THE WILSON CREW

Boy vs. Wild

2012-01-28T20:58:00.000-08:00

For NoBo's 8th Birthday we had a Boy vs. Wild survival party. It was kind of a last minute theme, but it turned out great and was a perfect theme for little boys! Notice the Eagles nest and "eggs".

Here are some of the decorations.

Of Course you can't go without survival juice or water!

The kids are getting their survival kits, and taught how to use them.

"Hunting" for food.

Learning how to start a fire without matches.

NoBo and his good friend sitting around the fire.

We had to have a dirt cake being out in the wild and all! Complete with rocks and deer droppings!

Thanksgiving

2012-01-24T21:04:00.000-08:00

Team Us

Team Them

We were so lucky to have (almost) all of my family come and visit us for Thanksgiving. It was such a wonderful day with lots of good food, football, and a walk on the Shoreline trail at Talullah Falls. We played our traditional Thanksgiving day football game...yes that is a football field you see painted on our side yard!

Please, please, please vote!!!

2011-12-03T22:33:00.000-08:00

Pumpkin A


Pumpkin B

Okay, so I know that nobody has Halloween on their minds, and it is long gone. Well, and so is Thanksgiving for that matter, and we are moving into Christmas, but..... I will be in big trouble if I don't post this blog and get votes. We had our annual pumpkin carving contest again, and we need you to vote for which one you like the best. Of course both teams want bragging rights for the next (almost) year, and only you can decide which team is the winner of the 2011 pumpkin carving contest!!!

Save me here and vote so I won't be accused of cheating or not wanting to enter into the competition!
I promise I will post more often if you do!!! Just put either A or B in the comment section! Thank you, thank you!!!

A little creepy!

2011-11-03T09:04:00.000-07:00

		This was the scene
when I went upstairs


to tuck everyone in!!!

Crazy sock day!

2011-10-29T15:25:00.000-07:00

I love me some crazy sock wearing boys!

(Pipi was in a foul mood and decided not to wear hers)

A boy, a book, and a big heart!

2011-10-28T21:23:00.000-07:00

Here's a good story about this sweet little boy! First of all let me tell you that I fall in love with him all over again every day! Just look at the face.

A couple of weeks ago his class went to the library to check out a book. J.J. had forgotten to bring his in that day, but looked around anyway. He found a book that he wanted, and the library assistant said she would put it behind the counter for him until he brought his book back.

The next week he walked into the library, turned in his book, and looked around. The assistant saw him and asked if he still wanted to get the book he picked out last time. His shy little self just shook his head yes.

Well this sweet little angel checked out this book for his princess loving twin sister!!! Remember they can only check out one book! When I heard this story my heart just melted. This boy is such a precious gift, and oh how he loves his sister!!! All I have to say is watch out boys you will have to get past J.J. first!

A quick update...

2011-10-06T21:42:00.000-07:00

...Please don't give up on me in the blogging world! I am still here, but just overwhelmed with how far behind I have gotten. I thought I would post a quick update of our crazy life right now (okay we are always crazy)!

This picture made me laugh out loud when I saw it. First of all who is that GIANT all over my boy, second what exactly is she doing, lastly why is the ball behind them??? Thought you might find it funny too! No-Bo is enjoying soccer this fall and keeps us busy on Mondays, Thursdays, and Saturdays. He is 7 and is playing in a U10 league because we wanted him to have that coach! I think he is doing well holding his own, and his skills are getting so good!


She strikes again...I think he's got this one this time!!!


...and one more time (I even have another picture with her trying to get the ball from him, but I will spare you)!

This boy LOVES playing football!!! He really can not get enough of it! He starts about a hour before we need to leave getting everyone ready! We run the roads on Mondays, Tuesdays, and Thursdays for his practices and games. His team is doing very well and will play in playoffs next week. He actually scored his first touchdown tonight!!! I love this boy and his work ethic...many lessons to be learned from him!

These two sweet monkeys are just along for the ride! It is a good thing that they are laid back and just go with the flow because I drag them all over the place! What in the world will I do when they are involved in activities??? It is a good thing that they have each other for company. God really does know what he is doing!


This was taken today! It is the quiet before the storm in which most people call Thursday night. For us it was a football game in one place, soccer practice in another, dinner fixed and wrapped up so we could eat in the car on the way, finish football game, pick up soccer player, eat again, shower, and rush to bed kind of night!!!

(secretly I love every minute of it)

Oh that JJ smile!

2011-09-05T22:06:00.000-07:00

You can not help but to smile when you look at this boy!!! Love, love, love him!!!

5 year olds!

2011-05-19T20:05:00.000-07:00

Happy Birthday to our precious 5 year olds Pipi and J.J.!

Snaggle

2011-05-12T21:59:00.000-07:00

It has taken a while for No-Bo's teeth to start falling out, but he is loosing them every other day now! Love to hear him talk without his front teeth!

Our soon to not be 4 year olds!

2011-05-10T21:41:00.000-07:00

WARNING...PICTURE OVERLOAD!!! These two are almost five years old, and just absolutely precious together. I couldn't decide which pictures I liked the best, so instead of deciding I just added them all...it is after all my blog!!! I wish that I could bottle them up and keep them this way forever! I guess you can tell who the boss is in these pictures.

Pre-school graduates

2011-05-08T20:38:00.000-07:00

Pipi and JJ attended the most wonderful preschool at the high school this year. They do such an amazing job, and I am sad that I no longer have little ones to send there. Most mornings they would get to ride to school with Jeff, and I would pick them up after their "lunch bunch". They put on an end of year program that was so sweet. This year is was a nursery rhyme theme.

Look who had to attend the ceremony! Schweetheart and Schweetheart had a front row seat!

Pipi won the wittiest award, and JJ won the best comedian award...those two together are trouble!

Can't you just see them at their high school graduation???

Here is the class with all of the interns. They really get attached to the preschoolers.

Just a snippet of some of the program.

Well it is off to Kindergarten for these too!!!

Easter 2011

2011-04-24T20:58:00.000-07:00

Soccer, soccer, soccer...

2011-04-22T20:07:00.001-07:00

...is all we have been doing lately!!! I helped coach soccer this spring at the high school for my 3rd year, so I have been busy with that since January. Our season ended on Monday with a 9-0 win! I can't lie and say that it hasn't been nice being home in the afternoons again. Getting out of the house in the afternoons is always kind of hectic. Jeff has to run pick up the big boys from school, and then get home in time for me to rush off to practice. Lets just say it is nice to have that chunk of time back!

L.C. is playing soccer again this spring on a U12 team. He is doing great and enjoys playing up with the bigger boys. He is so much fun to watch play. That boy never stops moving out on the field. Even when he is not involved in a play is bouncing up and down!

No-Bo is also involved in soccer on a U10 team as a 7 year old, so he is playing up too! It has been very exciting watching him play...he is pretty fast. This is his first time playing an organized sport (I hold them off in being involved in anything as long as possible because one day all 4 kids will be going in different directions, and I will have to save my sanity for then!), and I think he is really enjoying being part of the team. This video shows him scoring a goal. He is on the #65 on the blue team.

I think that they both play into May, so we have a few more hectic weeks of shuttling them around and trying to figure out how we can get who where! I am so looking forward to the lazy days of summer!!!

Wacky Wednesday!

2011-04-20T20:23:00.000-07:00

This is

what

Wacky

Wednesday

looks

like!!!

Math Fest

2011-04-16T21:03:00.000-07:00

L.C. was selected from his school to attend the state mathfest, so a couple of weeks ago we traveled down to The World Congress Center in Atlanta to watch him compete. I have to admit I wasn't too thrilled about "watching" kids do math problems, but I was blown away when I got there at what a big deal it was. They said they had over 8,000 kids competing that day!

Here is just a snap shot of the mass of people that were there.

These are the 4th grade tables competing. This is how many kids there were at the beginning. Can you spot my smart boy?

This is how many kids were left when L.C. got out of the competition. He was 1 question away from getting to go the the regional competition. We are very proud of him...and he says he is not good at math!!!

Ahrr me matey!

2011-04-14T20:48:00.000-07:00

These two cuties melt my heart everyday. They are so precious together. I wish that I could video all of their interactions with each other. They truly have a special bond! On this day they decided to dress as pirates and went into the woods to set up camp. Love, love, love them!!!!

3 boys and a girl

2011-04-11T20:07:00.000-07:00

My little carpenter

2011-03-22T06:46:00.000-07:00

So the other day I was inside doing some things and I heard all this hammering going on outside. I knew that the little ones were out there, but I just went about my business (I know I am a bad mother for not checking, but that is what happens to the 3rd and 4th child...you lighten up quite a bit). A little while later J.J. came inside and said he made something he wanted me to see!

Don't you just love it! It made my heart melt when he said "Look Mom, I made a cross." I love this boy more that words and tell!!! I sure hope that he takes after his Papa and his woodworking!

Happy Saint Patricks day!

2011-03-17T06:46:00.000-07:00

Here are my two cuties on St. Patty's day. The other 2 changed into their soccer clothes before I had a chance to snap a picture of all of them. May you find the treasure at the end of the rainbow!

Fashion statement!

2011-03-11T21:51:00.000-08:00

One night after dinner these two clowns came parading out of my bedroom wearing my clothes! Aren't they going to love it when I pull these pictures out in a few years!!! L.C. did do a good job matching his shoes with his jacket, and the boots on No-Bo are all the rage right now!

Vogel

2011-03-10T21:23:00.000-08:00

We decided to take advantage of a day off of school and great weather and went for a hike at Vogel State Park. Here are No-Bo and J.J. after lunch ready to take on the trail.

All of my sweet babies. They did awesome hiking for 4+ hours!

If you look closely you can see No-Bo sitting here. He sat in this spot and said "Wow Mom, this was worth the hike!" I had to agree...we almost didn't walk this little bit, and we would have missed out on this view! I love it that he cares about that at 7 years old.

"Best Buddies" - This boy is the best big brother!

Just had to include a family photo...aren't we cute???!!! I made it extra big so you could enjoy our faces!

First signs...

2011-02-19T08:00:00.000-08:00

...of spring, and I LOVE IT!!!!

I know we still have another month until spring, but little buds popping up everywhere get me excited! What is your favorite season?

Yeah Baby!

2011-02-13T09:01:00.000-08:00

(Photo by Linden Tree Photography)

YEAH BABY!!... is this little guys favorite thing to say these days, and it is almost as cute as he is!!!

Horrible wife!

2011-02-04T21:18:00.000-08:00

(Photo by Linden Tree Photography)

I am a horrible, horrible wife! There I said it!! This sweet, wonderful man had a Birthday (Jan.2). and it has come and gone without even a mention of it on the blog! To make it even worse it was the big 4...0!

Soooo with that being said... join me in wishing a Happy (belated) Birthday to my sweet husband! He is definitely a no frills type of guy, and because of that he said that he didn't want us to do anything for his Birthday...especially a surprise party. Here is a little something to make up for being ~~slack~~ very busy:

Dearest Jeffers (affectionately called),

Happy 40th Birthday to you! You are so deserving of a huge party complete with fireworks, a big band, and everyone you know present! Because who you are a simple party at home is more than enough for you. I am so thankful for your 40 years of life, and I am looking forward to at least that many more with you. You are such an amazing husband, dad, teacher, coach, and you make a difference to those you come in contact with. The world (and our kids) is a much better place with you in it. Thank you, thank you, thank you for being that man that you are. We love all love you so very much. Here's to many, many, many more Birthdays.

Love always,

Carolyn

Snow Buddies

2011-01-28T20:56:00.000-08:00

I absolutely love to watch these two interact. They play so well together and make up all kind of things. I hope that they will always stay best friends! It just melts my heart!

Sledding!

2010-12-28T20:03:00.000-08:00

Doesn't it look like we are at some ski resort? Poor J.J. keep fighting with his hat!

I love this picture of my sweet Pipi and her delicate features. I just wish it a sharper image.

Dog pile!

This boy loves to sled...he is a speed demon!

L.C. built a ramp and caught some air a few times!

My sweet J.J. wasn't too big on going down the hill, so he just played at the top!

We were going to go to Huntsville the day after Christmas, but we got all this snow and decided that ~~we really wanted to go sledding instead~~ the roads would be too bad to drive over the mountain (which by the way it did get a little harry on the way there). We drove up to Rabun Gap school where there were many people who had crawled out of the hills to sled...so we joined them. Fun, fun fun! The ambulance only had to come once while we were there!

Christmas, Christmas, and more Christmas!

2010-12-27T20:59:00.000-08:00

After school got out we headed to Pickens for a few days to celebrate Christmas with the Wilson clan. Christmas #1

Christmas morning!

Christmas # 2

No more dreaming of a white Christmas!!


After Christmas at our house we made our way to Huntsville for Christmas with the Algie crew! The kids sure do enjoy spending time with their cousins! Christmas #3

** I am trying my best to catch up on my blog. Like I said some other time that when I get so far behind I just shut down and can't do anything...I just dont' want to skip over these sweet moments that we have had.

**Another side note...this new blogger format is driving me crazy...I can't figure out how to do what I want and it is driving me CRAZY...that will explain why this post looks the way it does...just enjoy the pictures!

Double digits

2010-12-23T11:30:00.000-08:00

My sweet baby has hit double digits! That's right this handsome boy is 10 years old. He is such a precious young man. We are truly blessed to have such a wonderful kid. To quote my good friend "Carolyn, he is abnormal". This kid has such an amazing heart for people. We couldn't ask for a greater role model for his brothers and sister. I am not sure what I did to deserve this boy, but I am so thankful that he was sent to me. Happy Birthday L.C. We love you so very much!!!

Crazy family!

2010-12-22T21:47:00.000-08:00

Here is a silly picture from Thanksgiving of my family. Everyone was home except the craziest one of us all, my youngest sister! See if you can find: the one with no eyeballs, the one acting like a bear, the want to be a model and mother- daughter look alike, the really crazy man, 2 scared kids, the panting puppy dogs, and my favorite...the one who is about to throw up! Love this crew!!!

No camp camping

2010-12-13T21:01:00.000-08:00

Friday we celebrated No-Bo's 7th Birthday with a camping party. We (meaning Jeff) had a big fire going and we roasted hot dogs and had smores! It was cold, but the kids ran around enough to not really notice. I was actually very relaxed with this party, and forgot to take many pictures. Here are a couple of the cake that I made...I think it turned out great if I do say so myself!

I had all the candles in the center of the fire pit, and as you can see this created a huge flame!

Seven

2010-12-09T10:38:00.000-08:00

Happy Birthday my sweet little one! I hope that your day is all that you expect it to be. We are very proud of you, and love you very much!

"The Hill"

2010-12-03T11:24:00.000-08:00

We went to watch P.C.'s (Presbyterian College) last football game of the season. The kids really look forward to "The Hill". They were upset at first because we didn't have any boxes, but a trip to the concession stand provided all the pizza boxes we needed!

Oh, and P.C. won!!!

Couponing

2010-12-03T10:54:00.000-08:00

In September we had a big coupon session in our MOPS (mothers of pre-schoolers) meeting. The girls did a wonderful job explaining how and where to save money. I just have to say thank you to them with one breath and then a sarcastic thank you with another. I now spend A LOT OF TIME couponing! Really it can consume a lot of my time, but now I HATE to go shopping without coupons! I like to think that I am getting better at it, but I still have some tricks to learn.

We have enough shower gel to last us until L.C. goes to college, but all of this was $20 out of pocket. I got $18 back, so it really was like getting all of it for $2 and some change!!! The moisturizers were $16 each, the Nivea shower gels are $4.99 each, the TP is $7ish...you get the picture...this was a really good deal! Now if I could get quicker at coming up with deals.

Don't rob the money jar...

2010-11-30T07:22:00.000-08:00

...or you will get caught...

You think that we would learn not to take from the jar...this is our 3rd one!!!

Ebates - Waahoo!!!

2010-11-28T21:19:00.000-08:00

We spent most of this past week out of town visiting both of out families. This requires going to South Carolina part of the time and then traveling back the opposite direction to Alabama! Fun, fun, fun!

When I get back home I ran out to check the mail because it is one of my simple pleasures in life (not that I usually get good things). There was a check for $14.50 from Ebates! This is the second check that I have gotten from them. It is totally FREE money which I love, and it came at such a great time being the end of the month and all. Anyway if you do online shopping you need to check out Ebates.

Ebates is a shopping site that gives you a of % cash back every time you shop online. You can shop at over 1000 stores including eBay, JCPenney, Macy's, Nordstrom, Overstock.com, Walmart, Kohl's, Target, snapfish, Lands End, Home Depot, and many more really good ones. I ordered boots from Piperlime and got 8% back. My Mom bought a refrigerator this weekend from Home Depot using Ebates, and she is getting $65 back!! Plus you get additional savings with exclusive coupons, free shipping offers, and limited-time sales! Anyway it is silly not to get money back from purchases that you are going to make anyway...I just saying!!!

If you click on any of the Ebates links you can sign up Ebates today and we'll each get a $5 bonus when you make your first purchase! I thought this would be a great time for those of you who shop Cyber Monday and any Christmas purchases! Let me know if you have any questions.

Okay I will post a picture of my check when I get my camera batteries charged! And I will hopefully get some more update posts of all our going-ons lately!

4

2010-11-18T11:23:00.000-08:00

Cool tree at Amicoloa Falls!

J.J.'s art

2010-11-17T20:43:00.000-08:00

Have you ever seen a better drawing from a 4 year old...I think not! Just look at all the detail! This boy loves to draw and make things perfect. Yesterday he said he couldn't draw a heart, so I drew one for him. He traced it a couple of times and then drew about 20 of them until he had a perfect one...now he can draw hearts like a pro...and I love him so much it makes mine hurt!

Homecoming

2010-11-13T12:08:00.000-08:00

Pipi and J.J. were asked to be part of Homecoming at the highschool. They had to hold the flowers and the tiara, and then bring them over to the winner once she was announced. They were very relaxed before they had to walk out on the field.

Here they are walking out with the homecoming court.

Here they are taking their jobs very seriously...no smiling allowed! They did such an awesome job!

Kelli and Jay get hitched!

2010-11-12T21:56:00.000-08:00

I am again soooo far behind blogging that I am now getting harassed about it, and I was even told that I was fired because my sister was posting pictures of my kids before me! My sweet husband finally (so it is ALL is fault) cleaned the computer off for me so that I could upload more pictures, so now I am back in business!

Kelli and Jay had a beautiful wedding Sept. 25th. The weather was perfect, she looked perfect, the atmosphere was perfect, as was the food and music!

These 3 cuties were in the wedding. Do you just love Lynnlee (cousin) looking at J.J. She is just too cute! They are all fun to watch together.

My big boy is so handsome with all those freckles!

I LOVE this picture of Pipi! It is so her...I think she was just squinting, but it sure turned out cute.

For some reason I didn't get any pictures of J.J. by himself, but this one sure is cute of these boys. No-bo looked so big in his tie! I could just squeeze them both to pieces!

Project

2010-10-13T20:48:00.000-07:00

I found this lovely picture at good will for 1/2 off making it $4.25! I don't know if you can tell how really long it is. At first I really just wanted the frame to make a message board or something like that with it. Then I remembered this project from this other blog jonesdesigncomany that my good friend Tiffany turned me on to.

Soooo here is what it turned into:

I love the way that it turned out. I used a desktop encyclopedia that I also got at goodwill. All of the pages on the canvas have some connection to our loves. Notice the letters for all of our names. There is my birth city, all the kids name, Jeff's middle name (Ferber...was surprised to find), places we have traveled, and things that are important to us!

Stay tuned for another project or two that I am borrowing again...I hope to make the page book wreath soon!

Meet Manty

2010-10-05T11:13:00.001-07:00

This little guy likes to hang out in our Daylillies! We see him often...or at least we think it is the same one. We have affectionately named him Manty!

A couple more things...

2010-10-04T05:26:00.000-07:00

I forgot a few things in my last post that I wanted to catch up on. In July we traveled to Waycross, GA to visit our dear friends the Warbingtons. We all miss then so much, but it was good to catch up for a few days.

Here are our sweet friends Ryan, Tiffany, and Owen! They had to endure one of my photo shoots!

We made our first trip ever to St. Simons this summer. Unfortunately this was the only beach time that we were able to squeeze in this summer. It seems that sweet Pipi girl is always surrounded by boys. She doesn't seem to mind and fits right in!

I can't believe that I forgot to post about this precious little boy! This is my newest nephew Benjamin "Parker"! Isn't he the cutest thing? I was lucky enough to be present at the birth and welcome him to this world...it was absolutely amazing. I am so proud of my sister Jamie! She did an awesome job despite the looonnnggg labor that she had. They are both doing great, and the little booger is now 2 months old (I am way behind aren't I?)! I just wish we lived closer and could see him more.

All rolled into one

2010-09-19T19:12:00.000-07:00

Okay so I mentioned in the last post how far behind I was blogging. I decided to just roll them all into one post so I can feel "caught up". So here is what has been happening in the Wilson household the last month (or so).

When I got home from the convention in Aug. my sweet family surprised me with a little Birthday party! I didn't even have to buy my one cake this time. I guess I whined enough about it last year. Anyway getting older wasn't so bad this year!

Disgusting I know!!! At least you didn't have to fight her for it! Cricket kept dragging this gross, bloody, squirrel all over the garage and leaving trails of blood, so I had to run her off with a stick, pick up this creature, and carry it out to the woods! Yuck!!! The following week she had a baby bunny...I spare you the pictures!

Flat as a fritter! Yep that is the flat tire that I changed...All by myself. I had no choice to because it was almost time to pick up the kids, and there was nobody to help. It is a sense of accomplishment though! Yay! Oh when Jeff took the tire to see if they could fix it they pulled an entire half of pair of pliers out. The only part sticking out was the very end of the handle...we had to get a new tire!

Raider football started a couple of weeks ago. They have not had a very good start to the season, and it may not get any better, but Jeff is still coaching up those boys to be young men, and he is really good at it!

Homegrown Watermelon...all on accident! We grew this bad boy with a seed that was probably dropped on the way to compost one day. I ended up growing right by the swing set. We had no idea how long to let it grow, so we picked it last week when it looked to be about the size of the ones we had been buying...very scientific!

It turned out to be quite yummy! Maybe next year we will grow some "for real".

The fair was in town this past week. Unfortunately we have to pass by it to get to the grocery store or anywhere else in town for that matter. Since Jeff took the big boys to the Clemson/Presbyterian game last Saturday, I decided I would take the little ones to the fair. They had a good time and rode a couple of rides (all we could afford without taking out a loan), and all they really wanted was cotton candy. We watched the Rodeo until it started pouring.

These precious cuties FINALLY started pre-school last week. They are going 3 days, and I can not tell you how excited I am to have a little chunk of time to myself! I have big plans too... most of which include exercising, so watch out for the skinny me! They loved the first week, and we love their wonderful school!

Yay! I am officially caught up! I feel so much better. Now I have to stay on the ball!!!

MOPS

2010-08-29T12:14:00.000-07:00

I know it has been a while since I have blogged. You see I get so far behind, and I have so much that I want to blog about that I don't know where to begin so I just don't do anything!

These pictures are from the beginning of August when I went to a MOPS (mothers of preschoolers) convention in Orlando! It was a great weekend. We actually left on my Birthday and spent the WHOLE day driving. I guess I can't complain about my Birthday this year since I was the one not around. Jeff and the kids celebrated with me when I got home and it was very sweet.

So here are some pictures of the group of girls that I went with. They agreed to play along with my silly camera games! We stayed in the Gaylord Palms hotel which was amazing. I could do a post on that alone.

BORING! Anyone can pose like this! See aren't the silly camera game pictures more interesting?? It had been a while since I had played, but it was fun! You should try it!

Perfect...

2010-08-23T20:13:00.000-07:00

...ending to the day!

4th & 1st

2010-08-17T20:04:00.000-07:00

Here they are my big boys starting 4th and 1st grades. They had a great first week!

Just plain silly

2010-08-02T21:44:00.000-07:00

After a hike at Ceasers Head these little ones were ready to go, but who can resist a silly face picture? Had a yummy lunch at the Mexican restaurant in Brevard afterwards. Then headed back to the cabin for more swimming fun!

A moments peace

2010-08-02T21:17:00.000-07:00

My sweet No-Bo learned how to float all by himself this summer in the river...don't you just love the peaceful place he is in?

I have so much that I want to blog about, but have not been home long enough to do it. It also overwhelms me when I have all these blog ideas piling up in my head! We have been on the go, go ALL summer long. It is a good thing that we didn't have any plans because we wouldn't have fit them in with all that we had not planned on doing. It has been a great summer, and I am sad to see it come to an end (mainly because I will have to drag my rear out of bed every morning before I really want to)! I figured out that during the last two weeks over a 7 night in a row time span that I spent the night in 6 different beds!!!! I am still trying to get rid of the crick in my neck!

July 4th

2010-07-16T19:38:00.000-07:00

Well here is our day in a nutshell. We spent the 4th at the cabin and had a fabulous week swimming in the lake, playing in the river, hiking, and visiting with family.

The day before the 4th (would be the 3rd)

2010-07-13T19:04:00.000-07:00

We made our second journey to the cabin. This time we stayed for a week. Papa and Nana took the kids to do crafts and face painting. Of course the big boy didn't need to get his face painted...

...but he sure liked playing with fire that night!

beautiful sleep

2010-06-29T07:53:00.000-07:00

I love this beautiful little angel and have enjoyed the past 2 days that we have spent together while the boys have been camping.

Huntsville visit

2010-06-17T19:56:00.000-07:00

We left for Huntsville after Jeff was finished with his teacher inservice to visit my family. It was quite a busy weekend with lots of people in town for my sister Jamie's baby shower. Pipi got sick the morning of the baby shower that I was helping out with, so that was not fun. I think she caught the virus that L.C. had a couple of weeks ago. It lasts for about 4-5 days with a high fever and severe nausea. She was sick the whole time, but kept saying she didn't want to miss out on the fun. Since then both of Lindsey's kids have gotten it!

(Mom, Katherine, Me, Jamie, Lindsey, & Lou)

We were also lucky to have our German friends the Thimm's visiting over the weekend too. They were traveling around the U.S. and Canada visiting friends, and they stayed with my parents for about 6 days. It was so nice to see them again, and really made me homesick for Germany. We have stayed with them on both of our backpacking trips to Europe, and it was such a wonderful experience. I hope that they felt the same way, as they truly got to experience the American lifestyle with my crazy, wonderful family! We took them on a hike to look for tadpoles, and they took the big boys with my Dad to the Space and Rocket center.

Hot Air

2010-06-14T20:35:00.000-07:00

Last week we went to Helen for this hot air balloon race. It started at 7 am, and yes everyone I was not only there on time, we pulled up at 6:30am. We sat in the car and ate our breakfast for a while. I was fascinated by the balloons. I had never been that close to one. It was cool to see the whole process of how they get the balloons up in the air.

A dozen years!

2010-05-30T20:40:00.000-07:00

12 years ago we started our lives together! I love this picture of us right before we walked out of the church as a married couple. We have had a great dozen years!

Here we are...

12 years
11 European Countries
10 jobs (between us)
9 brothers & sisters (married in,step, & natural)
8 pets
7 cars
6 camping trips
5 moves
4 kids
3 houses
2 rentals
1 visit to Canada
(and new hair styles)

... later and still looking good!

HAPPY ANNIVERSARY TO US!!!

Carnival party

2010-05-29T20:58:00.000-07:00

This weekend we celebrated Pipi and J.J.'s 4th Birthday with a Carnival theme party. It turned out great thanks to all the help that I had from family and friends. We set up our side yard to look like a carnival complete with tents, games, food, and prizes! I think the kids had a blast, and it really did run itself once it was set up...which means that I didn't have to do the entertaining.

There were so many cute pictures that I had a hard time deciding, so this is another long post. You won't be disappointed with all these cuties though!

View from the front of house. It was very colorful. Thanks to all my Friday night house guests for blowing up about 150 balloons for me. It just wouldn't have been the same without them!

L.C. was in charge of the snow cone booth. He ran it all day...not sure how many he had himself.
excited about the prizes and took the tickets very seriously.

My funnel cake man...he made these all day, and filled the air with a carnival-like smell...yum yum!

This was the lemonade, popcorn, cotton candy stand. Yes I sent the kids home with a sugar high!

Oh the prizes...they were so excited about getting their prizes! I collected and searched all over for these.

Sack races!

Tug of war...girls against boys!

The 4 year old Birthday girl.

These girls love each other, and love being silly together. I just love Lou's face here!

Pregnant people can clown around too! We were glad to have Aunt Jamie join us this year!

J-birds cake was a ferris wheel. He was sure serious about blowing out those candles.

This was my Pipi's cake...I think it turned out quite cute if I do say so myself.

I live with these two clowns. Jeff entertained with his juggling act!

Cousin Lynnlee was a trouper and dressed up with us!

My crazy hair boys!

Kindergarten graduate

2010-05-25T20:44:00.000-07:00

My sweet boy is moving on up. They had a cute graduation ceremony in their class!

WE ARE WARRIORS!

2010-05-22T19:06:00.001-07:00

**This is a really long post...didn't realize it until I went back and looked at it!

What a blast we had today at the Warrior Dash! It was crazy crowded, but such a neat festive atmosphere. The weather turned out great after a hazy morning.

Jeff before the race.

Me before the race.

Ax throwing...that's supposedly what real warriors do! Below are just some of the obstacles that I was able to get pictures of before the race.

This is the wall that we had to climb up using a rope. This one was not so bad.

Kinda obvious, but we had to go over these tires after we swam/walked through the lake.

After the tires were the 3 walls to climb over. This was not too bad either. One guy who was beside me busted it on the last one and fell flat! I don't have pictures of a few obstacles because they were back in the woods, but there was a cargo net we had to climb over, some junk cars to get over, run through the forest on a path just wide enough for your foot, a huge mud hill (come to think of it most of the course was muddy) that they kept watered down. I slide on my rear, and Jeff said he kinda surfed down...until he fell in a big mud hole...and lost his shoe...the one with the race time chip attached, so he had to dig it out. He ended up running the last part of the race holding his shoe!

This is the mud pit...as if you couldn't tell. We had to crawl under the barbed wire. The guy in camo is just one of the many people that dressed up in a crazy costume!

After the mud bog we got in this lake and had to go over the logs. I chose to roll over them face first, and was able to rinse some of my mud (was completely covered except face) off!

This is the last thing before the finish line. Don't know who this girl is, but she looks cool jumping!

THE FINISH!!!

Jeff after

We only trained for the race by doing Crossfit workouts...and I think we were pretty well prepared.

Me after

Check out these Warriors!!!

I think this is called the green sneaker (or maybe shoe) project. They collect shoes, clean them up, and send them to people who don't have shoes.

After the race you can clean up in the lake (which looks muddy to me). We just changed clothes in the parking lot. In the top left of this picture is where we had to run through the lake.

I mentioned that there were all kind of costumes. We were watching runners before our race, and this girl next to us was cheering for everyone. All of the sudden she said "Jesus". Jeff looked at her wondering why she had said this and then looked out and saw "Jesus" running the Warrior Dash (was very funny)...I guess that this is a good reminder that He is everywhere!!!

**We would love to have a bunch of people to do it with next year...any takers???

Twas the night be-four

2010-05-18T19:24:00.001-07:00

Well this is me four years ago! You probably didn't pay attention to how horrible I look because of the enormous belly (I had to stand sideways to reach the faucet on the sink)! And you can't tell how absolutely miserable I was carrying almost 12 pounds of babies! I was just over 36 weeks along, and this was the night before I delivered the Pipi and J.J. It is so hard to believe that my babies are turning 4 tomorrow.

It is crazy how life works...there are so many days that I just wish would hurry up and get over with...but as those days go by I am sad about my children growing up.

Today I made a big deal about this being the last day EVER that Pipi and J.J. would be 3 years old. I kept saying that they would NEVER be 3 again and so on and so on. So tonight after we put everyone to bed (while we were watching Lost), we hear Pipi upstairs just wailing. I went up there to see what was going on, and here is how the conversation went:

ME: Pipi what is wrong?

PIPI: I don't want to turn 4!!! (crying very loudly)

ME: Why don't you want to turn 4?

PIPI: I want to be the same person that I am now.

ME: You will still be the same person but just 4 instead...you will be able to do a lot more things...

PIPI: (really sobbing) Well I don't want to be 16!

ME: (very confused with this) You won't be 16 for a long time, but why don't you want to be 16?

PIPI: (still sobbing) Because then you won't hold me!!!!!

ME: (my emotions struck, and I lost it)...(wiping tears) I will hold you anytime you want me too!

I think I got her to settle down by telling her that she would get to open her presents tomorrow. She said hummm, and then rolled over.

I guess that I need to get used to the idea of them all growing up...BUT I don't have to like it!!!

Who needs friends when you have a twin...they did this together most of the day today! God sure knew what he was doing when he gave me twins to entertain each other.

How many can you do?

2010-05-15T21:41:00.000-07:00

This boy is simply amazing! He stopped at 10 only because that was all we told him to do...I think his record is 21...what's yours???

He is growing up so fast, but the other night as I was tucking everybody in he asked if I would lay with him. I really was ready to kiss everyone and be done with the night, but I decided to stay. I know that one day, not too far off in the future, that this 9 year old won't want anything to do with me.

It was only about 5 minutes that I stayed, but it was one of those simple memories that I will keep.

We chatted about the day and laughed a little.

I left his room with a big smile on my face.

Often times it takes little moments like this to bring life into prospective. Thanks my sweet L.C. for doing that for me!

I just read this on another blog and it was also such a good reminder to me on one of my crazy I really want to beat my kids days...

"Let everything I say be good and helpful so my words will be an encouragement to those who hear them."

Nut case

2010-05-07T21:58:00.000-07:00

I TOLD YOU HE WAS A NUT!!!

So yesterday he comes outside after I had sent him back in to get dressed, and says

"I'm all dressed!"

It is rare that a day goes by that we don't crack up at this boy, and his smile is infectious...

Need I say more??!!

growing up

2010-05-05T19:56:00.000-07:00

GOING...

GOING...

GONE!!!

My babies are growing up fast, and I don't like it one bit! This is one of those milestones that makes them seem so much older. The tooth fairy will be visiting our house tonight, and this boy could not be more excited!!!

Funny guy

2010-04-30T13:37:00.000-07:00

Last night during dinner this sweet little angel face let out a HUGE man sized burp, and then started to laugh. Of course we had to giggle too, but then Jeff said

"Now what do you say J.J.?"

He looked up out of the corner of his eyes for a few seconds and then replied

"Ahh... it wasn't me???

You try not laughing at that!!!

This guy is always good for a laugh!

Pipi and Lou best cousins

2010-04-23T20:20:00.000-07:00

These sweet girls don't get to see each other near enough, but when they do...they do it up right!

They were a non-stop ball of fun over spring break at Granna and Daddy Jim's house.

The kids talked up into filling up this little pool, and it was my bright idea to put it in the grass this time...well as you can tell it didn't take long to turn into a muddy mess, and the boys bailed out.

Pipi and Lou had a ball despite, and they were so much fun to photograph because they actually wanted their picture taken over and over and over again.

These pictures bring a smile to my face every time I see them!!

Catching up part 3-Easter pictures

2010-04-19T20:51:00.000-07:00

HAPPY EASTER...Yeah right!

This was my first attempt at pictures...can you say sun in our faces mom!!!

This one is a little better, but Pipi would not cooperate, so this was all I was able to get with her in it on Easter day. She had had enough between church, and egg hunts that she was in no mood for pictures.

Look how grownup this boy looks in his tie!

This boy loves animals, so we had to have a picture with Grits.

I know that I say this all the time, but couldn't you just gobble this little boy up...this was his first time wearing a tie!

Catching up part 2-EB visits

2010-04-18T19:10:00.001-07:00

The Easter Bunny made a visit, and by L.C.'s request in a letter, he left a picture of himself. So for all of you who have been wondering what the EB looks like we've got it right here! As you can tell he wasn't too good with the camera!

Here are our goodies...there seemed to be a water theme this year...that silly rabbit!

Checkin' it all out...and eating as many sweets as possible because Easter morning is the only time that is allowed!

Of course no Easter can go by without good ole FLARP. My kids informed me that the EB ALWAYS brings flarp...can't you tell what a hit it is!!!

Catching up part 1

2010-04-16T20:59:00.001-07:00

Granna and the kids coloring Easter eggs!

Here are the results as taken by J.J.

Checking out the stash after the big egg hunt at the park in Huntsville.

Can you tell that I made the big boys take their picture with the Easter bunny??

I love J.J.'s face here. This was right before their age groups egg hunt. Notice the crowd in the background...that was (part of) the 5-8 age group waiting to go!

Just me and the kiddos after the egg hunt in downtown Huntsville.

Aunt Jamie took Pipi for her first pedicure. I didn't have my first until I was 28 and pregnant with L.C.! She really felt special and is now talking about when she gets her next one...thanks Jamie for creating a prissy beast!!

No...these legs don't belong to any of the kids...embarrassingly enough they are mine. I fell while doing a workout on the old track at a school. Not sure how it happened, but I think I slipped on the painted line (it had just finished raining) and my knee buckled and I went down before I could even think about it. I was only about 15 seconds into my timed run, so I was going pretty fast. I also scrapped both hands and my hip! Ouch!! I did however clean up and start all over...all in the name of crossfit!

Jamie and Ben had us over to a yummy dinner while we were in Huntsville. It sure would be nice to live closer to all of my sisters so we could do more of that. Here she is at 24 weeks...I'm thinking girl!

Chicks

2010-04-07T20:09:00.000-07:00

Aren't they so cute and fluffy. You can really tell the texture of their feathers in this picture.
Today we got to visit my friends farm to see the baby chicks they just got in. They were only 2 days old. They were not too fearful yet of people, so it was easy to pick them up.
J.J. was very cautious at first.
No-Bo wanted to fix all the ones who were doing to well.
I had never been in a chicken house, and did not imagine that many chickens in one place. There were about 1700 in each house. It was really hot in there to keep it the right temps for the birds. We had a lot of fun and learned a lot. I can't image what it looks like in 8 weeks when they are all grown!

Just imagine all the chirping from these little ones!

Here are our sweet friends that let us have chicken races...I don't think anyone won!

On his own terms

2010-03-21T20:22:00.000-07:00

My sweet boy finally decided to that he wanted to learn how to ride his bicycle.
He asked Jeff to take the training wheels off, and 10 minutes later he was riding his bike!

I think this is how this child works...he has to decide he wants to do something before he will be successful. I am hoping that he will do this SOON with his reading before I pull all my hair out!

He wanted me to make a video of him riding like his Aunt Fav. did for her son, but this is all I was able to do. He wanted the music and all, and he said that I could just sing the song..." I want to ride my bicycle"...so just hum that tune while watching the video!

***Here is the new and improved video with many thanks to Aunt Fav. and her awesome abilities we now have music added! Here's to my little boy!

Arachnophobia

2010-03-15T20:42:00.000-07:00

WARNING...WARNING...WARNING...WARNING...WARNING...WARNING
For those of you

with an intense fear

of spiders

(Jamie, Katherine)

you may want to

skip this post!!!

Check out this black beauty that I came across while working in my flower beds today! I wish that I had taken "her" picture next to something so you could understand how big it was! I think she might have been about to burst with babies or something. Anyway I played with it for a while and made it flip over and do tricks all in the name of photography before sending her on to spider heaven! We find black widows all over around our house (outside). The kids have even gotten good a spotting a widow web! We go on hunts every so often and get rid of the ones that we find. Hopefully the population around our house is dwindling!

Guess who??

2010-03-11T19:29:00.001-08:00

Okay this has been cracking me up, so I just had to write a post about it. A couple of weeks ago Nana gave Pipi this sheet of barbie head stickers.

She has been putting them all over the place.

For a while I would hear her and JJ talking about them and Grandma Wilson. They kept saying there is Grandma Wilson.

Of course when I finally tuned into them I cracked up laughing.

This sticker is the one that they keep saying looks like Grandma Wilson.

So here's to you Grandma Wilson...you go girl...you are now in the Barbie elite club! We love you!

spies

2010-03-11T04:54:00.000-08:00

My kids love to play "spy". Lately they have really gotten into it. L.C. wants me to buy him a black suit jacket to use as a spy. Here he is all decked out!

We have also found another use for J.J.'s "man coat"! He can either wear it to church, or be a spy...I guess that would make him a double agent. L.C. helped him get dressed in this getup...don't you just love this little spy????

Snow Angels

2010-03-03T20:06:00.001-08:00

I love these boys and that they love to make snow angels with their eyes closed!

This one has a face

2010-03-02T21:17:00.003-08:00

SNOW DAY!! Gotta love it...for about a day! We got a lot of snow yesterday and decided to go sledding again at the ninth grade academy. I don't know if I should let others know our spot, but the hill is perfect for us! It snowed on us the whole time. The snow was great for building, and we were able to put together this little guy in no time. Everyone did help this time, so he even got a face and arms.

This is just a short clip of my sweet girl...I love the little laugh at the end!

Jealous means...

2010-03-01T20:47:00.000-08:00

First of all I just have to say that I love when babies feel so secure and safe that they sleep with their arms wide open. Last night when I went to tuck everybody in I found these two sleeping like that! I know they are not babies anymore (so sad), but It still makes my heart smile!

Tonight during dinner someone said something about being jealous, and this smart girl said "Jealous means being green with envy." Jeff and I just looked at each other!

one way across

2010-02-27T05:34:00.000-08:00

Trying to catch up on some blogging adventures. We went to the cabin right after sledding all morning once the snow had a chance to melt. It was a nice relaxing weekend, and we got to spend time with Papa and Nana too!

So we went hiking while at the cabin a couple weeks ago, and this was the only (dry) way across the river. Needless to say we had to turn around at this point. Pip and squeak were too little for this venture, so we just tested it out. As you can see No-Bo was just big enough to reach. I was a little worried when he got the middle because it was more of a stretch for him, but he did great.

Here we are with our bellies full, freezing and ready to get back on the trail home!

Sledding

2010-02-26T19:41:00.000-08:00

Can you tell that Pipi does not feel well here. She actually threw up shortly after this picture!

Of course "Mountain man" makes his appearance when it snows!

Here is a video of the big boys sledding at the ninth grade academy.

snowy wonderland

2010-02-24T06:17:00.000-08:00

I am so behind in my blogging duties. It is not for lack of content either. I am going to try to catch up in the next days. Coaching soccer again at the high school is keeping me real busy every afternoon. Jeff rushes home so I can get to practice! I am having fun.

Are these super warrior heros too cute. This was when the snow first started.

This is after a night of snow! Notice the snowman without a face. The kids helped me for about 30 minutes, and then got bored rolling the snowballs all over the yard. We went in to eat and then bed. I couldn't let the snowman go unfinished, so I went out in the dark, and finished rolling and stacking the snowman! I am sad to say that my knees were sore the next day from crawling around the yard pushing snow! I thought it would be a neat surprise for them to see when they woke up, but was too tired and cold to go back out and finish the face!

Warrior Dash

2010-02-12T13:03:00.000-08:00

I signed Jeff and I up for this event in May, and we are pumped! I think that this is the first time that it will be held in the southeast, and it will just be right up the road from us. Looks like lots of fun with lots of crazy fire jumping, mud crawling, barbed wire, bog swimming, tunnel crawling, car jumping obstacles!

Super Bowl party

2010-02-07T19:44:00.000-08:00

L.C. came to me several days ago and asked if he could have some friends over and have a Super Bowl party. He has really gotten into football lately and wants to watch it all the time. Jeff of course loves having someone that is interested and will sit down and watch with him. We ended up having the party and the guys got to stay until half time. What is sad is that the first Super Bowl party that we host is for 9 year olds!

Surprise

2010-02-05T18:38:00.000-08:00

So today I walked in from soccer practice and Jeff and the kids yelled surprise, and then I saw this sign! Wow! I was totally surprised! We have been doing a little something for the kids on their half Birthday's just because theirs get lost in all the Christmas hoopla.

I guess that I have whined and felt sorry for myself enough about how depressing my Birthday usually is that they finally took note. My Birthday ALWAYS falls right at the start of football season when Jeff is away at camp. This means that I am home with the kids all day and night for several days and by myself on my Birthday, and it is kind of depressing...well to put it mildly it really stinks!! I know, I know, it is not a real sob story, and it could be worse, and I should be thankful for another year and all that crap, but it still is no fun. This past Birthday I had to actually buy my own cake...go in the store...pick it out...and pay for it! Talk about depressing. I will never do that again!

ANYWAY enough about that, because they more than made up for it with this surprise. The kids made me cards and pictures, they had flowers, and cupcakes not bought by me...it's the simple things...that's all I want. There was also a coupon for 1 "free" meal for that night only, so no cooking and cleaning! It turned out to be perfect!

Thank you my sweet Jeffers and kidos. It was a wonderful surprise, and I couldn't have asked for more! Love to all!

So be completely honest...do you think I am getting better with age or what????.........................

Man Coat

2010-01-31T20:08:00.001-08:00

Funny story... This is J.J.'s "man coat" as the kids call it! A couple of weeks ago I had another blazer or man coat for him to wear to church, and this is when it got the name. The kids loved it and especially this boy. He was so proud to wear it, and asked Jeff to wear his man coat to church too. This morning I had all the kids church clothes on the back of the couch just like everyday. When they came down stairs to get dressed we heard J.J. say "YEESSS a man coat!"
You should see him wear it. His chest automatically puffs out and he puts on a proud smile. What sweet cheeks he is!

Icey Wonderland!

2010-01-30T19:58:00.000-08:00

Although snow would have been a lot more fun...the ice sure is pretty.

It won't be long...

2010-01-29T20:53:00.001-08:00

This is what we did tonight after supper, and they were so excited about it! I think because I let them use real tea, and we made chocolate chip cookies. It was the first time the twins had had any tea. We talked with our "British accents", and held up our pinkies. Afterwards L.C. said "That was fun mom." I so love that boy!

I just wish that I could hold on to these little babies and not let them grow up! It won't be long (Luke is getting closer) that they won't have anything to do with us, and will (like all teens) think that their parents are idiots. For now I am going to soak it all up and take lots of pictures because my little brain won't remember it all.

Tonight I walked by Pipi's room and she was laying in bed with her lamp on reading "Counting Kisses" to her babies. She does this most nights. I ran down to get the camera so I could video her, but by the time I got back up there she had finished and turned out her light! Such a sweet pea she is.

Jeff is at a coaches clinic tonight, so I have my precious No-Bo sleeping with me...that should be fun with feet and knees in my back!

Yesterday I was telling the little ones that I had soccer conditioning after school, so I wouldn't be around for the plans they were making. J.J. then said "YEESSS I get to have some Daddy time" Then he asked if it was sour dough bread day(Jeff brings a loaf home every Thursday.)

Oh one more random thought...which I have them all the time. Tuesday someone in our neighborhood (I think the one in charge of the association) stopped by and said that someone else had complained about one of our trees leaning too much. They were afraid that it was going to fall and possibly hurt someone. I think all the rain from this past week caused the leaning tree. Well I guess they were probably right, so 30 minutes before I had my keeno girls over we had a guy here cutting the tree down. I sure didn't expect to drop $100 bucks on a tree when I woke up that morning!! I am so glad now that it is cut down with all the ice we are supposed to get tonight. Such is life!

One of these things is not like the other...

2010-01-27T21:07:00.000-08:00

This girl LOVES her baby dolls!

Nothing in common

2010-01-22T11:17:00.000-08:00

These pictures have nothing in common. They are just some random things to blog about.

I love it when the kids dress up...especially when they "invent" their own costumes. These are the most recent.

We played twister the other night and had so much fun. I promise the kids did play too!!

Look what's for lunch. I saw this octopus somewhere and thought I would try it. You should have seen them trying to eat it. J.J. ate the head first and then the legs went everywhere.

The little ones convinced me to buy a baby watermelon the other day at the store. I wasn't so sure how it would be in the middle of winter, but it tasted great, and of course for my crew of watermelon lovers wasn't enough. It felt just weird eating watermelon in the dead of winter too. Almost like we were cheating on summer. I think we will wait until then to get another!

Don't you just love this beautiful bowl. It was a Christmas gift this year. It is hand made by an awesome carpenter that I know...Jeff's dad (AKA Ron or Papa)! It looks great on the dining room table that he also made us! He has started a venture in bowl making, and is amazing at what he does. All of the bowls are very unique. He has been making about a bowl a day and will start selling them soon!

Army Party

2010-01-13T20:25:00.000-08:00

My Big boy turned 9 in December (23rd), but we decided to wait until after the holidays to have his party. He was so excited about having an army party, and it actually turned out to be pretty easy. You bark orders to the kids and they play along by answering "YES MAM" or "NO SIR", and if they don't you make them do push ups! Maybe we should play army everyday!

We love trick candles. It took him several tries to get these out. The bad part is more spit on the cake...yum, yum!

Designed by L.C. and decorated by me!

Here they are...ready, willing, and able!

Basic training...no smiles soldier...give me 10 more!

We played several games. This was the wounded soldier. They had to pick a teammate and "bandage" them with a whole roll of TP and them put them on a stretcher (towel) and bring them back to the start. This group was smart and picked their smallest (and cutest) player.

Target practice with various (nerf) guns!

Jeff set up a very cool obstacle course in the weight room for them to go through. They each went 3 times with the last time being timed,and they had to carry a nerf gun to hit targets along the way.

The final activity was a secret "mission". Jeff (the commander) made a map of the school that had rooms labeled on it. In one of those rooms was a missing person they had to find. They got to run the halls of the whole school searching. The teams had walkie talkies and communicated with the commander. After finding the missing person they had to return back to the command post with out being hit by a nerf gun dart.

This ended up being a cheap party. I went to the Army recruiter office and they gave me army footballs, pencils, and stickers for the treat bags. My sweet L.C. decided not to have presents but instead asked each kid to bring items to send to our adopt a soldier deployed overseas. We got a bunch of items that I now have to package up and send. Luckily I have a little break until I have to start planning the next Birthday (twins in May), but they have already started talking about it and making plans!

Snow Day!

2010-01-08T11:16:00.000-08:00

We were excited to get a little snow at our house which started on Thursday night. It was just enough to call off school on Friday, but not enough to really play in. On Friday we decided to drive up to Highlands to see if they had any more snow which is usually the case. I wouldn't say they got a much more than we did, but it was certainly colder there. (Not that the 18 degree weather at home wasn't cold). It was about 10 degrees there. All of the lakes were frozen and covered with snow.

There is a place in Highlands, N.C. that we found a couple of years ago to sled. I don't think we are really supposed to be there, but so far we haven't been told to leave. I guess because there is nobody there to tell us to! It is at a state park that seems to be a really cool place in the summer with a lake to swim in and a lot of trails. Every time we go to sled we always say that we need to go back in the summer...maybe we will remember that this summer.

This hill (behind Pipi) is actually a road that leads down to the lake. Hey it works for us!

Hopefully we will get another chance to sled again this winter. The kids had a blast, and did not want to stop despite our freezing toes and their rosy, red, windburn cheeks.

This little girl was such a little snow bunny! I think we are in for a wild ride with this one. She rode down the hill with L.C. and had no fear...I really think the faster the better for her. Doesn't that "Sassy" hat suit her?!

Don't you love this little Angel!
What's funny is you can really tell here how much snow we were playing in.

Check out this "getup". I have to say though, he was the warmest one!

Christmas 2009

2010-01-06T17:58:00.000-08:00

The picture above of Pipi is on Christmas eve when they saw a video message on the computer
that Santa sent them.

Well here is how we spent our Christmas in no particular order. The layout is crazy, but I am too tired tonight to try and fix it. We had a great holiday getting to first spend time in Pickens and have 2 days of celebrating Christmas with family. We then came home for a couple of days and celebrated here. Santa A.K.A "Christmas" was good to everyone. It was nice spending time with everyone, but we were ready to get home to our messy house. It has taken me a long time to get everything unpacked and as you can see post pictures. That is why i am going to let these pictures tell the story instead of me!

Yet another reason to celebrate

2010-01-02T20:50:00.000-08:00

I am really behind on blogging I know, but I needed to wish this old man a Happy Birthday. Only one more year before we celebrate a big one (He's already requested that there be no surprise party, so we won't have one... wink, wink). Last year I was really creative and came up with 38 reasons why I loved him, but my brain is not working now, so I am just going to say how lucky I am to have such an amazing husband and father for our kids. I guess we will be pretty old in double the amount old you are now (does that make sense?)! I love you my Jeffers...Happy Birthday to you!!!

I have a ton of great Christmas pictures I will catch up on soon I promise!

Happy New Year to everyone!

The Eve of 9

2009-12-22T18:44:00.001-08:00

Here we are about to celebrate another Birthday. My sweet boy turns 9 tomorrow! Yesterday J.J. fell and broke his new little toy gun. This sweetie, without hesitating, told J.J. that he could have his that he had just gotten. On Friday after the last day of school for the break he came home with some candy canes he had gotten. There were 3 little ones and one big one. He handed out the 3 little ones to everyone and put the big one up for himself. Pipi immediately dropped hers and started to cry. He went and got the big candy cane that he was saving and gave it to her. This boy is always doing things like that. I have to say that they definitely broke the mold with this one. He is such an amazing kid, and makes my heart smile daily. On this day 9 years ago we had to leave the movie theater just after purchasing tickets because my water broke. We were so nervous about becoming first time parents, and were amazed when they let us leave the hospital with this little baby on Christmas day. Now here we are 4 kids later and couldn't love being parents more!

We are spies!

2009-12-15T19:24:00.000-08:00

Those of you who know us, know that we can't just have an ordinary simple birthday party. My kids start planning their next party as soon as we finish the current one. No-Bo wanted a spy party this year, so we were spies in training. Once everyone showed up at the house the doorbell rang and there was a folder that said the presents had been stolen and if he wanted them back we had to follow all directions. We blind folded the kids, and drove them to the secret spy training academy (AKA the community room at the high school). There they were lead through a series of spy training activities. They had fingerprints made, came up with spy names, worked on disguises, and had to identify the missing spy object from a tray full.

Apparently being a sneaky spy means you can't look at the camera.

Can you recognize these incognito spies???

After their spy training they had to follow the clues that were written in invisible ink to lead them to the presents. These were the lasers that they had to navigate through to the next clue which was inside this room (which by the way when we got home we had to make laser beams in the hall because they loved this part so much). That room had balloons scattered all over which were "bombs" that they had to "detonate" in order to find a clue inside one of them which of course was written in magic ink. Once they found the presents there was a safe on top of them which had explosives inside. They had to use the clue they found in the balloons to open the safe, and then each child had to set off an "explosive" (party popper that had confetti) to protect the presents.

If you can't tell the cake is supposed to be a magnifying glass, and my sister Lindsey decorated the bomb cake for me!

Gotta love trick candles especially on a bomb cake!

This is it...

2009-12-08T20:32:00.000-08:00

...a picture on his last day as a 5 year old! Why does time go by so quickly the older we get? I don't like it one bit, and I am not ready for my babies to grow up. STOP, STOP, STOP!!!

My Pipi

2009-12-07T19:39:00.000-08:00

Oh that girl. She definitely keeps us on our feet. She is just so cute, and has been saying and doing the cutest things lately. Her little personality is just something else. I have to say that she runs the show around here and keeps those boys in line with her commands. What's funny is that they usually listen and do what she says. Everyone keeps saying that she is going to give us a run for our money...not sure why! I have been writing them down to share...ENJOY!

This is one of her most recent acts...this is her bedroom wall when you first walk in her room. Should I really be upset since she was practicing her "R's" . There were also a couple of "J's". Never mind that I spent almost a month painting this room!!!

One day she said "Don't cry over spilled milk J.J." just after he knocked over his glass and began to cry.

"Mom, I love you all the way to GOD". What more could I ask for!

For a while I would say something and she would just give me the thumbs up.

"Our house is a disaster!" (watch what you say little girl or I will put you to work)

One night we there was a big storm moving through, and it woke Pipi up screaming. I went upstairs to console her. I picked her up,walked to the window, and showed her the lightening and we listened to the thunder. Then talked to her about God. I was telling her how God was up late bowling and was using his flashlight to see. This seemed to calm her down, and she went back to sleep. The next day she was repeating what I had said to her...well kinda

Pipi- "God was up late last night shining his light that was so bright, and he was playing with his balls!"

"I love myself"

When my Dad was visiting she asked him why his belly looked like he was having a baby.

She is getting excited about the upcoming season, and she always says Christmas instead of Santa Clause...I LOVE IT!

"When I grow up, I want to be Christmas...then I can go down everyones chimney and give them presents."

It is never ending, and I don't wish it to be!!!

Merry Dreams

2009-12-06T20:30:00.001-08:00

He has worn this hat to bed the last two nights. This precious boy only has 2 more days left to be 5 years old! Can I stop him from growing up so he will always go to sleep in a Santa hat??!!

Hello Mr. Turkey

2009-11-22T10:08:00.000-08:00

Could you not just gobble him up WHOLE???!!!

Ice Box

2009-11-19T20:00:00.001-08:00

So I have been helping L.C. with his science project this week. He had to create a box that would keep/slow down a piece of ice from melting. They are going to have a competition in class on Friday. We have tried very hard to let him do most of it on his own, and come up with his own ideas. You all know how painstakingly hard this is...right??? I would throw a few suggestions out here and there about improvements and such. Well yesterday he finally said to me "Mom, I don't have to win to get an "A" ". All I could do was laugh. Oh the wisdom of an 8 year old! Again for those of you who know me know how much I like competition and I LIKE TO WIN!

Speaking of winning (not to rub it in) I must mention that my good friend Heather in Japan said that I needed to give the little ones who helped me carve the pumpkin credit, so here's to No-Bo and J.J. who also have bragging rights!

A game of cat and mouse

2009-11-10T18:12:00.000-08:00

Now we know where this saying comes from...

...and why we have a cat!!!

Bottle up

2009-11-07T18:52:00.000-08:00

I just wish that I could bottle up days like this!

Or my sweet little babies...I just love the innocence that they still have! I don't want them to grow up!

Or the smell and taste of homemade pizza...YUM, YUM, YUM!

WHAT WOULD YOU BOTTLE UP????

and the winner is...

2009-11-01T19:27:00.000-08:00

Thank you to those of you who voted! Guess who gets bragging rights for another year!! Yep that would be me...the master carver! I'll try not to rub it in too much!

Here are my sweet peas on a rainy Halloween! They did awesome going up to doors and saying in unison "Trick or Treat". My big guy Luka was invited over to a friends house for the night, so he missed all the fun we had and I have no pictures of him. I think that I missed him more. It was weird not sharing these memories with him. I think we agreed today that he wouldn't miss out again on this time with family.

We went to some friends house after we trick or treated in our neighborhood. Adults were supposed to dress up too, so this is what we came up with. I stayed up late tye-dying the shirts and sewed all afternoon on our pants. Not too bad for last minute!

The kids and I made a huge yummy mess making and decorating cookies.

J.J. loved the sprinkles!
Tinkerbell and Peter Pan before their school party. He was not at all happy about dressing up this day!

Just had to include this picture. She loved dressing up and playing the part. After we watched the movie she would say "oh and something I forgot...dust...yep, just a little bit of Pixie dust". Such a Q-T-Pie!