Thursday, July 31, 2008

Sibling love

Carter and Laurel are trying to adjust to sleeping with one another in the same room. My parents have a trundle bed for them so Laurel is in the top bed and Carter is on the trundle in the "kid room". It has been somewhat difficult so when I checked on them before bed last night and saw this I just had to share.


I have no idea how he managed to sleep like that but he was out cold. Laurel told me this morning he was scared so she told him he could sleep with her. I am sure there is more to this story.


Today was a little school time and a trip to the movies to see Wall E. The older two liked it, the younger two were far more amused by the movie snacks than the movie and were ready to go far before it was over. A little too much plot for my preschool set I think. Tomorrow we are planning a trip to the "spray park" in West Knoxville.

Wednesday, July 30, 2008

Regensburg, Germany

Guten Tag, this is a guest post from Tim from Regensburg, Germany. All is well and I am furiously typing on a German keyboard to finish before my .10 Euro expires. I love yuou!

Tuesday, July 29, 2008

Lets hope things go more smoothly!

Tim is on his way and the children are all alive. I am counting my blessings as I ponder our crazy day.

All went well this morning. Tim got his stuff together while I got the children ready early. We planned a leisurely trip to the airport with a quick stop at Target to get a battery operated alarm clock for him to take. He was going through his files one last time giving me things I might need and handed me his itinerary. He told me his flight left at 2:10, when I looked at his paperwork I saw that 2:10 was his arrival time in Atlanta. He was to fly out at 1:05. It was 11:44 and my parents live 30 minutes from the airport. We made record time, the children moved amazingly quickly as their parents flew around in a panic grabbing bags and loading up. He was checked in by 12:20, said a quick goodbye to us and made a mad dash to security. He made it to the plane. So far the only thing we know he forgot was his neck pillow which he can live without. Now as for his luggage-with a 45 minute prior check-in...we'll see.

As I was driving back to my parents Katey choked on a hair clip. We were driving down the interstate when I hear gaging sounds. I look back and see it come up into her mouth from her throat. Then she screamed and as a result sucked it back down! The gaging began again and I rush to get us to the side of the road. I jumped out and opened her door just as she coughed it up again. I shoved her quickly forward and gave her a "pat" on her back and it to fell out of her mouth. She was scared but a drink of water and some love from Mom calmed her down somewhat. She needed more attention, but the side of the road was not the place to be.

There was a trip to Walmart and one to Target the full details of which I will spare you. Here is a brief summary: It is hard for a kid to spend $6 on toys for his birthday when there is really nothing cool there, Katey now only has one Dora shoe, Carter thinks walking through the racks instead of around them is fun, and I may have to go back to the store again tomorrow for things I forgot.

I am reminded to stick to my motto: kid friendly or no go!! Tomorrow is library in the morning and church at night. Hopefully a quiet afternoon reading books will help us recover.

Monday, July 28, 2008

Fun so far...

We are back at my parents following a couple of days in Gatlinburg and Dollywood. The kids had a great time at Dollywood. We arrived at 9 am and left at 6 pm. It was a long day and the children wanted more, but the adults were exhausted. We tried to encourage them by saying you will have something to look forward to the next time we visit, they were unimpressed by our logic. Here are a few pics from the park.



Later Tim and I had a night out in Gatlinburg. We left the hotel at 9pm. It seemed strange to go out so late- how things change! I had looked forward to Calhouns BBQ potato skins all evening (a favorite from my Knoxville days). We walked up the strip to Calhouns and arrived a few minutes after 10. They closed at 10. BUMMER! They suggested we go up to the brewery which was open later, but without my potato skins Calhouns just isn't the same. We went back to Bubba Gump Shrimp Co. It was near our hotel and we had never eaten there. We have a history of quoting from the movie among ourselves, so it seemed like something we should try. Tim found the marketing of a restaurant based on a fictious company in a movie was interesting. My food was okay, the portion a little small, price a little high. Tim's food arrived cold. He told the server and they replaced his fries, he ate his Shrimp Po Boy as it was (we were starving by this point). The service was excellent, and in a way that would make Tina proud we asked that the server tell the manager about Tim's food and she took it off our check.

This morning we swam and took the kids to a nearby park. They enjoyed wading/swimming in the river and as we were leaving Matthew spotted a raccoon. He is so good at spotting wildlife when we are out and about! Here are some pics:





Friday, July 25, 2008

Jesus on the backsplash

I mentioned to Tim as we were finishing up packing up and preparing to go to bed that I stained the stainless steel backsplash last night while cooking dinner. I searched the web to no avail today and was unable to clean it. Those who know the saga of the backsplash- feel my pain and dread at having to tell Tim. He walked in the kitchen to see it and started laughing. I found no humor in the situation and was curious until he called to me saying "we have the face of Jesus on our backsplash". I thought he was joking, trying to make me feel better until I joined him in the kitchen and he pointed out the mouth, moustache, beard, nose, and eyes. Should I sell it on ebay??

Maybe I can start a home based business. We'll schedule tours when we return. Make plans for your pilgrimage.

Off on our adventure!

We leave in the morning for our trip. We'll spend a couple of days in the Smokies, have a birthday party for the boys with my Mom and Dad, and then Tim will go to Germany for 20 days. During that time the kids and I will be in Knoxville and Detroit. Stay tuned for pics and possible panic as we are away for 25 days! Call us on my cell if you need to reach us. Also, since my parents are now "wired" and Tim hopes to visit some internet cafes in Germany you can reach us by email while we are away.

Thursday, July 24, 2008

The black hole

Somewhere in our house there exists a black hole. It sucks up things that are never to be seen again. Actually we have had it for a while, you see it moved with us as well. The software for my camcorder, a magnet for the magna doodle, and various other items- all lost never to be seen again despite massive searches. The last victim: Katey's khaki shorts. I am trying to finish up packing for our trip and I cannot find them. I have been looking for them the last few days, confident they would turn up as I washed, picked up, and packed up. The child only has two pairs of shorts, you'd think I could keep up with them. I guess I will pick her up another pair along the way. Luckily she has two pairs of capris and a skort to get her through.

Wednesday, July 23, 2008

Venture River

We finally took our trip to the water park. The kids have been looking forward to it for weeks. It started out as a rainy day, but cleared off and was perfect. The faint of heart were scared by the weather so there was a small crowd. We may never be able to go back because we were spoiled by not having to wait for anything. We did not do this:


or this:Although the two oldest considered both. Things look scarier from the top!

They rode everything else. We loved this:

and these:

It was a great day. I considered not taking Katey. However, she did fine and had a great time. As we rode home she said "slide, slide, slide, splash." That pretty much sums up our day.

Saturday, July 19, 2008

We have been deleted!!!

According to Mediacomm this morning we will not have internet service until the 23rd. Our service went out on Wednesday and somehow we have been deleted from their server. A tech has to come to the house to restore service and our appointment is for 8-12 Wed morning. I may have to have intervention by then as the outage has caused me to realize I am severly addicted to the internet. In the meanwhile if you need to reach us call the cell phones since our home phone (service through the net) won't work.

Wednesday, July 16, 2008

Cute moments

We have had several moments with Katey lately where we realize she is growing up. Today it happened twice. First as I was getting ready this morning and she was watching me put on my make-up. Tim noticed how tall she was and the fact she watching me in the mirror (instead of just looking up at me) because she is now above counter height. Its sad, yet exciting at the same time. Later today as we were leaving the park we stopped in at the bathroom. Since Katey's diaper was dry I decided to let her "try". She wasn't going and I had Laurel stay with her for a minute. Laurel asked her "where's the pee pee Katey?" to which she responded in a puzzled yet slightly frustrated little girl voice "I don't know!" So cute. I am trying to treasure every minute and remind Tim often that while they are adorable when they are tiny, they do grow up, so we can't keep a baby around forever. He is sad to see it happen, but looking forward to not paying for diapers! Hopefully she won't grow too much while he is traveling in the coming weeks.

Monday, July 14, 2008

The Injury Weekend

This weekend was all about Carter getting hurt. On Friday night he rode his bike, at full speed, into the back of Tim's van. We were yelling at him to stop and I got close enough to see his face smash into the van just above the license plate. I just knew he was hurt badly and grabbed him up and ran inside to the kitchen sink. I thought I would be collecting his teeth and soaking up blood, however his teeth were intact. He had abrasions on his gums and they were bleeding, his lip was swollen, and his front teeth are still sore- even today. I am amazed at how little the effects were of such a strong blow- one that left two teeth marks in the paint! On Saturday Tim took the boys disc golfing and Carter wiped out on #9. His belly is scraped and his elbow looks pretty nasty. Needless to say they ended their round there. Hopefully they will get to play sometime this week and enjoy it a little more. Yesterday, it was bike riding. A skinned knee, minor stuff, not even noticed by me until bedtime. He is our tough kid. He really doesn't complain if he gets hurt and has no fear, but enough is enough. Hopefully today will be injury free!!

Thursday, July 10, 2008

National Chocolate Cake Day

Yesterday was National Sugar Cookie Day. Who knew this? Did you celebrate? More importantly who comes up with this? Who bakes sugar cookies in July?? I found out because I recieved an email with recipes from Pillsbury- crazy. I found it so silly that I sent the following email to some friends:

Okay, I got an email from Pillsbury. Apparently today is national sugar cookie day. Who comes up with this stuff? At any rate, thought I'd share in case anyone wanted an excuse to splurge- you have 1 1/2 hrs left. I had a choc chip cookie for dessert tonight- does that count as holiday food? We all know that food consumed in the name of a holiday forgives all guilt.

When is national chocolate cake day- I want to celebrate.


Just after I hit the send button I had to check. Surely there isn't REALLY a National Chocolate Cake day is there? Oh yes there is! (I love google) Its January 27th. Insane for two reasons. First, during January everyone is trying to loose the 10 lbs they gained from Christmas and Thanksgiving. Second, I eat enough chocolate cake on my own. I don't need a national holiday- I am already loyal to the cause. If someone thinks we Americans need holidays to increase our sugar intake or to eat period, clearly their research is flawed. However, in the interest of being well informed here is a link- it contains all the food holidays. Basically it covers every day- check out your birthday to see what you should consume. Some foods are so important they get a full week or month- http://www.tfdutch.com/foodh.htm

My Monday night friends- December 28th is national chocolate candy day- finally a use for all the CVS chocolate and validation for stocking up at the after Christmas sale!

Wednesday, July 9, 2008

Mementos

Yesterday Tim gave a talk about hiking the AT to some of our homeschooling friends and their children. He told them a little about the trail and showed them some of his gear. Once again we had a little get together and I took no pictures. This time I even made a point to put the camera on the counter. I am a blogger loser. Maybe I will do better with the Venture River trip in a few days.

Later last night I was showing Tim some bug bites on Katey. I said "Look at the mementos from Family Fun Day Katey has on her back". Matthew asked what "mementos" meant and I explained. This morning Laurel noticed the bites and Matthew said "those are just memories". So when you are itching this summer from those nasty bites you got at the cookout, concert, etc. remember they are evidence of a fun time, just memories- and maybe, if you are like me, a reminder to use that can of bug spray you bought back in May :)!!

Saturday, July 5, 2008

Could one day contain any more fun?



The day began with a parade. Pictured above are shots taken by Tina of all the kids waiting for the parade to begin and Tim holding Katey's ears as numerous fire trucks passed by with sirens blaring. (To see a larger image, click on the photos. You can use the back button to return to the blog.) Breakfast provided by the Jones family included donuts with 4th of July decorations and yogurt with strawberries and blueberries- festive and fun - and enjoyed by all. The parade was small town life on display and we all loved it. The kids loved scrambling for candy, although Carter will have to learn to be a little quicker. He was much too interested in the tractors, fire trucks, and people in the parade to truly be in competition for grabbing the goodies. Laurel was the most proud of the two pizza coupons she was able to get. She knows Mom loves a bargain and is anticipating pizza for dinner in the near future.
After the parade it was on to swimming lessons. They have been taking lessons this week at the Gibson's house and have loved every minute. Today in addition to lessons the older Gibson boys passed along several bags of clothes to my boys. Not only did they help my kids learn to swim, they have now clothed them for the next two years. We are grateful for both.
Finally, this evening was filled with fireworks. Carter has been terrified of them for the last two years, but was thrilled tonight. All the kids thought they were great. I hope we can recover well tomorrow from a bed time well after 10 pm.
It was a fun day and we have enjoyed the 4th of July celebrations thus far. One more event is planned for tomorrow- Family Fun Day at the park. It seems Murray knows how to make a holiday last. Laurel and Matthew are thinking this whole independence thing is pretty cool.

Thursday, July 3, 2008

Pic of the day


I told you she loves the "sauce". This was the scene during lunch today. Apparently she was convinced she could get that last drop out of the jar.

Wednesday, July 2, 2008

Surely the moon is full

Its been one of those difficult days. I think I had some kind of post pain medication hang over today or something. I don't know, but the children were ill behaved and I seemed not to be able to turn the tide. I was sort of in a fog. I found myself negotiating with a 3 yr old often- then wondering "what are you thinking??". Thankfully friends came over today and that helped get us through the afternoon. The last time this sort of a day happened it was indeed a full moon and we joked that was the cause.

I do have to brag on Laurel. Several times today she was very kind to others. She made everyone breakfast this morning and this afternoon following some quiet time she gave Matthew "art lessons". She even pulled her own tooth tonight. I guess she is growing up.

I am hoping to be more on my game tomorrow- and fog free.

Tuesday, July 1, 2008

not so fun day at the dentist

Last week was more involved than I thought. This week was worse. The dentist had to numb the entire left side of my face because the work got into the nerve. From my hairline to my neck I felt nothing. When Tim saw me afterward he was amazed to see my face. Usually when you go to the dentist people can't tell. You feel funny, but the rest of the world is oblivious. Not today. When the numbness went away early this afternoon I was in major pain. However, three aleve and an hour with a warm rice pack on my face and I am feeling better. We are off to DQ for a little medication in the form of a blizzard.