Vacation

We just returned from a seven day trip to Myrtle Beach with my sister, her husband and their two children. It was exciting, to say the least. Oh, and we had a babysitter. Thank goodness for the babysitter! Below are a few pictures. I have a ton and I worked really hard to load them all into a bubbleshare slideshow and then the whole thing crashed. I'm over it. Enjoy these few...

Happy 4th of July!

I hope everyone enjoyed the holiday. We certainly had a great time at Mimi's and Poppy's with L., T. and S. Here are several pictures from our day.

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The Knoxville Zoo

A couple of Fridays ago we went to the Zoo with our friends E. and R. We had a great time. The kids loved playing in the stream in the "Kids Cove" best. Here are a few pictures that E. shared with me. I have not yet had my photos developed. (I really need a digital camera! I feel like I live in the stone age.) Oh, and yes, P. did go with us, he was content in his stroller and I didn't want to mess up a good thing.

How quickly they change

Here are a couple of photos that show you how much the children have changed since last year. Time goes by so fast...

Matching outfits

Here are a few random shots of the babes in their newest matching outfits. (I love brother and sister matching outfits - I'm such a dork!) I also hope to have pictures of our fun trip to the Zoo with E. and sweet R. soon. We had a blast. Have a great week.

Car shopping

This past weekend we did a little car shopping - nothing new as we've been shopping for a new car for the past five years. Yes, YEARS. (Remember my spreadsheet-bearing husband?) We found one that we really like and after three hours and a lot of sweat from chasing the kids around the showroom we loaded up in a 2007 Sequoia. Did we buy it? No. We drove it home for the night and returned it the next day. Just a teaser for our neighbors. Hopefully, we'll have a new car by the weekend, but remember, I said hopefully. No promises that I'll be retiring Black Max. Anyway, she'll be an antique soon.

Here's a picture of how the kids spent some of their time in the Toyota showroom. I thought kids were suppose to be afraid of monsters. I guess ours aren't, or maybe Sulley just isn't that scary.

Memorial Day 2007

I'm sure I don't even have to tell you how we spent our Memorial Day...yes, we were in the pool. And we got to spend time in the pool with Cousin Syd and later Uncle Scott brought up Cousin L. to swim with us. Wish you all could have been there...

Weekend fun

We had a lot of fun this weekend spending time with family. Friday was great as we were able to spend a lot of time with Nana. It was also K.'s last day of preschool. She's a little upset that she does not get to attend school this summer, but I've assured her that she'll return to school in September. That seemed to appease her for the moment.

Saturday we spent our morning in the backyard with Nana, Mimi and Cousin "Non" (as P. calls him). We had a ton of fun and have a ton of pictures to prove it (a nice 200 pictures to be exact). After all of the playing and a short nap time we headed over to Mimi and Poppy's where P. was into climbing on the coffee table, the chairs, the computer desk, the fireplace, the couch and then turning Mimi and Poppy's brand new flat screen, plasma television on and off. Notice the picture below of P. getting into trouble by Poppy who could not keep a straight face while reprimanding him.

Sunday we headed back to Mimi and Poppy's to swim, but due to the cooler weather last week the water was FREEZING. K. was the only soul brave (or crazy) enough to enter the pool.
Here's some of the pictures. I promise I didn't post them all...

TGI Thursday

I believe that Thursday is my favorite day of the week. It's the last day of my work week, Grey's Anatomy is on at 9 p.m. (after my children are put to bed) and we usually do not have errands to run or places to be on Thursday.

It has truly been a wild seven days and I'm looking forward to the weekend, as always. It's time to plant our garden (we're always late), Nana (R.'s grandmother) is coming to stay with us tonight, the cleaning lady is at my house as I type and we get to play with Baby John on Saturday.

I hope you all have a great weekend. I plan to have lots of pictures to share soon.

Happy Belated Mother's Day!

I'm a little late with this post, but it's certainly not unusual for me to be late, not these days anyway. Saturday we had a lot of things to do, including arriving at the TWC graduation at 7 a.m. (just me), grocery shopping and driving up to Aunt J and Uncle J's house to visit with them and Nana. We had a lot of fun and enjoyed a delicious meal (thanks Aunt J!). Then Sunday the computer or the web page (I don't know which) would not let me post and we spent most of our day in the pool (K. was in the pool for more than five hours!). Yesterday was just as busy with me working a golf tournament until 8 p.m. and R. running the kids to ballet and over to Mimi and Poppy's to feed the dogs while they enjoy some time in Las Vegas (win big Mimi and Poppy!). Anyway...I'll stop with the excuses and wish you all a happy Mother's Day. I hope you had a day of relaxation and were showered with lots of handmade goodies from your children.

There is nothing more precious than the gifts made by my sweet children. I had an extra special treat from K. as her preschool hosted a Mother's Day Tea Party last Friday. I don't think there was a dry eye in the room as each of our precious children sang "M-O-M-M-Y and Mommy is her name-o" and blew kisses across the room. K. was so excited to show me each of the things she made for me, including a plaque with her handprints, flowers in a cup she had painted, a handmade card and a photo of she and her daddy. How could I ask for more?

I'm so blessed to have my two wonderful children and my wonderful husband. But I'm also very lucky to have a lot of special moms (my mother-in-law, a dear friend of my mother's and mine, my stepmother, my very best friends, cousins, aunts, coworkers and Ryan's grandmother who I consider my own) in my life, especially since my mom passed away a little over two years ago and my grandmother passed away last year. Thank you to all of you who make my life so full.

New photos of the babes...

Here are a few of the latest pictures of the children. K. is in her dance costume (recital to be May 26) and P.'s photos were taken at Parents' Day Out. Notice that these were taken before P.'s first "official" haircut. He looks much like a girl, though we like to think of him as looking more like a "rock star" (or according to K. he's a superhero). No wonder the older women in church always comment about my pretty little GIRLS!

The pool is open...

Our favorite summer spot is in Mimi's and Poppy's backyard...the pool. When the weather is warm, that's where you'll find us for hours each day. It makes for a peaceful night because everyone wears themselves out swimming and splashing around.

K. is very excited about swimming this year. She insists that there will be "no floaties!" She was doing well at the end of last season, but I hope that she'll try not to be too brave and will wear the floaties for a little longer. Check out her newest swimsuit modeled below.

Last Sunday the kids took their first "dip" in the pool this year. The water was icy, but to them water temperature is no big deal. No one made it lower than the second step...there was no way I was going for a swim. The water was too cold for me to even dip my feet.

Grandparents are great...

After moving back to the same county in which R. and I grew up, we have been fortunate to spend more time with family, and our children get to grow up closer to their grandparents. Our children are in love with their grandparents and vice versa. Here's a couple of snapshots of the kids with R.'s mom (Mimi) and cousin S. and one of them with my dad, cousin L. and our dog, Cooper. As you can see, it is difficult for everyone to pose "just right" at the correct moment and to have a clean face. Looks like P. was in the chocolate before the picture with Mimi was taken. Mimi's house is made of sugar, chocolate and anything sweet. So are Papaw's and Aunt B.'s.