Thanksgiving at Annette's house

I haven't blogged in forever!!...so now I'm going to try and catch up a bit.

We spent Thanksgiving at Annette's house in Georgia.  She has a big place and is able to fit everyone...which is always the problem when we all get together.

One of the kids favorite thing to do at Aunt Nettie's house is climb the trees...she lives on 4 acres in the country so we just let them go out and play all day....nice.

The adults were together...the older kids together...and the younger kids together...and everyone was happy!  We had some great food too.  Mom's squash casserole is always a hit and we had some really good deserts this time.

kids just love my Dad...who is really just a kid in a big body!

Ahhh....the old family game of kickball.  I'm trying to remember who got hit in the face this time. We had so much fun playing kickball.  The kids have a blast and we adults got a little too competitive, as usual.  It was great.

Ok, I had really good intentions of taking a good pic of all the kids outside all clean and dressed up...obviously that did not happen.  So, here is a pic of all our dirty, smelly kids at the end of the weekend.

The top pic is me, Rick, and Savannah (who didn't know what to think about all these people).  The bottom pic is Mary's man Travis (who we all love and think fits great in the family) and Neil.  Travis is Neil's new BFF...I think Travis wrestled with Neil once and then Neil wouldn't leave him alone.

Trip to Atlanta

I went to Atlanta last month to visit my sister, Stephanie.  She has 2 girls the same ages as 2 of my girls...so I just took those 2.  My other 2 kids thought that was mean of me, but too bad.  I loved just having 2 kids to worry about...it was like a vacation for me.

The little ones had fun together...when they weren't trying to crawl or walk on each other or hit each other in the face.

It was freezing up there...and rainy.  We had promised the older girls we would go to the fair and we did but it was about 42 degrees and drizzling rain.  So...Steph and I just camped out under the big pavillion and let the 11 year olds ride some rides while we just talked and took care of the babies.

 

My sister's daughter Marlee, left, is hilarious.  She always looks ticked off even when she is perfectly happy.  She always has her little lip sticking out...so cute.  Below is an up close look at 'the lip'.

Marlee aka "The Lip".

Here's the 11 year olds, Auburn and Elise, thinking they are hot stuff because they got to go do the rides on their own.

Here they are again...wet and cold and happy!

Neil's new crush

I started noticing that Neil was talking an awful lot about a little girl in his preschool class named Evee (they are all 4-5 years old). The new thing on the playground is for the boys to chase the girls...and Neil is fascinated with this girl that runs so fast he can't catch her. He's told me at least 5 times how, "Evee is soooo fast!...I can't even catch her!". Apparently this is impressive to Neil and he finally told me how much he really likes her.

We were lying in my bed waiting for Rick to get home. Neil wasn't tired because I let him nap way too long during the day. Anyway, he started talking about chasing the girls again...with a huge smile on his face. Then he says, "Warner has a girlfriend." So I say, "really?". And then he says, "I had a dream that I kissed Evee (looking embarrassed with a big smile on his face)". I said, "Oh really??...do you really like her?" And he says, "Yes, she's pretty..." and I add, "...and super fast." It was so cute because I could tell he liked talking to me about it but was also embarrassed at the same time. Then he says, "I want to marry her." (He's fascinated with marriage and is always jealous that Rick and I are married and he is not). Then he says, "I can pick whoever I want to marry, right?" And I said yes. So, he says, "So, I can marry (holding a finger up for each girl he names) Maddy or Anna Jewel or Evee or Kaylee...this many girls right?" I remind him he can only pick one so he says, "then I pick Evee". So cute. I love that little boy so much. This morning he tells me what he told me about Evee is his secret and I can't tell (...so instead I just blog it to all my friends and family)

Neil's sports debut...

If you know my husband you know that he is a huge sports fan.  He not only likes sports but he plays lots of sports...I say he plays year round but he quickly corrects me and says he does not play year round because he doesn't play in the summer...whatever, he plays flag football in the fall, basketball in the winter, and softball in the spring.  And come to think of it, he usually starts training for some marathon in the summer...so I guess I'm right after all :)

Anyway...we had 2 girls before we had Neil and now that Rick has a boy and now that he is 4 Rick has been dying to get him on some sports team...doesn't matter what sport.  Well, the city wouldn't let him start Neil a year early for flag football (although Rick certainly tried)...Neil and Rick were very disappointed.  But no fear...Rick's good friend Ben let him know that the YMCA has a soccer league for 3-4 year olds.  So, of course, Rick's comes home, walks through the door and immediately tells Neil he get to play soccer...Neil is, of course, soooo excited because he is already just as obsessed as his Dad.  Did I mention Rick didn't bother asking his wife if she was okay with this...just for the record I would have said yes, but it would have been nice to have a choice about whether to add one more activity to our already very busy schedule. So, now Neil is playing soccer and Rick is the assistant coach. 

Neil was so excited about playing that he talked about it for days and couldn't wait.  Poor little guy...the first game was at 12pm and it was sooooo hot.  His excitement quickly turned to a look of 'this is not at all what I thought it would be like' look.  He ran around and did great but he was HOT and so tired by the end.  He kicked the ball a few times and even broke away from the group once and was running toward the goal and about to kick the ball in to score when his own team mate ran up and pushed him down from behind...you should have seen the look on Neil's face when he whipped his head around to see who pushed him down.  I felt so bad for him...and I wanted to do something not so nice to the other boy who stole his moment of glory.  But that is what it's like playing soccer in a 3-4 year old league...all they do is run around and push each other and try to kick the ball.  It is definately every man for himself out there.

They all hold hands at the begining and learn a little sportmanship lesson...it's really cute.  They forget what they were told as soon as the whistle blows.

Here's Neil playing goalie...his face is so red, poor guy, he was sweating so bad and I think the ball came toward him once and basically stopped as it got to him...although I like to pretend that he made a great stop.

Okay...I was very impressed with my action shot here with the camera.  It may not look like they are in the middle of the game but they are...even though some kids are facing the wrong way...one boy is taking off his shirt.  Actually, the coaches are on the field running around with the kids and coaching them while being in the game with them.  It's cute.

35 years old today...

30 didn't bother me at all...I'm not saying that 35 is bothering me...but I will admit it hurts a little more than last year.  I guess I can't keep telling myself I'm in my early thirties, although my Mom informed me that 33 was mid-thirties I was content to think that you weren't mid-thirties until 35.  Whatever.  Rick is 9 months older than me and always lumps me in with his age so to him I've been 35 all year...thanks hon.  Time seems to be going by faster these days (a sure sign that you are getting older). 

I hear that in your thirties you start caring less and less what other people think of you...I can say that that statement is true for me.  In my twenties that dominated my life!  But now, not so much.  I do things more for me and don't worry as much what others say or think...I said 'as much'...I still care more than I'd like to...maybe by 40.

My BFF took me to breakfast this morning.  What a good friend.  We had a good time.  I see how having several good girlfriends makes your life more fun and less stressful...thanks girls. 

I'm going to do a little shopping, for myself, and enjoy the day.

My First 5K

Rick was all about getting me to start doing races.  So, he found a 5K here in town on Labor Day morning that we decided to run together.  I had already run 3 miles a couple of times so I knew that I could at least make it through without dying.  I was going to shoot for a 9 minute/mile pace...that didn't happen, but I was close.  We did make it under 30 minutes...I ran so slow the first half worried that I would burn out half way through...then I realized how slow I was going so I sped up the second half of the race and had to sprint the last stretch to make it under 30 minutes.  Rick ran with me, what a nice guy.  Everytime I looked over at him he looked like he was barely running.  I kept wondering if it was more torturous for him to go slow than at his normal speed.  He didn't complain and was very supportive.  I actually enjoyed the race.  I was fine afterwards which only let me know I could have gone faster.  My kids were there with my mother-in-law, cheering me on.  I had my own cheering section at the finish line.  I can say now that I see why people get into running.  I'm not saying I want to do any long distances like Rick does, but maybe a 10K down the road. 

Way to watch her Daddy....

Neil was wanting to watch TV with Rick so I put a towel and his bowl of spaghetti on the chair in the living room so he could eat and watch TV with his Dad...no big deal.  I asked Rick to watch the baby so I could take a quick shower.  He agreed, while watching ESPN (big mistake).  So, I get out of the shower and hear Rick saying, "Oh no!"  so I go into the living room to find what you see above.  Savannah was so proud of herself.  I took her away...expecting Rick to start cleaning it up.  Instead he kept watching ESPN.  I nicely ask if he is going to clean it up and he replies that he feels it was really my fault for giving Neil spaghetti in the first place.  Nice.  After explaining to him that part of 'watching the baby' was keeping her from doing something like that, he cleaned it up for me...but not before I took a picture. 

Nina's "Spa" Birthday Party

Coming up with good birthday party ideas for my kids is really quite painful for me.  I really just want a simple party with a few friends...is that asking too much??  My husband thinks I should go all out for the kids every year...of course he does!  I'm the one who does all the work!

Well, this year Nina's party was pretty simple and she loved it.  I picked her up at school along with 5 of her friends and we went out to my mother-in-law's house.  The ride out (about 20 minutes) and back was probably one of the favorite times of the party.  The girls were all singing along to the Taylor Swift CD...at the top of their cute little lungs I might add.  It was hillarious.

So, we did a "spa party" theme.  Not a bad idea.  They wore their PJ's and we soaked their feet, massaged their feet with lotion, painted their toe nails and fingernails and even added little stickers on top.  I even clipped a lot of their crazy looking toe nails.  They loved it and felt very pampered.  I had two helpers, my mother-in-law Lynda and my daughter Auburn. 

Cute huh?  This doesn't even show all the fingernails!  We were doing all this in my mother-in-law's large master bathroom...as to avoid any spills on her nice floors.

Here's the whole crew...boy are these girls little drama queens!  You should hear the earful I get everyday after school about the drama on the playground...can't wait till the teen years!

She loves her Papa...

Savannah Lee...we gave her the same middle name as her Papa and boy did we do the right thing there.  He loves that little girl so much.  Whenever we go to their house he takes Savannah on a walk around their property and down to the lake, carrying her on his shoulders like this.  She loves it!  And, he always takes her during the hour at church when I teach a class and she just smiles so big whenever he comes to get her.  I love the pride on his face when he walks back into the meeting with her asleep in his arms...not an easy task to do because she is one of those babies who only likes to fall asleep in her own bed.  So, Ken gets major props for being such a great Papa!

Melina's Baptism

Melina was baptized this past Saturday.  She was so excited...it was really cute.  She was definately expecting a big turn out for the big day.  Thankfully she had a lot of friends and family there to support her.  She had the biggest smile all day long.  We are really proud of her, she is such a good little girl!

Beach Trip

The kids and I went to the beach with my mom and some of my sisters and their kids for about 4 days...we had 5 adults and 10 kids...which may not sound like bad odds but let's just say that around the 3rd day we all decided that next year we would be bringing the husbands to help out with the kids!

Here's my kiddos with their sunburned faces...curse you mom and dad for our pale skin!

Here's Granny taking a stroll with the grandkids...the lighting was perfect that evening and we got a lot of great shots.

Even the birds were cooperating with my photo shoot!

I think Leah was telling off the lazy boys...go girl!

Here's the 3 oldest cousins...they think they are so cool.

Here's me (left) with a few of my sisters...Mary (who was 9 months pregnant and had her baby 2 days later...Brody! Brody!)...then Adrienne, a.k.a. Aunt Agie, and lastly Annette, a.k.a. Aunt Nettie. By the way, I'm glad someone was watching the kids in the background...we were too worried about looking good for the pics! The waves were actually pretty big for the east coast...there was that tropical storm out there somewhere so we got quite a few big waves.

I will miss this walk...not much better in life than going to the beach.

Here's me with my little beach boy...he loved the beach and wanted to be out there nonstop.

Annette and I are trying to pull off a good pic for the photo albums...we opted for the sitting down pose versus the standing pose which doesn't leave much room for hiding areas we may still be working on after having a baby...

We couldn't keep these 5 out of the water!

First Word..."Mama"

Surprise surprise...her first word was "mama", I wonder how that came about. She says it all the time now and it is, of course, so cute. She is also starting to scoot across the floor. Gone are the easy days of sitting her in the middle of the living room floor with a few toys and going about my business. Now I have to actually watch her all the time.

Skating Rink

Yesterday my sister Adrienne and I took my kids to the skating rink. Neil is getting better...he actually rolls some now instead of just taking baby steps. Check out the carpet at the skating rink...I believe it glows in the dark...oh, the memories of going to the skating rink in middle school. My girls are pretty good at it. I manage to get around the rink without looking too clumsy. Although, look at how big my roller blades look in this picture...wow, I've never been so aware of how large my size 9 feet look!

Little helpers in the kitchen

I was making homemade chicken noodle soup last night and Neil came in wanting to "help" me make dinner. He asked so sweetly I couldn't resist. So, he pulled a chair up and began dumping things into the pot and stirring it around for me. I thought he would last about 5 minutes and then get bored and run off and play...not so. He stuck it out till the bitter end. (Nice Batman tatoos huh?...He thinks he is pretty cool with those on his arm (thanks aunt nettie). He keeps going around without his shirt on to show them off) ...Oh, looking closer at the pic I notice his face is dirty...and I don't think I made him wash those grimy little boy hands before he started helping, nice.

He wasn't the only "helper" I had in the kitchen...Savannah was close by invading the 'I don't have a place for it anywhere else' drawer, don't worry I was watching her...most of the time. And she was in heaven with all the clinking and noise that stuff was making as she tried to grab anything those little fingers could reach. Unfortunately she dropped and broke the only ladle I own so dishing out the soup became a little more challenging.

Look at that proud face! He even built up a good sweat in the kitchen. Maybe he will be a little cook...his future wife will be so grateful to me. I would have been thrilled if Rick had been taught to cook (no offense Lynda...or Rick). Not that I mind cooking...just would have been nice... :)