I wish I could come up with catchy titles!

It is hard trying to come up with a catchy title each time I post. Plus, I try to include so much into each blog but also keep them short so they cover quite a bit of our week.
Last weekend, we took a trip to Kentucky for a birthday party. We had a really good time just hanging out with Matt's cousin and family. I always enjoy hanging out with Val. Saturday, we made some stops on the way home to take pictures for Pumpkin Pie's Tennessee Notebook (School project). We visited Cumberland Gap, Pinnacle Overlook, and Lincoln Memorial University and Museum. I was exhausted by the time we arrived home, particularly because we stayed up so late the night before laughing and talking.
Monday, we took the girls to a nearby parking lot to ride bicycles. Pumpkin Pie is the only child I know her age that cannot ride a bike without training wheels. We have pushed and pushed to try to get her to the point where she will/can ride without training wheels and she insists that she could not do it. We took the training wheels off several years ago but she would not brave the ride so we told her it had to be done this week. She actually started to get the hang of keeping the bike up and going straight after about an hour of efforts. Her legs are still bruised up now though. She did not get the hang of using the brakes and kept putting her feet down to stop so the pedals caught her legs. Add that on top of all of the wrecks she had and she looks like she is black and blue with a little bit of peach mixed in. We are going to have to purchase a new bicycle for Sweet Pea though. She is riding Pumpkin Pie's first bicycle (which she received at 2 years old) and it is quite small for Sweet Pea. We have been looking but haven't found just the right bike yet.
The rest of the week was busy as usual with typical things going on. Thursday, I came down with something that I will assume is allergies so it put a damper on the week. Saturday, we went to Dollywood. Matt's mom, my sister, nephew, sister's boyfriend, mom, her boyfriend, and his two kids, along with us packed in to Dollywood around 10:00. We had a really good time and got a few cute pictures. I didn't take the big camera because it was supposed to drizzle all morning (which it did) and I didn't want to risk ruining the big camera. I have to say that I enjoy being with my extended family more now than I ever has. I don't always approve of every decision that my mom makes but we do seem to get along better now than we did in the past years so it was good to get to enjoy things with her being a mamaw that I would have loved to have enjoyed when I was a kid. It was good for the girls to have both of their mamaws with them and get lots of love and attention. Any time that I can get with my sister and nephew is also a definite bonus.
Last night, Sweet Pea threw up several times but seems to be all right today. I continue to struggle with these allergies, which has really knocked me for a loop. On top of that, Matt is heading to Wisconsin for work for a couple of days. I hope the girls can survive me!

Blogger is acting up AGAIN so I will just explain the pictures. One is of Tad and Val from the birthday party, 2. Josh (sister's boyfriend) and me giving him a hard time about looking for a job, 3. Josh and his pink elephant, 4. Picture of me and Matt at the arboretum (Pumpkin Pie took the picture).

Happy Easter

I would welcome any kind of break right now. .. I had so many things planned that I wanted to do and so few of them actually got accomplished. Matt drove his mom home Friday and assisted with a few loose strings to the loss of his dad. Friday afternoon, we intended to run a couple of errands because I had not finished getting the items for the girls Easter baskets. Those plans changed when the transmission light came on in our vehicle. An hour and a half and $110 later, we headed home because we were tired and hungry and traffic was horrible. Luckily, the whole transmission wasn’t going out; it was just the solenoid switches that had to be replaced. It was still frustrating since we just had the tires and the rim replaced.
Saturday, we had an Easter egg hunt at church and the girls best friends were able to join in the fun. We went to the arboretum after the egg hunt so I could take some pictures of the girls but the girls were not in a picture taking kind of mood. We headed on out to run the errands that I didn’t get to Friday night only to find out that the one thing that Pumpkin Pie really wanted was no were to be found. I knew I should have bought it when I first saw it. We headed back home to put stuff away and then met up with some of Matt’s family for dinner at Red Lobster. It was very yummy but the service was very poor last night.
Sunday was a wonderful morning. None of us argued and the girls got ready for church without a major argument. They looked so sweet in their Easter dresses and were actually well-behaved. After church, we headed to Kingsport to visit my Papaw who has been in the hospital since early on in the week. However, due to shuffling around (moved from one hospital to another and then from one floor to another) we had been unable to visit with him until he was settled in somewhere. He immediately started crying when we came in, which would typically be out of character for him. He seemed to be feeling better but would go off on tangents while talking and you had to figure out where he was going with a thought or what he was actually talking about. That was pretty difficult to do and it seemed to aggravate him if you didn’t know immediately what he was thinking. I guess I will have to sharpen my mind reading skills.
So, we planned to play outside more, take the kids to ride their bicycles and dye Easter eggs. Those things were not accomplished. I did eventually find Pumpkin Pie’s cherished item (Peace Puppy from Webkinz) and the Easter gifts were a hit. I also received a super awesome gift from Matt…I got an ice chopper and Cherry slushie flavoring. To explain why that is wonderful- I love, love, love frozen Cherry lemonade from Dollywood but as you may know, it is not available year round. So, with Matt’s purchase, I am now able to freeze my own lemonade, crush the ice, and add however much Cherry flavoring I want to this stuff and live the life of luxury with my one passion of the summer. I will just have to stock up on Cherry flavoring while I can find it.
Next week proves to be even busier than this week…music lessons, trip to Pigeon Forge to buy our season passes for Dollywood (even though we won’t have time to go in and enjoy the park this week), doctor’s appointments, birthday party, and a trip to Matt’s mom’s to help her get some stuff cleaned out of the house. I am looking forward to a break soon.

Sweet Pea's Funnies

So Sweet Pea has been on a roll lately…
Sweet Pea woke up in a grumpy mood and Matt commented that she woke up on the wrong side of the bed. Sweet Pea replied, “I can’t wake up any other way. My bed is against the wall.”
Sweet Pea had to be strongly encouraged to get ready for school one day last week and she was quite a little terror about it. As she reluctantly went to the bathroom to get ready, she stated, “Mommy, God says to not terrorize your children.” I did not respond but she started moving a little faster after the look I gave her.

Bailey's First Birthday

The presents: Tennessee Jersey, orange bone that makes noise, and birthday cake stuffed toy.

Bailey wearing his jersey and chewing on his cake toy.

Happy Birthday Bailey!

He knows that he is the cutest dog ever.

Eating marshmallows!

Bailey is officially one human year old! His birthday was March 23^rd but due to the circumstances in our household, we did not get to celebrate until this past week. Bailey loved the attention. He received a Tennessee jersey, birthday cake toy (that he has already bitten a hole in), and an orange bone that makes noises in dog tone. He ate canned dog food, which he has never had before and received three small marshmallows since marshmallows are his most favorite food ever. Matt even had to feed him his dog food with a spoon which was hilarious. We are so lucky to have Bailey in our home and he is such a well-behaved and loving dog. Happy Birthday Bailey!