find this inside...

Towns was ever so happy to read it aloud to us...

Since she got to read the poem, Cate got to search for the prize inside...

A perfect spot was found on the tree to hang our Christmas Owl. Isn't it amazing the how the behavior is so much better around Christmas? There couldn't be any correlation, could there? It has to be that our children are just that obedient...

And moving right along before lightening strikes...

Thanks for the super fun treat, Jess!

A couple of weeks ago, Towns asked me to teach her a Christmas song she could play on the piano. My heart totally and completely burst with excitement. I've been waiting for that moment for a really long time. I began piano lessons in 3rd grade. And while I didn't love it at the time and most days had to suffer through the practicing, it was the best thing my mother ever made me do. Once I was able to sit down and play with both hands (the main goal of anyone just starting out), I started to love it. So the fact that my blondie showed an interest in it was beyond exciting for me. We sat down on the piano stool and I proceeded to teach her Jolly Old St. Nicholas. That's the first song my mom ever taught me to play, so it was only fitting. She learned it in less than five minutes and has played it endlessly ever since. J will be the first to tell you that we have entirely too many lessons and classes in the afternoons already, but he suggested she start taking piano lessons. I think I'll teach her myself until that doesn't work out anymore. She's been a quick and eager learner so far. I knew she enjoyed learning, but I didn't realize just how much she loved it until I saw this in her folder from school...

That's her sitting at our piano. The words made me smile. I didn't get it all in the picture, but at the bottom she wrote "I love it!!!" in huge letters. Precious.

I'm not sure how anyone around here could miss the opening of Gigi's Cupcakes, but we did. How a cupcake loving family let it come and go without being the first in line is beyond me. Not to worry. Friday afternoon after school, that's where we were. It was packed. As in line out the door. All Cate had talked about during our wait was the strawberry shortcake cupcake she'd had her eye on. The last one. We finally make our way to the front of the line and just before we could tell the cute girl behind the counter that we'd take it, someone else took it. Cue the river of tears. She ended up with another swirly pink confection of the cherry variety which I knew she wouldn't like. But pink is pink, so I went with it. Towns got the midnight chocolate cupcake and I opted for wedding cake. Since it was such a traumatic experience for Buggy, I couldn't help but suggest we consume even more calories by taking our cupcakes next door to Zen Beri. Can't have cupcakes without a little frozen yogurt, naturally. Twenty dollars and two pants sizes later, we were happy campers...

The good news is that the we burnt off the calories by dancing the night away on the childrens stage at Barnes & Noble...

Those two clowns kicked off their shoes and went to town. I'm not sure that that stage was really meant for that sort of thing, but our children don't discriminate. A stage is a stage is a stage. Actually, I was mortified and wanted to crawl in a hole when I walked in from shopping around to see this commotion. Please notice that their father acts as if nothing is going on around him. He's so laid back like that. I'm definitely not.

Do you know what this is?
This is a picture of three little girls who were dying to get a party started Saturday afternoon. Ella's party, that is. The new four year old decided to skip the traditional party and take two friends to Build-A-Bear. Cate had been waiting for that moment for, oh, two weeks straight. She came home with a purple bear covered in peace signs and wearing Hello Kitty panties. Then she cried because her daddy and her sister laughed at her panty-wearing bear. I told her that I loved her choice and that it was the prettiest thing I'd ever seen. She does not like to be laughed at, that's for sure!

Sunday the little ones and I had it on our own. After church, we had lunch at their pick...

And since it was a little warmer than usual, we went on a "baby adventure" per Cate's request...

Everything in Cate's world revolves around a baby. She'd prefer the real thing, but settles for dolls.
After our stroll, we came inside for a little craft session...

We made salt dough ornaments which was great entertainment!
The girls decided that these ornaments would make good Christmas presents for their classmates...

Towns ended up ditching the conventional cookie cutters and made peace signs instead.

So 1st grade!

Cate can't stand to get her hands dirty, and this face proves it...

We painted them with silver, pink, lime green and sparkly red paint. And voila...check that off the to-do list.

Now all we have to do is wait for the whirlwind of class Christmas parties next week!

Do you know what today is?

And do you know how long Towns has been waiting for it? She's got a book called Book Fair Day that has sparked her excitement. It started at 8 a.m. and we were there precisely at 8 o'clock. She flew through her morning work so I could accompany her. She thought that meant she could pile up books for days and I'd swipe my check card to pay for them. Insert the concept of a budget! The book fair topped my list of exciting things at school when I was young, and I love that she loves it too. So far, there's not much about school she doesn't love. I just hope it stays that way!

The countdown is on...eleven more days until Christmas.

Are you ready?

In The Spirit

2011-12-07T09:31:00.001-06:00

We definitely have the concept of Christmas spirit covered in the McClendon household. I think we have enough to cover everyone in the city of Decatur, actually. From Christmas music 24/7 to as many twinkle lights as our fuse boxes will allow, we're Christmas'd out. Bethany is sort of the ring leader this year. I purposely didn't get the tree for her room out because her being a teenager and all, I wasn't sure if it was "cool". I need a manual for that these days. Much to my surprise and delight, she asked for it. So I delivered! She's covered her room and tree with tons of lights. After seeing it, J told her there was no way in this world any of us were going to forget it was Christmas. So true and so fabulous!

We have a new visitor this year. Mirabelle the Elf is long gone, so Santa sent Jingles in her place. ~~Note to self: I will remember where I store the elf after Christmas so this isn't a problem next year.~~ Jingles is a bit of a mess. And she's very much into gymnastics...

Jingles hanging upside down from the Christmas tree in the girls' room really tickled them. That's one of their favorite things to do at the park. They're part monkey. Or part elf. I'm not sure which one.

Sunday night we all went to watch Towns in the children's Christmas program at church. On Wednesday nights this semester, they had several instruments in music they could learn to play and she chose the drums. I was extremely impressed at the kids' ability to learn to play the ukelele, the orff, and the world drums in just a couple of months and all play together as accompaniment to the songs they sang. They did an amazing job. Their music leader, Mrs. Elizabeth, is phenomenal at what she does.

It never fails. I always pick the one place to sit where a mic stand is right in the way...

Go figure!

Getting ready to play the drums...

And I'm not sure exactly what she was playing in this song...

There's nothing more than I love than seeing kids so enthusiastic about worship and praise. This has to be one of my most favorite parts of all of our Christmas happenings. After all, Jesus is the reason for the season!

Still along the lines of Christmas, Towns let December 1st get by her without doing her book report for the month. It didn't go unrecognized, though. That afternoon she came home already feeling like she was behind. So she chose a sweet book about a gingerbread mouse and went to town with it. Naturally, that included making a gingerbread house to take as her prop for the report. And that also meant eating the leftover icing with a spoon...

I mean, you can't let perfectly good icing go to waste...now can you?

Blondie was ready to roll the next morning at school...

She's gotten really into me being right up under her all the time. She's asked me to walk her into school every day and wants me to come eat lunch with her, too. I'm not sure where this is all coming from, but I'll gladly take it! She asked if I'd watch her do her book report. Um, absolutely...

And I stuck around to watch them decorate their class tree...

First grade is getting rave reviews around our house. This is usually when I start to get all weepy about half of the year being almost gone!!

Allow me to rewind because I failed to mention the 1st annual Gobble Wobble 5k that DCMS put on back in November. How could I forget that one? A monsoon settled in right about race time, but that didn't spoil the fun...

If they look like drowned rats, that's because they were! Towns had been waiting for the 5k to be over and done with because that meant it was time for the one mile fun run with her daddy. It was so exciting to see everyone all lined up and ready to take off...

Do you see anything wrong with this picture below?

J is running by himself because his running buddy totally left him in the dust! He thought he could take it easy because he didn't think she could run that fast. Wrong! Girlfriend was booking it to try to get done as fast as her little legs could carry her. And here she is almost to the finish line with her daddy nowhere in sight...

He ended up walking back with Emma's dad since they had no interest in finishing with with their fathers!
When Cate realized what was going on and that she wasn't in the middle of it, she completely lost it. So J took her by the hand and let her run to the finish line with him in her jeans and silver glittery ballet flats...

And then it was all smiles again...

Totally off the subject of any kind of holiday, but I think this chick is pretty cute...

Decatur might not have won the big game against Austin last weekend, but the cheerleaders certainly did their part. :)

Speaking of Bebs, she is currently the coolest person in the family (not that that's really different from the norm). Now that she can drive and take Cate to buy a new fish and all...

Actually, Rudy (as in Rudolph) is Bethany's fish that Cate steals during the day and puts in her room while B's at school. She wrote a note and taped it on the fish bowl that ~~sort of~~ says that no one can touch the fish. These girls are so territorial...they fight over that fish like it's something that's really worth fighting over. Cue the lesson in sharing! I'm thinking a neutral place for the fish to live is the key to settling this one.

Duty calls. Elf duty, that is. If you don't hear from me for a while, I might be buried in wrapping paper!

Thanksgiving & More

2011-12-02T11:06:00.003-06:00

Has it really been a week since Thanksgiving? I suppose time flies when you're having fun. Or when you've got the flu, which is what plagued Cate last week. We were supposed go to Callaway Gardens last Tuesday afternoon, but after a day of her running a high fever I decided a trip to the pediatrician would be a good idea. Leaving town without making sure it wasn't more than a fever virus seemed best. The office was closed, but the nurse told me to swing by quickly and they'd check her out. Got to love a mother's intuition. I found out we'd done the right thing when our doctor came in after running a few tests and said, "congratulations, Cate's the first case of the flu this season." Not exactly what I was expecting (or hoping) to hear. We put off our travel plans to see how she did overnight. We ended up leaving town Wednesday morning and actually rather enjoyed only being away for one night instead of two. My aunt had planned the afternoon out for us and everyone was sitting on go waiting for us to arrive. The first stop was to check out the birds of prey show...

This little beauty was the first bird that was brought out. You know how I feel about this one. That owl looked straight at me immediately. Ask Bethany. It was craziness! It's funny that the girls automatically spot anything and everything owl related at such an early age. Towns was captivated...

In true Cate fashion, she didn't sit still for too very long...

She's a wiggle worm if there ever was one!

After the raptors it was time for the butterfly garden...

We didn't stay long being that it was 800 degrees in there, but we did come out with a couple of pictures...

Mark this day down in history. Neither one wore a bow or ribbon and I survived. Who would have guessed that was even remotely possible?! The main even was that night when we hopped on a trolley for the Fantasy in Lights. But not before we scored hot chocolate for the ride. Or in my case, boiling water sans cocoa. Towns had an absolute blast the whole time. It put Buggy straight to sleep, though. That was partly because she was sick and partly because she's no night owl. After the lights, Christmas carols, and freezing our tootsies off, we let Towns sit in Santa's lap and pose with her reindeer friend...

I'll be honest. With Cate being sick, I didn't feel guilty about not putting the first bit of effort into our Thanksgiving lunch. All I had to do was sign the receipt for our lunch at Callaway. I'm not saying I'd make it a tradition, but it was just what the doctor ordered this year (no pun intended). After Thanksgiving lunch with my dad's side of the family, we said our goodbyes and hit the road.

Now it's time for my soapbox. I love a good Thanksgiving post as much as anyone. But shouldn't it be Thanksgiving every day? I'm guilty of not taking the time to be thankful for our many blessings, and it's something I'm working on. Put it this way: I'm glad I didn't wake up and find myself left with everything I thanked God for yesterday, because it wouldn't be very much. And that's a sad thought. Today I'm thankful that I don't get what I deserve.

I'm also thankful that these lovies are what take up my time, energy, and thoughts...

I'm thankful for a husband who provides for us in more ways that we can count. He's my better half. Anyone who can live with four girls and still come home to us every night with a smile on his face is a saint!

And I'm thankful that this priss pot is starting to feel like herself again...

It broke my heart to see her so pitiful, but I must admit that I love how she needs her mama when she's sick. She's been my permanent attachment ever since. She wants me to snuggle up with her her all day, every day. And when I do, she tells me how much she loves me..."as big as the whole wide way-ald". I could eat her up, y'all. Lord help my soul.

'Tis the season...it's now December and I'm gonna hold on and enjoy the ride. I love this busy time of year!

How Sweet It Is!

2011-11-21T17:23:00.006-06:00

Bethany's birthday festivities started Friday morning with impromptu kitchen decorations and swiftly wrapped presents. I'd been so caught up in planning her "Sweet 16" birthday dinner that I hadn't really considered when we'd let her open her gifts from us. She asked me the night before if we could pretend like Friday morning was her real birthday morning. How could I say no to that? So I woke the girls up at 6 a.m. to get it all underway. They hopped right out of bed and got dressed immediately because they were just that excited. If you have a secret, don't tell Cate. She went straight to B and told her not to come in the kitchen because we were decorating for a surprise party which sent Towns into hysterics. The reason behind it was likely twofold. She tells everything you tell her not to, and she loves to push her sister's buttons. Go figure.

Cat out of the bag or not, it was fun celebrating B's big 16th birthday at the crack of dawn...

In true Bethany fashion, we cut right to the chase and let her tear into her gifts...

She loved her new boots from Grandymommy and Pop...

And tortoise shell Ray Bans are a must for a new driver...

Time for candles in a bagel and the birthday song...

The little ones always get a big kick out of singing to their Bebby!

Quick group shot before she headed off to her last school day as a 15 year old...

Friday night was major. She'd been talking for a couple of months about inviting her friends over for a birthday dinner party. After I got over a last minute anxiety attack about cooking for 10 without a double oven, we managed to pull it off without a hitch. J took the girls out for a date night while lots of teenage girls invaded the house. I invited B's mom to come tackle it all with me. One thing's for sure...if all else fails, we can waitress for a living. It was a fabulous night spent celebrating an even more fabulous young lady...

I went with the cliche "Sweet 16" theme. As in table decorations of giant lollipops, pink cotton candy, and M&Ms to match the party colors. They might as well be cute and edible, right?! So functional! I do believe all the girls had a great time. I came to that conclusion when April and I could barely hear ourselves talk because the dining room was roaring with laughter. It did my heart good.

I think they all enjoyed themselves. Check that one off the list!

Today brought quite possibly the most exciting part of the birthday celebration. B's mom took her to get her license this morning, and after some unexpected complications and delays (DMV key MIA, two hour delay in taking her test, etc.) we finally met in Birmingham for what B thought would be us picking her up like normal. She knew she was getting a car, but didn't know what kind. We told her that it wouldn't be ready until noon today. She thought it would be sitting in the driveway when we got back home. Little did she know, it would be sitting right where we were supposed to meet in Birmingham. I was hiding and waiting to catch it all on camera. She got out of her mom's car and saw the brand new Honda Civic parked next to her with the keys laying on the front seat...

With a Starbucks gift card attached and ready to be swiped, naturally!
She was ecstatic...
Sounds like the perfect surprise for a 16 year old, right?
Until she pulled the door handle and nothing happened. That would be thanks to yours truly who didn't think that the car might automatically lock when I shut the door after placing the keys so nicely where I knew she'd see them. Genius. I wanted to cry. I wanted to throw up. I wanted to beat my head against the pavement. Brand spanking new car right there in front of her and she can't even open the door to smell just how new it is. Talk about a heart breaker. I was physically sick. And after the day she'd had, she was too.

We called a locksmith and after two hours of ~~not so patiently~~ waiting, this angel from heaven zipped into the parking lot in a AAA truck, unlocked the door in 3 minutes flat, got back in his truck and drove off without so much as asking for any form of payment. I know that's what AAA is for...if you're a member. We're not, and he was not the locksmith that was supposed to be on his way. I didn't realize that until we'd been on I65 heading north for ten minutes and the real locksmith called to ask where we were. Pretty sure that nice AAA man was a God send. He totally deserves credit for saving the day...

If there was a National Lampoon's 16th Birthday movie, this would be it. Goodness.
After that, it was as if nothing had ever happened and B was back to her old, excited self...

She and Ellie were ready to roll...

I will beat myself up about that episode for years to come, I'm sure. Thank the good Lord above for great friends who had Towns and Cate and told us not to worry about a thing. What a day!

As I'm typing this, I'm nauseous over the fact that I'm home all alone. Normally that would be sort of fabulous. But the reason I'm home alone is because Bethany picked the girls up from playing with their friends and took them to Zen Beri. They've been planning it for months. And they quickly let me know it was a sisters only trip! My nerves will never be the same. I trust B totally. It's just that feeling of fear and loss of control.

Regardless of all the drama...

Hope your birthday was the best ever, Bebby.

You deserve all of that and more. And I have a feeling it's one you won't soon forget!

We're headed to spend a few days at Callaway Gardens...Happy Thanksgiving to you and yours!

16!

2011-11-20T07:32:00.000-06:00

Today's the day! The day we've been counting down to for practically years. It first started when Bebby turned 13...

A real teenager. Three more years until she turned 16...we talked about that a lot!

Another year passed and she turned the big 1-4...

Only two more years to go!

It became so real last year...

15! Learners permit in hand, she chauffeured us around for an entire year. That day was the day we started the real countdown. It didn't seem like today would ever get here, but here we are! And here she is...

The most beautiful 16 year old in the world!

Happy birthday, Bebby!

We love you!!!

Book Report Addict

2011-11-17T09:28:00.001-06:00

Know how I always say that Towns is beyond obsessed with school? Well, it's gotten even worse. Book reports. My child was introduced to the world of book reports last week. We might need to go the intervention route before it's all said and done. She's only required to do one every month. Since last Thursday, she's done two. And the third one is in the works. All kidding aside, it absolutely thrills my soul that she loves school as much as she does. Having such an amazing teacher who creates the most fabulous learning environment doesn't hurt the situation either. Her first book report was so fitting...

She painted one of our pumpkins pink, dressed in pink from head to toe (just like Pinkalicious), and took strawberry cupcakes with pink frosting and pink sprinkles for her class. Seeing a theme here?
Cate and I walked her in to school that morning because she had more than she could carry. Mrs. Propst offered to let her go ahead and do her report so I could make use of the big camera in my hand that I took "just in case". She started out being a little timid, but by the end of it she was taking questions from the class...

And of course, this review from Mrs. Propst will be on our fridge for a good, long while...

I'm not a proud mom or anything. Ha! I love that she is so excited about her school work. And I really love helping her with it. We didn't think twice about driving around the neighborhood at 8:00 the other night to look for fall leaves in shades of red, yellow, orange and brown for her second book report on the book Let It Fall. This is what I live for!

Now for some serious business. Do you know what this is?

(Besides a not so great iPhone picture?)
It's a picture of the very last time Bethany I will ever take Bethany to school since she's almost the legal age to drive herself. When she reminded me of that this morning I couldn't decide if I should be excited about that or want to cry a river. More the latter, I do believe. Now excuse me while I go prepare for a birthday dinner party, dry my tears, find anxiety medication, and sign papers to buy a car. Pray for us, won't you?! I wouldn't exactly call the thoughts of her on the road all by herself comforting. But she could not possibly be any more excited. Rightfully so...

High of 70 and Sprinkles

2011-11-16T10:03:00.001-06:00

Did I miss the memo that summer temps now last through Thanksgiving? It's not unusual to see us like this given the fact that it's still 70 degrees here...

Short sleeves and bare feet!
This was the other day when J tried to teach Cate to ride the scooter that he brought home from work because it had been sitting there for months going unused. Who knows whose it is. But if it can double as something dangerous, then it automatically has major appeal to my husband...

Buggy wasn't interested in those kinds of tricks.
She was just trying to get the hang of getting her foot just right...

It didn't come easily. She practiced and practiced...

And her daddy was there to give her lots of love when she fell and got really frustrated...

So sweet.
Since we're on the topic...

There's a lot of love in that picture.
Lots of Chi O, ADPi, Phi Mu love.
We all go way back to our good ol' Auburn days. And as it stands, no major life-changing event goes without celebration! Oakes hosted us in her beautiful home to "sprinkle" Anna Kate and Baby Libby with essentials and fun goodies. I always wish the hours lasted for days because it ends way too soon for my liking. Roommate, you are in for such a treat being the mom of two precious little girls!
Naturally, we lined up a few photo ops and put our Canons to work for us...

I didn't realize how worn down I looked until I saw these larger than life on the computer screen. Good grief!

I was not a member of this club...

I dare you to try to find a group of cuter pregnant women.
It simply can't be done.
It's funny how the conversations differ as we get older. We used to talk about the damage we did on the Plains. Now we're talking about the damage our children will do when they get there a few years on down the road. And poor Virginia. With all the labor and delivery talk, I'm not sure she'll ever be the same again. You're such a sport, VLD!
It was a great day spent with even greater friends who really feel more like family!

This is all over the place. Now I'm moving on to Christmas crafting which is how we spent our Fetch Day. That's Veteran's Day to most folks, but somehow Cate heard Fetch Day. I think she could be her own reality show. She's the funniest, most expressive kid ever.
Anyway, we spent our morning making Christmas ornaments...

I believe I see lots of craft supplies in store for Christmas because there's nothing more that those two love to do than draw, color, write, and "make".

They roped their daddy into buying them mini Christmas trees from Target that (of course) needed to be decorated...

They stayed in their PJs for a few extra hours since they were way too busy to be disturbed. That almost sent my OCD self over the edge. My day doesn't go right if we don't stick to our schedule. I'm working on that. And for Pete's sake, it was a holiday. I have to remind myself to relax. :) We also made another fun Christmas happy. Can you guess what it was?

If you do guess and you make it for yourself, you probably should be smarter than me and not give your children needles so freely. We had a lesson in how to use them without stabbing ourselves, and somehow we avoided any catastrophes...

Here's to prepping for Christmas in November, and being thankful all the while!

Adios October!

2011-11-08T12:29:00.003-06:00

I'm in the business of getting myself caught up on a lot of things. Laundry, work, emails, and blogging (of course!). I'm working backwards here, so bear with me...

Sunday night was a big night for Towns. It's something she'd been waiting for and asking about since she moved up to the first grade Sunday School class in August. First grade Bible presentation...

I really don't think I've ever seen her so excited about anything in her life. She's been waiting on that "big girl Bible" for a few long months. She was out like a light that night because she had a big weekend with Grandmommy and Pop so we didn't get to dive into it, but last night before bed we read the Christmas story from the book of Luke. She's become a really good reader (I was worried there for a bit), and has developed a love for it like her Bebby. It's precious to hear her reading from her own Bible. We jumped over to the next book where I pointed out John 3:16. Unlike the version we all learned as youngsters, this particular one reads exactly like one of her favorite songs from VBS. "For God loved the world in this way, he gave His One and Only Son, so that anyone who believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life." The thing about that song is that it's of the rap variety. Like all VBS songs, this one will forever more be burned into our memory, so you can't help but say the verse in the same beat as the song. Listening to her rap John 3:16 as she read it was a little weird, but it works so we'll go with it.

Still moving in reverse order...
On Halloween, Towns got to pick out a book character to dress up as for school. We were so close to going for Pinkalicious, but opted for more low-key (i.e. cheaper and easier).
Can you guess what she was?

If You Give a Cat a Cupcake! For some reason she's a cat who likes pointing to her tail??
Halloween isn't complete without a class party, you know...

I've said it before, but I really do love that Towns likes us being at her school. The shelf life on that isn't long, or so I've heard. But for now I'm loving it...

After a quick trip around the circle for everyone to use good adjectives to describe their characters, it was party time. There was no shortage of crafts and sweets!
Towns was hard at work making her Halloween bookmark and ghost Tootsie Pop...

These sweet girls all sit at the same table...

I could eat them with a spoon!
After the party, Mrs. Propst turned them loose on the playground to run off the half ton of sugar they'd consumed. I was thanking her for that. And after school, I couldn't resist a picture of the three amigos...

Fancy Nancy (Emma), Harry Potter (Conner), and Towns.

Mid-October brought a field trip to the pumpkin patch. We went to Lyon Family Farms which is just over the TN state line. It was a first for us, and I do believe we liked it better than Tate Farms. It wasn't nearly as crowded and had more things to do that the girls enjoyed. While we loved going to kindergarten at our church, Towns didn't get to experience a lot of "firsts" that you do when you get to real school. Like riding on the bus for the first time. It might as well have been a bus heading straight for Disney World by the excitement level Towns woke up with that morning. Goodness. If you haven't learned this yet, she very much dives in and rolls around in anything school related. She enjoys it to the fullest. She was all smiles lined up with her class waiting for the bus to pull up in front of the school...

She and Emma are always right up under Mrs. Propst if at all possible.
Cute little 1st graders...

When we arrived, the class gathered for a group shot...

I didn't get the best picture, but it's all about the memories anyway. And there were lots made...

Do you spy two little munchkins in this one?

Ella joined us. It's was for the best, and Ella's like family so it's always easier to have her with us. When they're not together, they're asking why they can't be together so most days they're together. Togetherness.
Yep, that pretty much sums those two up!

At least five people that day asked me if they were related. Not because they look anything alike, but because they absolutely, positively love each other and go everywhere hand in hand. Sweetness!
When we went on the hayride to the pumpkin patch, the little ones found their pumpkins right off the bat. I told them to pick the smallest one they could find because they were carrying it...not me! Towns wouldn't hear of picking a small pumpkin. She wanted one big enough to carve and it had to be perfect. Therefore she had a little meltdown because she couldn't find just the right one. Emma put her arm around her and they set out in search of "the one"...

She finally found one. That might have been because the wagon was about to leave us if she didn't hurry it on up! Once the pumpkins were chosen, it was a free-for-all on the playgrounds and the inflatables...

That slide was all but vertical. Towns said it made her stomach do a flip!

After several ~~hundred~~ trips down the slide, it was time to call it a day.
Apparently the school bus is better than what I recall. Towns begged to ride it back home instead of riding with yours truly who could offer her a DVD player and the ever so healthy convenience store snack. I totally get it, though. And I can't say that I blame her. But what I can officially now say is...
Adios October!

Not before I mix business with pleasure and tell you about the Smitten & Company sample sale, though! Ready to ship samples at a discount...can't beat that! They'll all be listed by tomorrow, including lots of Thanksgiving and Christmas samples. What's even better? Free shipping, naturally.
Now go shop!

Reality Check

2011-11-03T12:54:00.000-05:00

Do you ever have those moments when something you read or hear hits you like a ton of bricks and you know without a doubt that God put it right in front of you for a reason? Like He's talking straight to you and no one else? That's the kind of moment I had when I read my devotion this morning...

1 Timothy 6:6-7, 17-19⁶ But godliness with contentment is great gain. ⁷ For we brought nothing into the world, and we can take nothing out of it.¹⁷ Command those who are rich in this present world not to be arrogant nor to put their hope in wealth, which is so uncertain, but to put their hope in God, who richly provides us with everything for our enjoyment. ¹⁸ Command them to do good, to be rich in good deeds, and to be generous and willing to share. ¹⁹ In this way they will lay up treasure for themselves as a firm foundation for the coming age, so that they may take hold of the life that is truly life.

Contentment. That's a hard one for me. But it's exactly what I needed to be reminded of as lately I've let my mind think way too much about what kind of car I'd like to get next, how I would love to have a bigger house, how I'd be happy if I could just get this or get that. How foolish! I have more than I need and most everything I want, and who am I to think I need more, more, more? I've gotten several emails lately about different ministries in our church who are getting food and toys together for those in need during the upcoming holidays. That's a good reminder of how blessed we really are. I never give a second thought to where our next meal is coming from or if we'll have a place to lay our head at night. And here I am letting my thoughts and time be consumed by such trivial things like a new pair of Fall boots, a better car or a bigger house. Talk about a reality check. Our pastor has said several times that he's never seen a hearse pulling a U-Haul. Think about that one. What I am left with after reading those verses several times over is that using what we've been blessed with in turn to bless others is what it's all about.

Speaking of...

This child could stand to bless some little girls with the umpteen dozens of baby dolls she has. She turns the living room into a daycare center every day and has more than she could possibly play with. That's precisely why we keep the sentimental stuff and take the rest to the Neighborhood Christian Center and the Salvation Army every year before Christmas. It's a huge lesson for the girls. They didn't understand it at first, and Cate still asks if we're just letting other kids "borrow" their toys with the hopes of getting them back one day. Truth is, they never, ever miss them because they still have plenty. This is what I need to remind Santa of when he tends to go a little overboard in December...
Can I get some accountability on that one?!

Trick-or-Treat!

2011-11-01T13:12:00.003-05:00

I don't know about y'all, but I don't think I've ever been so glad to see November 1st in all my life. I'm officially October'd out. Granted, I have loved every minute of every last Fall Festival, pumpkin patch trip, Halloween party, pumpkin carving event, etc. But if October had 32 days, I might have to be committed. Please tell me I'm not the only one?! I think this must happen the older your children get and the more involved they are in things. Surely so. And while we're on the Halloween subject, how do you feel about it? I'm curious to know. I have a sweet family member who is very dear to me who for Biblical reasons chooses not to let her family participate in Halloween. I'm certainly respectful of that. Our children have no clue that there's any dark or wicked connotation whatsoever. At our house, it's not Satan's day. We give God the glory every day, so I see nothing wrong with dressing my children up in fun costumes and going around the neighborhood filling a basket full of candy. They genuinely think that's all there is to Halloween. I might feel differently about it once they start seeing that there could be more to it than just that. There's no doubt that it will happen eventually the more they're around other kids at school. But I also firmly believe that if we're doing our job raising them right, they'll be perfectly fine and keep the focus where it should be. And now I'm officially off my soap box...

That said, we had the best Halloween ever. The Tourneys came over to trick-or-treat with us which always makes things crazier, louder, and "way more funner" as Buggy says. Before they arrived, I told J we could take turns getting a picture with our little witch and Dorothy. I always hold up my end of the deal...

And then when I look back at the pictures he's taken, his fingers are in front of the flash and the picture is black, I'm mid-sentence, scratching my nose, or something like that. This was the best we came away with...

See what I mean? God love him, he tries so hard but I don't think he needs to quit his day job!

Our neighbor, Alicia, is always so sweet to the girls. She plays along with all their shenanigans like the other day when they left a note on her door asking her to pay $10.99 for a makeover. We went to Auburn together and were in the same Rush group. Years ago I was pleasantly surprised when we moved into our house and I found out that she'd be our neighbor. Small world! Anyway, she told me she had a special treat for Towns and Cate and that they needed to come to her house first. So they did...

They came away with mini OPI nail polishes from Sephora in every shade under the sun and chocolate mud masks for their faces. The woman knows the way to their hearts, that's for sure!

Finally, it was time for the main event. J drove a truck home for one reason alone...

This the only way to do it when you have 7 children and you'd like to come home with all of them present and accounted for. The daddies manned the back of the truck while the women chauffeured. Talk about laughing until your side hurts. I don't think I've ever laughed as hard as I did last night! I didn't take any pictures of the actual trick-or-treating, but then again...remember how many children we were chasing? That should speak for itself. On a different note, have you noticed that most of our pictures lately are missing one important chick? That would Bethany. The girl who used to think we were pretty fun to hang out with. The girl who will be 16 in 19 days. She's got quite the social life now, but secretly I think that it's fabulous even though I give her a hard time about it sometimes. She and her friends convened at a friend's house for dinner and a movie. I don't know if she'd like me to tell you that she dressed up as a ballerina with my gorgeous, sparkly Princess Ballerina Camp "uniform". She was pretty cute, too. Maybe you can see her again sometime soon. :)

She did ever so kindly flatter us with joining in on the pumpkin carving Sunday afternoon...

The girl is a genius. She gathered all the pumpkin seeds and worked her magic on them to make the most delicious snack I've ever tasted...

I still don't know exactly what she did, but I know it included cinnamon and brown sugar. Towns even asked to take some for her lunch Monday. Usually if it's not a Little Debbie she doesn't want it, so I was pleasantly surprised that she opted for something healthy. Or maybe she just didn't know it was healthy. That's probably more like it!

We carved and colored and everything else you could think of to do to a pumpkin...

Cate is not the child who likes to get her hands dirty. Towns and Bethany don't mind a bit, but not Buggy. She might be as rough and tumbled as a little girl can be, but you can forget her voluntarily getting her hands covered in "pumpkin guts"...Towns' terminology, not mine. Until this year. She was so proud of herself and made sure she told us several times that she was totally fine about her hands being nasty. Baby steps. Of course, she was in the bath tub .5 seconds after we were done because she couldn't take it any longer!

Do you ever get sentimental about knowing you're seeing your kids in a certain favorite outfit for the last time? That's the way I was Sunday after church. We've gotten as much use as possible out of these little dresses and they were practically wearing them as smocked shirts...

Never again will I see them all matchy, matchy in their Halloween dresses because next year it just plain and simply won't work. It's no fun growing up...

After I cover a pumpkin patch field trip and a class Halloween party, I'll officially be able to cross October off the list. And then, like the girls last night after they'd lasted as long as they could (and went to bed with wet hair), I might be knocked out for a day or two...

All in the name of preserving the memories, of course!

Sunday Fun Day

2011-10-28T11:23:00.000-05:00

There's not much that can top a play date on a gorgeous Sunday afternoon. Especially when it involves good friends and pumpkin painting! If there was such a thing as four peas in a pod, this would be a prime example...

Ella and Cate are the same age. Towns and Madelyn are the same age. It's pretty much perfection at its finest. They all get along ridiculously well and love each other like sisters.

After church a couple of Sundays ago I let them take over the front porch and have their way with little pumpkins and lots of paint...

They're quite the creative bunch...

And they took their painting very serious...

When they ran out of pumpkins, they wrote and illustrated stories on the steps...

Then they left notes for all the neighbors offering their makeover services for $10.99. That's a rather scary thought given the fact that I know (from personal experience) how these makeovers go. Let's just say they're, well, really colorful in their makeup choices!

The afternoon ended with a major Taylor Swift dance party on the sidewalk for all to see. I've never heard so much giggling and seen such moves in my life!

They had a ball and went to bed early...done and done!
We're thoroughly enjoying this season and making the most of the dozens of Fall activities that seem to come weekly. I think I might hibernate for the winter after it's all said and done...

Fall Festivals Galore

2011-10-26T10:28:00.000-05:00

What a week. It's been a whirlwind, no doubt. In a hurried attempt to get caught up, this will likely be more pictures than words...

DCMS Fall Frenzy came and went and was a big hit with a certain 1st grader. We didn't find any replacement fish, but we did have Wal-mart vouchers for gold fish which I'm sure parents appreciated immensely. I know I wasn't too upset about accidentally misplacing our vouchers. Wink, wink.

Towns promptly secured her place in line to get her face painted...

Cate was entirely too impatient to wait her turn and ended up in tears over it taking so long. All she wanted to do was hit the big blow up maze...

Who says you can't function like normal in fifty pounds of fluff? Not Towns, that's for sure...

That's what she picked out that morning and I went with it. How on earth she climbed, jumped and slid with all that poofiness is beyond me!

Both of them took their daddy by the hand and drug him from one end of the school to the other a dozen times. But then again, isn't that what daddies are for?

Buggy did end up getting her face painted eventually, but opted for the quick and easy method...

Cheek stencils only!
It was hard to keep up with Towns as she wanted to make the rounds with her friends...

Sweet girls!

Fast forwarding a couple of weeks...
Last Friday was Cate's Fall Festival at school. She's opted to be "Dorfy" for the second year in a row. I gave her endless options, and she meant she wasn't considering any of them. She was too tall for last year's Dorothy costume, so we found another one and that's all she wrote...

I'm not sure if I can accurately describe how close those two are. Cate told me the other day that Ella was "like our forf (fourth) kid." It's sort of true!
J and I strolled into the big event together and I didn't get a second glance, but someone else did...

That baby loves her daddy!
This was all the love I got...

I'm fine with playing second fiddle when J's around. She and I are joined at the hip most days which is what keeps me going!

Cate was interested in three things, and three things only.
Ella's brother, Ridge...

Her bag full of candy...

And being a wild child on the big slide...

J talked her into doing flips down the slide, which led to the other kids trying it out. One day they're going to ban us from these events...

I love this little face...

Every time I put her in her car seat in the car, she latches onto me and gives me the best hugs. Yesterday she told me she wanted to hug me "fa evah and evah" in her little southern accent which made me want to smooch her face off. She's pretty funny. Last weekend we got out my grandparents' first bedroom suit to paint and put in the girls' room. Want to know why she started crying when she saw this?

She thought we were moving her outside. Have you ever?!

One more thing before duty calls...

Do you know what today is? Exactly 25 days until this cutie will be blowing out 16 candles...

It goes without saying...she's counting down the days like never before!

Just Your Typical Sunday Afternoon

2011-10-23T14:45:00.000-05:00

Who would ever think that spotting a U-Haul trailer in a parking lot would bring this much excitement or entertainment?

It's the little things in life...right?

Makes me think I need a U-Haul of my own to unload a house full of toys on someone else...apparently we don't them to entertain us!

Fall Frenzy Prep Work

2011-10-14T09:17:00.000-05:00

It's a beautiful day for a fall festival...and that's just what we've got on the agenda for this afternoon. Towns has been looking forward to the magnet school's big shindig, and it's finally here. She's heard all the hype from the kids in her class who have been before, so she absolutely could not wait for today. She put on her most sparkly Halloween shirt and a hot pink pettiskirt that's larger than life and off she went skipping into school. I was put in charge of picking up 300 goldfish for our class booth, the ping pong toss. I just got a call that all 300 fish I was supposed to pick up in a little while are dead. Now to find replacement goldfish (individually bagged, I might add - most places aren't so willing to do that for you) so there won't be 300 crying kids come this afternoon...ahhhh, the joys of motherhood! It's likely to end up being a good story, so I'm gearing up for an adventure. Somehow we'll have those fish. I hope...

Towns is pretty excited about the ping pong toss and wanted to get a little practice round in before the big day. Here you have the ping pong toss...McClendon style! First, you need to pretend to wait patiently in line since word on the street is that the line for this game is the longest...

Check. Now onto to practicing her tossing skills...

If at first you don't succeed, try, try again...

Score!

Since this was all her idea, I didn't have the heart to tell her that tossing a ping pong ball into a goldfish bowl isn't quite the same. But something tells me we'll be coming home with a goldfish anyway. That is, if I can hunt a few hundred down before this afternoon!

Sweetness

2011-10-12T13:22:00.002-05:00

Last night Bethany, Towns and I made a trip to Target while J put Cate to bed. Towns has been saving her money for something special, but lately it's been burning a hole in her pocket. She wanted to browse the clothes section. The girl loves some sparkle, and you're guaranteed to find it there. We had the best time looking around. Well, I assume she did, but I know I did. She's the funniest kid without trying to be. After spending a few minutes in the big girl section she said, "I'm so not feeling these clothes tonight." She talks like that a lot which is hilarious coming from a six year old. Especially when you're not expecting it because she's usually the quiet, reserved one of the bunch. She suggested that we go look at the clothes in Cate's size. One thing I love about Towns is her heart. She truly loves doing nice things for someone else. She spotted a shirt she thought Buggy just had to have and wanted to spend her money on it. She reminds me so much of Bethany. That's the way B has always been. She's always picking up little goodies for her sisters. It doesn't have to be anything big at all. It's the thought behind it that's so special.

When we got home, she meticulously wrapped it up just so and wrote Cate a note to go with it...

I ended up telling Towns that I'd buy the shirt so she could save her money. It might not have been what I would have chosen, but there was no way I was telling her to pick out something different. After all, such sweetness trumps my distaste of plastering characters all over clothing. And she was right, Cate loved it and couldn't wait to wear it to school today...

She might look like a Disney jailbird, but that smile is totally worth it...

Homecoming 2011

2011-10-10T18:35:00.003-05:00

Last week was Homecoming for Bethany which is always such a fun week around here. Float building, a bonfire pep rally, a parade, and then a big win Friday night? Doesn't get much better than that!

The parade is my personal favorite.

These chicks sort of like it, too...

And what they really liked was tearing The Paper Chase to pieces trying to find the perfect colored pony tail holders to go on their wrists like the big girls wear...

Mission accomplished! By the end of the afternoon we'd made four trips in and out. Talk about commotion...we created it in that precious store!

Towns was so excited that a couple of new friends from school were there, and I only wish I had a picture of the four of them dancing to the band as it marched by...

Sweet girls!

It's always fun to see the class floats. I wasn't the only one who thought the sophomores got robbed of winning the competition...

Theirs was so good - definitely not a last place float!

It's all about the memories, though. Win or lose, I'm sure they had a ball building it together.

Finally, we saw what we'd been waiting to see. Bethany is of celebrity status to her sisters, and they were so proud to show her off to their friends!

There's just something about seeing this little thing coming down Bank Street that makes me smile...

She's about as cute as it gets...but maybe I'm a little biased!

She gave us a wave, and just like that she was gone...

Friday night she helped cheer the Raiders on to victory which was the icing on the cake.
{I didn't dare pull out my camera at the game as I've been warned about that before...ha!
Thanks JM for doing it for me!}

I say it all the time, but oh to be a teenager again...

Hot Rod

2011-10-07T06:38:00.000-05:00

Turn your back for a split second and this is what happens...

She didn't have a clue that anyone was watching her...

Of course, when she realized she had an audience she turned on the charm. She should have been thinking, "oh great, I'm caught" but in all honesty she was quite proud of herself...

Bless her heart, she loves anything and everything her daddy loves...

And she's pretty funny to boot...

This little hot rod and her mama are glad it's Friday...happy weekend!

Scars & Skipping Rocks

2011-10-05T13:23:00.002-05:00

After a week of looking like she took a spiked club to the chin, I'm happy to report that blondie is looking (and feeling) more like herself again. I was so worried about what that injury would leave behind. So far, so good. Her chin is a bit red, but that's nothing that a little Mederma and vitamin E won't cure. She was pretty excited when the yucky stuff started peeling off and she could see her "real face" again as she called it...

Her left knee and arm still look rough. She's getting there, though. And I'm not sure if she's walking with a sympathy limp or if it really hurts that bad, but I'll baby her all day long no matter what! Other than that, she hasn't skipped a beat or complained about how she's felt. She usually milks her ailments for all they're worth, so I have been pleasantly surprised this go 'round.

I don't know about y'all, but if feels like we never slow down. Tuesdays are the one day a week when we don't have anything to do or anywhere to be after school, so we took full advantage of some much needed down time yesterday. There's no better place to do that than at the park, naturally!

Cate took her show on the road. She's a clown wherever we go...

Towns loves to give me heart attacks. She knows better than to climb to the top of the twisty slide, but she does it anyway. I caught her in the act, and she knew she was so busted...

How quickly she forgets what happens when you don't listen to your mother's warnings!

She changed her tune and told me that she wasn't planning on climbing to the top in the first place...

She just needed a "quick rest" or so she said.

We ventured down to the river, but not before a good dose of sisterly love...

Okay, okay. I give. This is what it's really like most of the time...

Except usually it's Cate trying to bite Towns or something other than kissing her.

Both of them love climbing on the rocks and playing by the river...

That goes way back. When Bethany and Towns were younger, their favorite thing to do at the park was climb on the rocks and wade out knee deep or so just so they could get their clothes wet. Some things never change because that's exactly what the girls wanted to do yesterday. I got their minds off of it by trying to teach them how to skip rocks. I don't know about your children, but mine take things very literally. I should have known better than to tell them that the trick to skipping rocks is to throw it "side arm". Towns hurled her huge rock to the side as hard as she could. That wouldn't have been a problem had her sister not been standing a foot away from her and taken a blow to the forehead. I'm not sure how she rationalized that throwing her rock to the side would have allowed it to skip across the water that was right in front of her, but nevertheless she felt really bad about nailing Cate. I probably should have started the lesson with the tip that small, smooth rocks skip better. Maybe then Towns wouldn't have been holding a boulder in her hand when she decided to throw it to the side. All Jonathan could do was shake his head, laugh, and tell me that I should have left him in charge of teaching them how to skip blasted rocks. Other than the head injury, they loved it...

Between Towns' bike wreck under my supervision and now this rock throwing incident, my dear husband has an arsenal of ammunition. He's a teaser if there ever was one. I have a feeling he won't be letting me forget this for a while...

She Fought the Bike...

2011-09-28T11:23:00.000-05:00

And the bike won!

Last Sunday had major potential to be a great day. After church, the girls and I headed to Smith Lake to help our sweet friend Emma celebrate her 7th birthday. Emma's sort of like family. We've been to every birthday party she's had since she and Towns were three, so even her aunts, uncles, cousins and grandparents feel like family. Towns and Cate were pretty excited to see Emma's cousin Piper who's two years old because they like to pretend she's their baby. We'd talked about it for weeks. The girls absolutely couldn't wait to get there, and if I'm being honest, I couldn't wait to have zero cell service for a whole day. Hello relaxation!

It was all going as smooth as silk until the kids decided they wanted to ride their bikes. Little did I know, this would be the last time I saw Towns in one piece...

If you've ever been to a lake house of any kind, you know the driveways are long and steep. The driveway down to Emma's lake house wins the award for both of those. They were told numerous times that riding a bike down such a driveway was completely off limits. Towns has always been our child who plays by the rules and is scared to death to get in trouble. But she's also a closeted thrill seeker, much like her father. So as she walked her bike to the top of the huge hill, I told my friend Jennifer that there was no way she was about to come back down it on her bike. Conner even ran as fast as he could to the top to make sure that's not what she was about to do. I ate my words right then and there when I saw blondie slowly accelerate on her way down. That slow acceleration turned to down right fast acceleration. Before I knew what was happening she was flying about 15 mph down that hill. That's when someone flipped the slow motion switch. I knew exactly what was going to happen, but I felt like my feet were glued to the concrete and I couldn't run towards her fast enough. As she got closer all I could think about was that if I could jump out in front of her I'd be able to stop her before the pavement did. I didn't get the chance. She started wobbling and I knew that it was over for her. Her eyes were huge and she had the fear of God in her. She'd made it all the way to the bottom...almost. I felt totally helpless. I've truly never been that scared for anyone in my life. I threw my camera down as I tried to get to her as fast I could. She and her bike tangled up and then it sent her sliding across the concrete face down. As I bent down to scoop her up I was literally praying that she still had teeth. It was hands down the worst bicycle wreck a person could possibly get themselves into. And it was my sweet, rule-following Towns. I was shaking like a leaf and so was she. I picked her up and she repeatedly said, "I'm ok, I'm ok" and never once did she cry. Seconds later all she could do was apologize to me over and over again because she knew she'd done what I told her not to do and it didn't end up so great. At that point I didn't even care. My heart physically hurt just looking at her. I knew she'd learned her lesson, albeit an extremely painful one. But isn't that usually how lessons are learned? Standing on my own two feet was out of the question. I sat right there in the driveway and held her in my lap. I wanted to cry hysterically as I surveyed the damage on my baby girl. When I say it was awful, I do mean it was awful. Everywhere I looked there was missing skin with blood in its place. Jennifer was so sweet to fetch my camera and Towns' bicycle. And poor Conner, Emma and Cate. You could tell they wanted to do something to help but they didn't know what. So for the next hour or so they made sure Towns had a handful of Hershey kisses at all times. When she'd run low, they'd go get more. Precious. My husband has been in enough motorcycle accidents to know exactly what Towns was feeling. I was so worried about her lack of emotion. I didn't know if she'd knocked herself out or what! He informed me that the adrenaline in her body was taking over and keeping her from feeling all the pain. We got her cleaned up, gave her some Tylenol, and for the rest of the day she insisted that she was fine but rarely said much of anything else. She didn't have any skin on her knees, her toes and one foot, her stomach, her arms, and her chin. It was pretty pitiful. But she wasn't letting that ruin Emma's birthday fun...

For the longest time she wouldn't smile for fear of her chin hurting. I can't say that I blame her!

Later in the afternoon she started fading fast, but the talk of a boat ride perked her up. Even if it doesn't exactly look like it...

One person who thoroughly enjoyed it was Cate. She felt like such a big shot sitting in the front of the boat with the older kids...

Townsy had a good time watching Emma and Conner wake board. I could tell she wanted to try it, but I wasn't about to let her out there in her condition...

It was Conner's first time to try it and he looked like an old pro. And it was fun to watch Emma showing us her dance moves while she was wake boarding. Such fun little loves they are!

After a full day, it was time to get back to reality. And that included sleeping most of the way home...

Bless her little heart, she couldn't take it a second longer.

I walked her into school Monday so that I could tell Mrs. Propst what happened. Otherwise I'm sure she'd have one hand on the phone ready to call DHR. Slowly, but surely, her wounds are healing. I keep asking her if I need to write a note to keep her from having to play in PE or participate in dance, but she continues to tell me that she's fine...

She calls it fine, I call it tough as nails!
The moral of this story is twofold...
Steer clear of steep driveways and never, ever disobey your mother!
Unfortunately, Towns had to learn the hard way...

Four!

2011-09-26T13:30:00.000-05:00

Saturday was Cate's birthday, and all day I was left wondering where on earth the last four years have gone. They've seemed to fly by much too fast for my liking. I remember when Towns turned four and I felt like she was so old. But part of me still feels like Cate's a baby. My baby. Jonathan tells me quite frequently that I baby her more than I need to. But if she's my last one, then I reserve every right to do so. Deep down I know I'm not doing her any favors by carrying her around everywhere or feeding her like she's still eating baby food. It's justified by the fact that her personality, vocabulary, ability to rationalize, and the way she has an answer for everything resembles a mini adult. If she acted like a baby, I'd stop the babying immediately. But she doesn't, so if she's still small enough to fit on my hip then that's exactly where she's going to stay. End of discussion.

She's definitely a force to be reckoned with. She makes me laugh more times a day than I can keep count of, and no matter what you say she can one-up you. She's quick witted and can think on her feet like no other child I've ever seen before. She might be tough on the outside, but she's as tender-hearted as they come. Her favorite thing in the world is a baby. She prefers a real one, but will settle for fake ones in the event she can't get her hands on the real thing. With every passing birthday and Christmas, a 'real live baby' is the number one thing on her wish list. When we go into a store she tells me that if she sees someone drop a baby on the ground she's going to run grab it and bring it home with her. Never mind the fact that picking up a dropped baby isn't really like picking up a penny off the ground. She's pretty serious about it and still has hope that one day it will work out for her. When her belly hurts, she thinks it's because she's got a baby in it. I'm not ready to have that discussion yet, so I usually just tell her that that only happens to mommies and change the subject. To say she's motherly and nurturing is an understatement. She even calls Towns 'sweetie' and 'honey' when she's talking to her. There's no place she'd rather be than right up under me. And if we're cuddling then that's all the better. She's such a snuggle bug. She'd rather have yogurt, strawberries, and milk than anything else you could put in front of her. Grilled chicken or steak and a Greek salad is her idea of a perfect meal. I don't know where she got her tastes, but it certainly wasn't from her sisters who are junk food junkies! She's pure joy and keeps us on our toes...but I don't think we'd want it any other way!

When I looked back at these pictures of a little 5 pound baby that was just a few days old, it made me smile and want to cry at the same time...

She was so tiny. Preemie clothes were entirely too big for her, and most of Towns' baby dolls looked like giants up next to her. She was born with a little strawberry on her right hand that's still there, and her fourth toe on her left foot is still curled under like it is in this picture...

What I wouldn't give to rewind the years and hold that sweet little thing who was barely big enough to fill up both of my hands again. I tend to forget just how small she was. And now, well, she's such a big girl!

She woke up Saturday morning to chocolate chip pancakes and strawberries...

We stuck four candles in her pancakes and sang to her, naturally!

After a quick shower, we had to get the show on the road. There were presents and cupcakes that both possessed an apparent magnetic force that Cate couldn't overcome!
She's such a clown...

The girl loves Olivia with a passion, so that was the theme of her little birthday bash.
She had a blast ripping her presents open...

Towns really got into it, too...

I think she knew that whatever Cate got for her birthday was pretty much hers too...if only they were good about sharing it all!
One thing Buggy wasn't letting go of?
This new toy...

And what would a party be without cupcakes from Corner Bakery?

Delicious and color coordinated!
She must have been doing some sort of birthday cheer here...

And blowing out the candles always takes a few ~~dozen~~ tries...

But the end result is totally worth it...

If it's hard to eat with your hands, just put it down and eat it like an animal...

I promise she does have manners!
After she devoured her cupcake, the birthday girl decided on lunch at Bob Gibson's and wouldn't even think of leaving the house without babies in tow...

Speaking of babies, I had to hop in there between my two...

We told Cate she could pick whatever she wanted to do for the rest of the day. That included a trip to the park for sure...

Where she watched her monkey of a sister intently and declared she could probably do the monkey bars since she was officially four...

She gave it a whirl and made it across two hoops before she said she'd try it again when she was five.
The rest of the afternoon was spent putting our imagination to good use in the back yard. Did you know that wrenches, screwdrivers and a funnel are perfect for a make believe ice cream shop? Well, they are...

Buggy's a homebody and refused to entertain the idea of going out for a fun birthday dinner. Pizza Hut and a movie at home equals perfection for such a simple girl. And with that, we rounded out the 4th birthday of a special little lovey!

Pool Party

2011-09-23T09:50:00.000-05:00

We went out on a limb this year with Cate's birthday party and kept it sweet and simple. I didn't think it was in my genetic make up to do such a thing (ha!), but I do believe it was one of the most relaxing, laid back party days we've ever had. I'm pretty sure that's because the whole party wasn't on my shoulders. My friend Amanda asked if Cate wanted to join in on Brock's birthday party (they're only a week apart) at the clubhouse pool in their neighborhood. It didn't take long for me to answer that! We'd contemplated having another gymnastics party which is what Cate really wanted, but once I mentioned having a pool party with Brock she was game. It was a bit of a last minute thing, so we let our families off the hook. Other than missing them being there, it was perfect.

This is one of the only pictures I took of the birthday girl and boy...

They don't look like they're 7 days apart, do they? Brock's so tall for his age and Cate's vertically challenged! Regardless, she still makes him pretend he's her baby and he'll sit in her lap and play along. He's the sweetest, funniest thing! Cate loves him dearly.

We had a cold snap last week which had us worried that it would be entirely too cold to swim. The children were good sports and didn't let the cold water bother them, though. J got it kicked off by throwing everyone in...

That didn't so much help the shoulder injury from his motorcycle accident, but he's the biggest kid of 'em all and wasn't letting that stop him!

You can tell by Buggy's face that the chilly water took her breath away...

By the end of the party they were all shaking and had blue lips. All in the name of fun, of course!

Bethany brought her friend Ellie to the party. Cate thinks they are total rock stars which in turn makes her think she's one as well for having them at her party...

These two girls really make me laugh...

And these three, well they're just plain sweet...

Those who stopped long enough to eat wouldn't dine anywhere else other than by the pool, naturally...

And then Amanda brought out the very impressive cakes she made. Monster trucks for Brock and princess for Cate. I told her she might just need to go into business for herself!
Cate got so shy when it was time to sing Happy Birthday...

The kids all thoroughly enjoyed their cake and cupcakes. I know this because they were covered in icing from head to toe. That's the beauty of a pool party...make 'em all jump in and they come out as clean as a whistle! The only thing that could get them out of the freezing cold water was talk of opening presents. Buggy got in my lap and wanted to snuggle so I could keep her warm.
How could I say no to that?

Someone gave Brock a music set that included drums, spoons, a harmonica, and all kinds of fun things that kept everyone making music for a while. Quite entertaining to watch, no less. But Cate busied herself with her new friend Ashley...

Ashley is a very bright-eyed little girl, wouldn't you say?!
Cate is completely smitten with her and this has been the scene since last Saturday...

We take her everywhere and don't let her out of our sight!

I'll leave you with this one just because I like it...

It's hard to believe that as of tomorrow, September 24th, my baby of all babies will be four years old. One thing's for sure...we do love a birthday around here! Let the festivities begin...

Early Birthday Surprise

2011-09-21T10:40:00.000-05:00

There's nothing like getting an early birthday surprise in the mail. Wouldn't you agree? Yesterday Cate got just that from her Grandmommy and Pop. I tried to get her to save it and open it on her birthday, but she didn't give that notion a second though. She couldn't believe her eyes when she tore into her package and discovered what was inside...

A box full of preemie sized clothes for her baby dolls - a whole new winter wardrobe for them!
How fun is that?!

If she said, "Mommy, isn't this so amazing?" once, she asked me twenty times!

For a girl who loves a baby doll as much as Buggy does, I can't think of a better gift...

Of course, we immediately had to pick the babies of choice who would get to wear such fine clothing. Then she gathered them in her "house" which is a huge princess tent in her room filled with all of her baby stuff. I told her I just had to get the camera so J's parents could see how much she loved their gift. She was all about that idea...

I just noticed what a wild looking bunch of bambinos she has...

Now that's one happy (almost) birthday girl!

Thank you, thank you, thank you Grandmommy and Pop!

Taylor Swift!

2011-09-19T12:56:00.003-05:00

One afternoon in July I stopped by my friend Lila's house to pick up the girls' friends Madelyn and Ella for a play date. If you know Lila and me, you know that a simple pick up or drop off lasts longer than it normally should because once we start talking, that's all she wrote. That was the case this particular morning when she asked if I'd thought about taking the girls to see Taylor Swift in Nashville. I truly didn't even know she was coming to Nashville as I didn't follow her that closely. {That's past tense because at the time I didn't follow her which is now a completely different story!} Bethany has always loved her and walks around the house belting out her songs all the time, which is probably the only reason I know any of them (aside from hearing the more popular ones on the radio). And because B loves Taylor Swift, Towns and Cate think they love Taylor Swift as well. Lila told me she'd tossed around the idea of taking her girls and asked if we'd like to join them. After I thought about it for a minute, I realized that taking them to that concert would probably make their entire year. So right then and there we sat down at her computer and ordered our tickets. I called B immediately to tell her and I thought she would pass out. I don't think y'all really understand how much of a fan she is. Even though I might not know many of her songs, it made my year just knowing how excited they were all going to be. It seemed like September 16th would never get here. But alas, it did. And that afternoon we pulled out of town on our way to what would be one of the best memories ever.

Let me back up. At first, we didn't purchase tickets for Cate and Ella because we thought they'd be too young for it. I took Towns to a Hannah Montana concert when she was around their age and she had no clue what was going on and stayed in my lap most of the time. But last weekend I called Lila and told her that I was feeling guilty for not including them. They love each other so much and want to spend every waking moment together, so if for nothing else than to let them ride to Nashville and back in the same car, we decided that taking them was a must. I got online and bought two random tickets just so they'd have a way in, and then we were golden. I'm so glad we took them because it was so worth it to even see their excitement of simply sitting car seat to car seat. They made every step hand in hand and even held hands during the concert. Precious.

I picked Towns up from school Friday afternoon and headed straight to Lila's. The girls were absolutely beside themselves. I was armed with goodie bags filled with snacks, glow bracelets and pink light up wands. J brought Bethany to meet us after her pep rally, and once we were all in the car our husbands sort of shook their heads and gave us a "good luck" before we were Nashville bound. You couldn't have smacked the smiles off of their faces once we got there and were just blocks away from the best night of their lives...

Bethany wouldn't get in that picture, but I convinced her to get in this one...

When I say she was looking cute, I mean she was looking cute.

We heard two opening acts, the second of which I was pretty excited about because they sing two of my favorite songs. Here's one, and here's the other. I didn't realize at the time that's who I was watching...until I heard one of those songs. Hello! The gap between the opening acts and the main event seemed to last for years. We took lots of silly pictures to keep the girls from asking a thousand questions about when they were finally going to see her...

Those two little loves were jumping and screaming for joy every time they heard anyone utter the words Taylor Swift. They were so fun to watch throughout the night. They stood in their seats and sang their hearts out, loving every minute of it.
This one is blurry, but there's a lot of love...

My friend Ginny, her husband, Mary Bibb and Virginia were directly across from us, and we texted our commentary back and forth the whole time. All of our girls were fading fast...they resorted to cotton candy and Coke which is exactly what we should have done. But let me tell you, when the girl finally did take the stage it was no joke. I've always been a self proclaimed Miley Cyrus fan thanks to taking B to her concerts, but after seeing Taylor I'm asking, "Miley who?" and never looking back. She's absolutely the cutest thing I've ever laid eyes on. So genuine and real. And to see her almost in tears because of her hometown crowd's never ending screams was pretty adorable...

After each song she'd just stand there soaking it up. Taking every single second in. She put on a show like I've never seen before. It was simple, yet exquisite. And done just right. B and I jumped up and down and sang along to every word. It was totally surreal to see her standing 100 feet away from us singing all the songs that we've sung many times before in the car while talking about how cool it would be to see her in person. And there we were. Amazing!!

She changed clothes a dozen times and sometimes when she and her dancers literally appeared out of thin air I was a bit dumbstruck. It's like it was magic. I'm still wondering how they did it. She gave us our money's worth, that's for sure...

Not only is she a great performer, she's got to be hands down the best song writer out there. That's pure talent, folks! She tricked us and made us think it was over. If it had been over, we would have definitely left feeling satisfied. But then she came back out and stepped onto this little balcony that carried her all over the arena while she was singing one of my favorites. And it just so happened it brought her literally feet away from us...

That picture makes it look like she was further away than she really was. We were in absolute awe!

About that time confetti started falling and once again we thought it was over. But she came back on with a few famous singers that were a surprise...turns out we should have gone Saturday night because the guest performers were Kenny Chesney and Tim McGraw! She ended the show with Long Live which is one of my favorites. It was a perfect ending to the perfect show.

We finally rolled back into town after 2 a.m. which was right about the time our children caught their second wind. Saturday morning came early, but it was all good because it was birthday party day for Cate. That's a whole other post in itself, though!

Open House & the Open Road

2011-09-15T09:25:00.001-05:00

Monday night I accompanied Towns to Ben Davis' Open House. It was a 45 minute session of her leading me around by the hand showing me anything and everything she could possibly think of. And I loved every minute of it...who knows how much longer she'll be willing and ready to do something like that hand-in-hand! She showed me the art room, the drama room, Spanish room, the lit lab, and we covered every square inch of her classroom. When I'm in her class during the week, I'm usually trying to hurry and get my jobs done and get out as to not disrupt their routine. So it was nice to do just the opposite that night with my little lovey. We sat in the floor and played math games...

We played with these rubber band things that I don't know the name of...

She showed me her math journal...

(She still writes a 6 backwards every single time!)
We played at the art center for a while...

And then as I was going through some of her things, I found this...

It made me smile. Maybe it's because she writes like she talks. You know, just like it sounds. Frand.

And perhaps my favorite is that she only gave the recipient one option...

I didn't get the full story on who she made it for, but I'm glad we're keeping it on the "frand" level rather than the alternative!

Now onto the open road...
One of the things I love about J's job is that it's always a surprise as to what he's going to drive home from work in. Sometimes that means we're riding around in a four door truck to accommodate dog training and motorcycle riding, sometimes we're in a Buick, and then sometimes if we're really lucky he brings home something really cool...

Towns made the comment the other day that she would love to be able to ride in one, and her daddy made it happen. There's something about putting a car seat in the back of a Jeep that just doesn't feel natural. But he's only got it for a few days and we're only riding in town so it's all good! Other than being a little ill about it messing up their hair, they've had a ball with it. B begged me to take her to school the other morning (as opposed to J taking her ) so it wouldn't ruin her freshly straightened 'do. Funny, funny girls!

As long as Buggy has shades on so the sun doesn't get in her eyes, she's good to go...

She thinks she's hot stuff riding around with the top down!

Totally off the subject, but I think I might be the only person in Decatur who has never been to Zen Beri. Until last Sunday after church when the girls and I had the afternoon to ourselves. Towns has been once with her friend Emma and assured me it was worth the trip. We tried six kinds of yogurt which is a tad bit ridiculous, but we just couldn't help ourselves. Our favorite was white chocolate mousse (with cookie dough) and the watermelon sorbet (because it's hot pink). There's never a shortage of laughs when I take these two anywhere...

That usually means we get a lot of stares, but I'm ok with it.
Life's too short to be boring! :)

A Little of This, A Little of That

2011-09-13T14:03:00.005-05:00

Friday was a big day on the home front. It was Grandparent's Day at Ben Davis, and Grandmommy ever so kindly made the long haul to be here as Towns' VIP. I don't use that term lightly because she's about as VIP as you get in little Blondie's world! We had potential to win the award for most grandparents, but we'd seen my dad the weekend before so I didn't burden him with making the trip and Steve was under anesthesia at the hospital so him and my mom coming were out of the question. Towns loved having Grandmommy all to herself. They did roughly twenty laps around the school so she could give her the full tour. I don't think she left a single thing out. Thanks for being here, Grandmommy! It's always a treat...

That afternoon the girls took it upon themselves to give me a makeover. I consented to the hair, but had to draw the line at make-up once I saw what the Joker had done to her own face...

I might be raising two beauty school drop-outs!

After Friday, everything sort of went downhill. I took Towns to an early morning gymnastics session, and when we got home J asked if I could help put the engine back in his motorcycle (he'd had some work done on it) so he could ride Sunday afternoon. The Auburn game started at 11:15 and at 11:20 he decided it was as good a time as any to complete this "little task" as he called it. Three hours and most of the tools hurled into the neighbor's yard out of frustration later, it was done. One thing we are not? Mechanics. But I will admit it was fun tackling a project together...minus the fact that I missed most of the Auburn game. B will tell you she didn't have a good feeling about him riding on Sunday. I pretty much never have a good feeling about it, but it is what it is. So when I got this text Sunday afternoon it proved us both right...
"Bike blew up and then took a 'mild' digger on Kevin's 450. I sent you an injury update on Twitter."
{That's motocross lingo for his engine blowing up (again), him not being quite ready to hang it up for the day, he got on his friend's brand new motorcycle with twice the power as his, and then wrecked it.}
I can laugh about it now. But I read right through him. He was scared to death to call and tell me he'd gotten hurt yet again, so he tweeted it thinking it would soften the blow. Last time he had a bad wreck he called to tell me after a trip to the ER and I lost it. Not too long after that he sent me a picture of him in a sling holding up a sign (that he couldn't write himself because of his broken wrist) that said, "I love you". He had the most pitiful look on his face so it was hard to be too upset about it. I think the thing that gets me the most is the thought of something happening that Neosporin or a surgery won't fix. He never ceases to amaze me. This was his report via Twitter...
"Injuries - knee, eye, collar bone"
What that really meant was:
When I flew off the motorcycle, a foot peg caught my knee, tore it to pieces and there's a gaping hole in it that would greatly benefit from stitches, but I'm too much of a tough guy for that. I have a black eye that will scare the children for the next three days if I so much as look at them. And I can't move my left arm because I've more than likely seriously injured my shoulder, but once again I refuse to go to the doctor because it would probably require surgery and you can hang that up.
A couple of years ago when he almost broke his femur and then last year when he had to get a plate and eleven screws in his wrist because of motocross injuries, he vowed to never do anything that would affect his ability to function in our family. So Sunday when he got home and we nursed his wounds, he was bound and determined to keep it business as usual. He took the girls to the park for over an hour to try to prove he could do it. I let him go thinking he'd be right back home in a matter of minutes. And let's not overlook the fact that he rode a bicycle to the park to further prove he was fine. Later than night Bethany and I came to the conclusion that he must have suffered a serious concussion. Even yesterday I was still a little worried about him because he just wasn't quite right. I know this because I spent a couple of hours with him taking out his engine so he could have it repaired again and he couldn't really complete a thought, much less put it into a sentence. So far, his knee is healing without stitches, he's currently teaching a training class with a swollen black and purple eye, and he yells out in pain when he moves his left shoulder. It's a good thing I love him so much. Tolerance must be my middle name!

In other news, Towns has finally mastered the bracelet making business she set out to start a while back. She still thinks she can set up a table on our front porch and sell them by the dozens to passers by, but I'm trying to convince her that online sales might be better. She knew exactly what she wanted to do. And other than sewing the button on and a few minor little details with the sewing machine that I had to take care of, she did it all on her own...

That's not the clearest of pictures, but it's super cute and I think she might be onto something!
That is, if she can take a break from teaching her "class" long enough to focus on her business...

Maybe she's teaching them a lesson in first aid.
If J keeps it up, we'll need a few more nurses around here...

Labor Day in ATL

2011-09-08T09:15:00.000-05:00

We took our Labor Day celebration on the road this year and ended up in Atlanta for a little baseball and aquarium action. I've been wanting to make the aquarium trip for a while now. The last time we stepped foot in an aquarium was when I was nine months pregnant with Towns and we took Bethany to Chattanooga for a Spring Break get away. While we enjoyed it, it wasn't quite what we had envisioned. From seeing pictures of the one in Atlanta, I knew Bebs would be in heaven because she's always wanted to walk through a tunnel with sea life swimming all around her. She makes me laugh. Towns and Cate have asked questions (without ceasing) ever since our beach trip in August which also happened to be Shark Week on Discovery Channel. They want to know anything and everything about sharks, whales, and dolphins. They want to know how big they are in comparison to our car or house, what they eat, if they'd eat them, how they get around, how they sleep, and everything in between. Thank the Lord, their questions have finally been answered!

On our way into Atlanta, we were desperate to find a good meal to remedy our starvation. We ended up at the original Chick-Fil-A in the middle of what seemed like nowhere. How we got there I'll never know. We stumbled upon it and I probably couldn't get there again. Which would actually be fine, because we thought we were in for a treat and it turned out to be the exact opposite. I love Chick-Fil-A, but I wouldn't be distraught if I never went to that particular one again. However, Bethany loved the waffle she ordered. A waffle? At Chick-Fil-A? It was a safe bet in such an environment. The girls loved it because they had a door just their size...

Once we got settled into our hotel, we were right back out and on the road again. On our way to Turner Field we spotted the cutest thing we've ever laid eyes on...

Towns and Cate decided that they'd be proud to drive that little piece of cotton candy when they're 16. Bethany....not so much! For some reason, I couldn't quit staring. I'm sure the two very masculine women inside would have tackled me if they knew I had been stalking them with my camera for at least five straight minutes. Sort of odd that such women would be driving a baby pink Hummer.

It was a bit of a wild ride to get to the field, and we were so glad to finally be there...

Repeat picture...

Now I've been to a few Braves games in my day, but obviously I haven't been in a while because I hardly recognized the place. Turner Field isn't what it used to be! When I was younger, you only went to watch a baseball game because that's all there was to it. I was amazed at how much more they had to offer this go 'round. Is this what all MLB games are like now? I've missed something along the way. Live music, batting cages, an area just for kids, and everything else you can imagine.

The girls were excited to get their face glammed up for the occasion...

My dad handled the tickets for the Braves game, and when we got to our seats I understood what he meant when he said, "if we're going, we're doing it right." This was our view...

I'm used to the nose bleed section, so this was a major treat!

These were all around us...

We saw ourselves on the jumbo tron a time or two...some people might enjoy that, but I'm not one of them!

There was a lot of fun...

And a lot of laughs...

Towns might want the pink hummer, but Cate found something more her speed (and her size)...

A mini car turned airplane...does it get any better than that?!

Bobby Cox was sitting not too far from us, and this guy on the row in front of us had our children totally captivated...

We sang our hearts out during the 7th inning stretch, and might or might not have danced on our seats during a certain song...

Rest assured that the McClendon girls knew what to do when they heard, "shake, shake, shake - shake, shake, shake - shake your booty" and followed the instructions precisely!

We were close enough to watch Chipper kick some dirt around near 3rd base...

He's been my favorite since his 1995 rookie year...

By the end of the 8th inning, the girls had almost had all they could take but we stayed until the 9th to see a Decatur boy close it out...

We were merely feet from Matt Kemp who's a celebrity in my book because he's dated one (Rihanna). And then there's the All Star player...

Cate couldn't understand why PawPaw's baseball boys weren't the ones playing. She couldn't have cared less about the Braves. She wanted to see the Post 12 players. So she spent most of the game in her daddy's lap or pretending like she was the ticket lady...

Sunday we had a date with some very large sea creatures, but not before we waited for 45 minutes in the rain for what we thought would be a quick bite to eat. Cate's resourceful for her age and found a way to keep from getting wet...

Once we were at the aquarium we had to decide what to do first. Cate was all about the whales, Towns wanted to see sharks, and Bethany just wanted to stand somewhere where there would be fish swimming around and above her. Mission accomplished for Bebs...

They couldn't get over how colorful the fish were. I think we would have put a few hot pink ones in our purse if they would have been able to make the trip. Bethany loved the Dory fish...as in Dory from Nemo.

When we found the whales, the little ones were in awe...

There's something so peaceful about watching them. They would swim right up to the them and touch their bellies to the glass which would send Buggy into fits of laughter. She thought they were so neat.

I loved watching these little guys...

I don't know what these were officially called, but they looked like snakes and totally freaked me out. They'd go in and out of their holes in the sand and I wanted no part of it...

And I just might have a new favorite...

Dragon seahorses...so cute!

We made our rounds to everything and saved the best for last...

Ocean Voyager!

They were loving it, even though in reality we were all spent and ready to head out...

Questions have been answered, sharks and whales have been seen, and I'm hoping the obsession with these things is over until Shark Week 2012...

That's about as close as I ever care to get to them.

Didn't realize how long that was...bless your heart if you're still here.

It's taken me a few days to finish it, so that's a sure sign it's way too long!

School Girl

2011-09-02T09:52:00.002-05:00

After weeks of waiting and lots of anticipation, it's finally Cate's turn in the spotlight. Today is her first day back to school (if you call Mother's Day Out three mornings a week school, and she absolutely does)! She was up before the sun this morning because she was just that excited to be joining her big sisters and becoming a school girl. She put her favorite stuffed animal in her backpack because she didn't have anything else to put in it, and refused to eat breakfast because she was ready to get out the door. Perhaps the excitement stemmed from Wednesday morning when we went to meet her teachers...

(Side note: She's really into posing these days. Can you tell?)
There are a lot of new faces in her class, so she couldn't wait to get there this morning to make a friend or two. It's a big class this year which is a huge change from the past couple of years. Should be fun! She tends to be the mother of the group. I'm not sure if that's because she's the oldest or what, but sometimes it gets her in trouble. Like when she tries to pick the other kids up or feed them a pretend bottle despite the fact they're just as big as she is. Even though she's almost four, she's just now starting the three year old class because of her September birthday. One day being the oldest in the class will work to her advantage, but for right now I'm hoping it doesn't get her sent to the red chair at Mrs. Mandy's desk.
Bless her little motherly heart.

This morning brought the usual 1st day of school pictures...

Bethany and Towns made such a big deal out of it for Cate...so sweet!

Check out this backpack...

I could put her inside it and carry it on my back, but it's the one one she picked so I went with it. Towns has already claimed it as her 2nd grade backpack (because of the organization in the front pockets - she's her mother's child) so we can check that off the list!

Of course, we had to do this before we went inside...

My official 1st day of school photographer is always there when I need her...

Thanks, Mrs. T!

These two monkeys were the first ones to class...

I left wondering if Mrs. Jennifer and Mrs. Anne know what they've signed up for!

Meanwhile, I've been pacing around the house not knowing what to do with myself. This morning is the first time since the end of last school year that I've been alone and I'm not sure how I feel about it. Cate's been my sidekick, partner in crime, and whatever else you can think of. She's great entertainment and is the sweetest little thing when it's just the two of us. Somehow I'll manage to make it until 12:30 when I get to pick her up...

Queen of the Remote

2011-09-01T11:06:00.001-05:00

Towns has become a remote control hog. Her reading skills have improved and she's capable of figuring out Direct TV, so she's officially put herself in charge of the comote control (as Buggy calls it). She even takes it with her when she leaves the living room to prevent any of us from changing the channel without her approval. She's also blonde and a little silly. Sometimes I think she'd lose her head if it wasn't attached, but I love her just the same. Blondie took it with her Sunday afternoon to do whatever it was she got up to do and couldn't remember where she'd put it. After what seemed like hours of turning the house upside down and retracing her steps, this is where I found it...

Little did she know she was telling on herself. The remote was in the freezer because she was sneaking popsicles for herself and her sister.
The queen of the remote is going to be the death of me yet...

Chocolate Covered Everything

2011-08-29T11:02:00.000-05:00

The girls and I spent yesterday afternoon in the kitchen covering everything in chocolate. I mean, can you think of a better way to spend a Sunday afternoon? Pretty sure I can't. It started with strawberries, and then we kept finding reasons to dip anything and everything in our chocolate. We didn't stop there. It wouldn't be a party without sprinkles! I have a thing for sprinkles. They just make me happy...maybe because they're so colorful? We didn't get double boiler fancy with our chocolate, though. We went the quick and easy route (that made for an easier clean-up as well)...

I voted for rainbow sprinkles, but I was outnumbered by two little girls who are obsessed with whatever holiday is coming next...

Halloween sprinkles it was! Never mind the fact that Halloween is two months away. The girls base everything around holidays and what time of year it is. Since summer is technically over, that obviously means Halloween is right around the corner. :)

How can it be that my children are so into shoes and want to own every pair they see, but then don't ever want to wear them? Case in point...

I escorted them into church Sunday morning with shoes, but they came out barefoot. Both of them!

Mrs. Propst tells me Towns stays barefoot in her classroom, but that she can hardly get onto her for it because she'd rather be barefoot herself. Now church is one thing, but not wearing shoes at school sort of makes me nauseous. We had numerous conversations before school started about keeping shoes on at school because I had a feeling it might become an issue. And it has, of course.

I just realized I'm going in reverse order of our weekend.
We'll roll with it.

Saturday morning was one I'd been looking forward to for a while. My good friend Blazer, or Elizabeth if you're not on board with calling everyone by their last names, and her husband Blake are expecting twins and a shower was definitely in order! I vividly remember multiple conversations while at Auburn about baby names. She picked Palmer and Price from the start, and it's so exciting that Palmer and Price will now make their grand entrance in a few short months. There was no shortage of good food, good conversation, and great friends...

And how cute is this?!

Our crew plus four, no make that five (can you guess who the other one is?), little ones you can't see in their mamas' bellies...

I love those girls! They make me laugh like no other. And after all these years (thirteen to be exact) it feels like old times when we're all together again.
We still affectionately call each other Roommate...

Always have, always will I'm sure!
Ever since I've known Blazer, she's been the ultimate celebrity guru. I had to smile when I was seated at our table and in front of me was a quiz that listed twins and you had to guess which celebrity they belong to. She must have rubbed off on me, because I am proud to admit that I knew almost all of the answers without cheating and Googling them!

These girls are also near and dear...

Blazer's roommates. I adopted them, or maybe they adopted me. When I talk about them, their names come out in one word...NinaStephandErin. You don't get one without the other! I should have put them in that order before we took the picture. Here it's Erin, Steph, me, Blazer and Nina. They flew in from Jacksonville for the shower...so fun! The five of us spent a glorious week in Paris during Spring Break of our senior year at Auburn. Oh the memories (and stories)...

One more outside shot before it was time to depart...

Minus the star of the show - Blazer you must have been inside?! Price and Palmer got so many goodies that were to die for. And don't for one second think they won't come into the world not knowing what an owl is. They will be outfitted, bibbed, and everything else in owls! Sweet little Chi O babies, God love them!
I'm so happy for you, Blazer. I can't wait to meet the newest members of the Sloan family!

Friday afternoon was a big one. Grandmommy and Pop came to visit, and Bethany had her first pep rally. The Decatur vs. Austin pep rally had a Jersey Shore theme which never disappoints. Poofy hair and fist pumps were the name of the game. And you better believe that Bethany had it down pat. It takes major talent to fist pump in a full extension...

I love that picture. Even though you can't see her face, you can see the crowd is totally following her lead. And a certain someone is fixated on her, but he shall remain nameless!
After the pep rally, the minutes seemed like hours while we were waiting for Grandymommy and Pop to arrive. They are always so sweet and do whatever the girls want to do. That includes being up at 5:30 on a Saturday morning and at the park by 6:15. Now that's love, folks!

This morning we pulled out the pink cowgirl boots...

The second it hits low 60's in the mornings we just can't help ourselves. It did just that this morning with a cool, crisp 62 degrees. I do believe that Fall (albeit subtly) is in the air...

I've Become One of Them...

2011-08-25T21:42:00.002-05:00

Soccer Mom, (sok-er mom) n. 1. A woman who spends a significant amount of her time transporting her school-age children to their sporting events or other activities.

Webster's doesn't recognize this lingo, but Wikipedia does.

It also goes on to say:

The phrase soccer mom generally refers to a married middle-class woman who lives in the suburbs and has school age children. She is sometimes portrayed in the media as busy or overburdened and driving a minivan.

Now I wouldn't necessarily say that I'm overburdened and haven't run out to purchase a minivan, but I've definitely felt like the epitome of a soccer mom since school started. And my children don't even play the sport. I've never done as much running around as I have in the past two weeks. I just thought we were busy before...little did I know what I was in store for. Morning drop off, mid-morning trips back to school for a meeting, carpool line in the afternoons, dropping off at dance class, picking up from cheer practice, etc. It's never ending! As tiring as it can sometimes be, I have a sneaking suspicion that when everyone is grown I'll miss these crazy days. Besides, if we didn't have a thing to do I'm pretty sure we'd be bored to tears! A good friend of mine is PTA president at the magnet school this year and has ever so kindly pulled me in. I don't mind that one bit if it means being at Towns' school as much as I possibly can. We've been there for PTA meetings, getting folders stuff for such meetings, helping on school picture day, and tomorrow I'll be the official popcorn popper. I'm incredibly thankful that working from home allows me to do just that, though. On the flip side, I might just have to do lots more work in the wee hours of the morning than I did circa PTA. Cate's been the ultimate trooper and already feels right at home at Ben Davis. She waltzes in and out of Mrs. Propst's room like she's been doing it all of her life, and Towns absolutely loves us being there all the time. I'm wondering how long of a shelf life that will have. The other day she screamed, "Mommy!" and ran to give me a hug when I went into her classroom to help her teacher hang some artwork. Afterwards, J and I had a long phone conversation as he prepared me for the day that I wouldn't get such a warm welcome. For now I'm soaking it up. Before long it will be a completely different story!

And I definitely know that taking pictures of my baby girl and her friends at school will eventually be a thing of the past...

How cute are they?!

Speaking of picture day, I realized after the fact Towns' ribbon was sticking straight out...

Hoping the picture guy fixed that before before the one and only snapshot he took?!

We might have been semi-permanent fixtures at the school, but don't let that fool you. Cate and I have had our fair share of quality time with the older girls gone all day. Trying to get anything done around the house or any work accomplished is a thing of the past. You can hang it up. This chick wants to be either on my hip, hanging from my leg, or in my lap at all times...

She's pretty funny, too. The other day she told me she loved me. I asked her how much. She said, "well actually I love you like fifty howas." That's hours. I assumed that was a lot, but I didn't dare ask.

I don't complain for one second about her always wanting to be attached to me in some form or fashion. She's so tiny, and I can't very much help wanting to scoop her up and carry her everywhere. One might question if she's even capable of using her feet. She is. I just don't want her to.

Today we had to take care of a few things at Bridge Street...

One of the things on our list was a stop at the carousel.

My Buggy had it all to herself and picked the zebra...

Three cookies and a carousel token...

She's a cheap (and sweet) date!

Happy weekend from one soccer mom to another...

JUG Summer Formal

2011-08-22T09:33:00.001-05:00

After such a fun and full weekend, it was hard to get going this morning. I sure wasn't ready to rise and shine so early, but if I'm not up and getting Towns ready for school no one else is going to do it for me! As you can tell, we're still adjusting to having to be somewhere at a given time to avoid a tardy. Last year kindergarten started at 8:30 which was much easier to be on time for - and if we were a few minutes late it was perfectly fine. Such a stark contrast this go 'round!

Friday night Bethany had a night with her friends which left us with two little girls who haven't quite gotten the concept that it's ok for their big sister to do things with other people. They're a little territorial! So we had dinner and a movie...complete with Towns and Cate giving me a pedicure. One foot was covered in gold polish with white polka dots (Towns' choice) and the other was lavender with hot pink streaks that were supposed to be polka dots (Cate's choice). The beauty of being really tired while that was going on is telling myself I'd take it off in the morning, which I forgot to do. I went all over town the next day sporting such a fancy pedicure and didn't realize it until mid-afternoon. Saturday was all about Bethany and helping her get ready for JUG formal that night. Not only did she need a formal dress (for lead out), but she also needed a party dress (for band party) as well. You would think I'd have that down by now, but I didn't even think about it until she reminded me Saturday morning. So we set out to find the perfect party dress. We scored big with a cute one that only needed to be altered two sizes to make it fit. My sewing kit is obviously my new best friend these days. Somehow we made it work, and it fit like a glove. She was armed and dangerous with two perfect dresses for the night! She got dolled up and was a knock out, as usual. I think her date should consider himself a lucky fellow...

A little closer up...

She pushed him out of the way to get a solo shot...

Kidding. Well, almost! One more of the two of them...

Lead out was at Mallard Farms which is one of our favorite spots in Decatur. Despite the sweltering heat and humidity, it made the perfect backdrop. All the JUG girls...

B and her sophomore friends...

While we were waiting for it to start, the girls found a friend and they fed the ponies boat loads of hay...

And finally, it was time...

I've yet to figure out my camera and didn't get the best action shots, but I still think she's pretty even when she's blurry...

Once lead out was over, it was time to let loose and dance the night away. And after hearing her recap of the night, I think it's safe to say she very much enjoyed herself!

Oh, to be a teenager again...

Football Frenzy

2011-08-19T10:13:00.001-05:00

Football is the name of the game once school starts. Or more specifically, cheerleading is the name of the game. Whoever said it's not a sport hasn't had three hours of practice daily nor cheered in the heat and humidity for four long quarters. After all, what would a football game be without cheerleaders? And maybe I'm a little biased, but I think Decatur has the best ones around. Last Friday night was Meet the Raiders where Bethany performed and the girls got to show the crowd what they learned at the cheer camp back in July. They thought they were something else being down on the field where their big sister was...

After they did their thing, the announcer said their names over the loudspeaker and they were supposed to wave when their name was called. Cate was oblivious, but Towns wasn't missing her name for anything...

That night was huge for Bethany. She and her stunt group were chosen to be front and center during their halftime performance. B's an incredible flyer and she means business. She and her group have worked so hard to be good at what they do, and it paid off Friday night...

They totally nailed it, rocked it, and anything else you want to call it! We were SO proud!!

Last night was another football affair when Decatur played Muscle Shoals in an exhibition game. All of the cheerleaders (9th grade, JV and Varsity) cheered and did a great job. B was right in front of the student section, so I would sooner die than have my camera in her face! I didn't come home with any pictures of her cheering, but I did sneak a few of the girls with Emma Hensley and Mary-Reed...

Of course they're all a blur because they didn't stop moving the whole night. They kicked their shoes off and cheered their hearts out!

And Towns gave lessons on her daddy's iPhone...

Emma Hensley listened intently...so cute!

It's Friday and that can only mean one thing...

Those two cuties survived their first week of school! We might just have a party this afternoon. I think everyone is down right exhausted from this week being such a stark contrast to our summer routine. Towns and I have a deal about what she wears to school. I pick out her clothes Monday-Thursday and she gets to pick out what she wears on Fridays. Her friend Emma has the same "BFF's rock" shirt, and they had planned to match today. That's the epitome of 1st grade excitement! Not to mention today is popcorn day at school. I mean, does it really get any better than that? Actually it does...it's JUG formal weekend! We'll be primping it up with B tomorrow which gets me excited just thinking about it. Happy Friday!

Peace, Love, 1st Grade

2011-08-17T09:32:00.001-05:00

Go ahead. Just give us a reason throw a party and we're all over it. The April tornadoes squelched our desire to have Towns' birthday party (it didn't help that we still didn't have power on party day), and for a laundry list of reasons we never found a great time to reschedule. We were originally supposed to have a painting party that my good friend Jess puts on. She's so creative, organized, and amazing with kids which obviously means she's the perfect party planner. I told her that I'd get the canvases prepped and ready to go for our April party. In fact, I put all three girls to work painting those canvases a pretty shade of pink right after I rescued them from school the day the tornadoes hit. They've been sitting here collecting dust ever since, so there was no doubt we needed to remedy that. And we did just that with a belated birthday/back to school party Sunday afternoon! Towns loves to get a party going, so she was so excited to help me get everything set up. She brought her CD player outside with the perfect party mix music which eventually turned into a full on dance party. And everyone knows you can't concentrate on painting without tons of candy surrounding you to keep you motivate...

Or so said the six year old. She picked colorful Skittles, Pixie Sticks, Laffy Taffy and gumballs. Yum!

Someone once told me that peace signs are all the rage in 1st grade, so that's exactly what we decided to paint...

Towns and Madelyn...

They painted, took a candy break, painted some more, you get the idea...

Bethany was my go-to girl Sunday afternoon. She's such a sport!

Blondie takes painting so seriously...

Everyone else was finished, but she took her dear, sweet time!

She was done at the first talk of opening presents, though...

As if the girls hadn't had enough sweets, it was time for cupcakes and ice cream...

And what would a party be without something fun for our friends to take home?

Peace, Love, 1st Grade shirts!

After the party, Jess worked her magic on the paintings and got them ready for us to deliver to our friends...

How frilly and cute are they?! What's even better is that they're ready to be hung in the perfect spot.
Thanks Jess...the party was a hit!
Can't think of a better way to ring in the 1st grade year!