End of October and November

Making Gingerbread Houses this weekend. Each of the four girls decorated one and Kari and I decorated the fifth one. It is the North Pole village!


Bailey with his elephant. We are huge fans of these unstuffed plush toys for dogs. Bailey has always loved plush toys but ate the stuffing out of them within a day. It is cute to watch him with the elephant though because he carries it everywhere like a security item.

We went to Disney on Ice several weeks ago and had wonderful seats. We were on the second row so we were right in front of all of the action. The girls loved being so close and I have to admit that it was pretty nice.


I had a kidney stone at the time of Pumpkin Pie's birthday. We made her a cake but the decorative icing I bought for it ended up being a clear yellow so it did not show up well (or look that well but I am not a cake decorator). Sweet Pea chose a cheesecake for her birthday, which we bought because I have no idea how to make cheesecake. Pumpkin Pie chose doughnuts to take to school and Sweet Pea chose mini-cupcakes.





We also had to make a shopping trip the week after Pumpkin Pie's birthday. In the matter of several weeks, she managed to outgrow nearly everything she had for the winter. We bought Sweet Pea a couple of things too just so she wouldn't feel quite so left out with always getting the hand-me-downs.

The weekend before last, we went to eat with my best friend and her family. I love Red Lobster!!! Afterward, we did a little shopping.
Last weekend, we went ice skating with our best friends. We had a great time but those ice skates can hurt your feet.
This weekend, we had Thanksgiving dinner with our best friends. My Papaw is in the hospital again with pneumonia so we are not sure about our family Thanksgiving. I was so looking forward to it too...biscuits, gravy, fried chicken, country ham, mashed potatoes, okra, spaghetti with tomato juice...my Mamaw has me spoiled (and overweight!).
I have over half of my Christmas shopping done and I am pretty sure that I will be doing the majority of the rest of it online because I have had "shopping rage". People can be so rude during the holidays, or any other time of year for that matter but it seems to be worse right now with more people already coming out to shop. My mouth tends to get me in trouble and it would be better for the world if I stay home and not be so rude to others.

All the way into October...

Matt and his BFIL (Best Friend In Law)
Matt attempting to play football with his friends.

A rare happening...someone took a picture of me!

Matt chilling in the heated pool at last weekends party! It was beautiful.

The really neat party favors that I worked so hard on.



I finally took my nephew's 3rd birthday pictures but I haven't checked with my sister to see if it is all right to post any of them yet. They did turn out really cute and I do have a favorite!

We attended the Shriner's Circus last weekend but I did not take any pictures then. We also attended a birthday party for one of my best friend's two children. It was at a beautiful location and the girls (and my nephew) had so much fun, especially swimming in a heated pool in October.

I finally cleaned out all of the baby stuff and sold almost everything I have. We also have a small fund going for our trip to Disney World next year, which I continue to remain super excited about. We have several meals booked and have started purchasing cute outfits for the kids for the trip.

We had the girls birthday party this weekend, despite my battle with a kidney stone since last Sunday at 2 a.m. I did go to the hospital and it is only 3mm but dang, it hurts! I still haven't passed it and have had to miss four days of work. I did work one day last week but I only had two sessions and I left a little bit early, if that counts for working.
The girls party was wonderful and we are such a blessed family to have friends that love us, despite my personality! The girls received many gifts but their favorites were their new American Girl dolls. Sweet Pea got Mia and Pumpkin Pie got Julie. They also got some new clothes for their dolls and new Vera Bradley messenger bags, wallets, and money to go in their new wallets. My kids are soooo spoiled and I seem to continue that trend! We had a Mickey Mouse theme this year since we have planned the Disney World trip (have I mentioned that yet?!) and the party favors turned out cute, even if I did them myself and have to brag about it myself.

So we are off to another week and I am praying to pass this stone. I have had so much time to think of corny jokes about it, such as plans to start my own pet rock collection, rock band, etc...
We are in the works of making plans for this coming weekend. We are working on party, Dollywood, or Boo at the Zoo, and maybe a couple of other options. We also have plans to attend Disney on Ice in two weeks and dinner with friends, and maybe a Halloween party that is less Halloween and more kid friendly. I guess we will wait and see.

August (and some from July)

Kendra and Larry
Me and Kendra (I am starting to show my age)
K-Dog's cake
Pumpkin Pie's back to school present
Sweet Pea's back to school present

Matt chasing my sister with cake icing

Bugaboo's birthday cake

I’ll try to remember the highlights of the past few weeks but it all seems to run together anymore.

Towards the end of July, we attended K-Dog’s birthday party and took my nephew along, knowing he would have a blast. I really have been slacking with pictures, even at a birthday party!

My Papaw was back in the hospital for a little while and we made the trip to Kingsport to visit him and to celebrate my Mamaw’s birthday, if you can call a hospital room a celebration place. My Papaw is back home for now, although he still does not feel well and his strength continues to decrease (and not come back) each time he is sick.

I have spent some time preparing for the school consignment sell because we are finally getting rid of all of our baby stuff. Sweet Pea is almost 7 and I think it is high time that we put thoughts of more children aside.

The girls have started back to school. Sweet Pea chose two Olivia the Pig play sets for her back to school gift and Pumpkin Pie received more American Girl books. Sweet Pea is starting to give her a run for her money on reading though. Sweet Pea got a new backpack this year, although I didn’t take a picture. Pumpkin Pie still had three brand new backpacks so we are using those before we buy another one for her. Both girls are loving their teachers and doing well so far. Music lessons start back again in a couple of weeks and Sweet Pea will be with her original teacher, who blessed us with her return this year! We aren’t sure who Pumpkin Pie’s teacher will be for music yet and she is currently contemplating joining the band to play the Clarinet.

We went to my nephew’s birthday party this past Friday. Saturday, we met my mom and sister at Dollywood. Matt’s mom went with us and within an hour of being there, she passed out and became very ill. We have been working towards a medical issue that she has been having for some time and think the passing out is related. Matt spent the remainder of the day in a hospital emergency room with her. She has two more doctor’s appointments in the next week and a half so we are in prayer that they can find the source of the brain blockage and resolve it easily. Sunday, we attempted to make Dollywood up to the kids and went back for another three-four hours. It wasn’t very crowded and the girls got to ride the remainder of the rides that they missed on Saturday.

I am still working on completing the rest of the stuff for the consignment sale and we are celebrating Matt’s grandfather’s birthday this weekend. My family also has several birthdays’ coming up so lots of cake and ice cream in my future. Yum!

Sweet Pea came to my husband and I the other night and stated that she could not use her mouthwash. Keep in mind she has three loose teeth that she refuses to let us wiggle. Sweet Pea states, “I can’t use my mouthwash because it builds strong teeth. That is why my teeth won’t fall out.”

Ahh, the logic!

We have been super busy this week- Monday we mowed, Tuesday we went to the grocery store, and Wednesday I had to clean the house. Tuesday, when we were leaving Walmart, we saw a guy hang gliding. Pumpkin Pie pointed him out and then got in the vehicle. Sweet Pea asked who the guy was, insisting on knowing his name. I replied, “Bob, me and him go way back.” Sweet Pea was fine with this answer and got in the vehicle. As we were leaving the parking lot, the guy was a lot closer and Pumpkin Pie pointed this out. Sweet Pea looks at her sister and says, “Hey, do you know who that is?” Pumpkin Pie says, “No, who?” Sweet Pea says, “That is Bob. Mom knew him way back.” We all laughed!

Wow, a month...what did you miss?!

I guess you could say we continue to live our hectic lives. However, it hasn't felt as hectic as usual, maybe I am actually relaxing a little more. That would be funny, wouldn't it!
For my birthday, Matt got me a new Coach purse and a scrapbook drawer organizer thingamabob (that is an actual word right). One of my best friend's got me a M&M lunchbox and a plant, which I am infamous for killing. My other best friend got me a Pandora bracelet and several charms. I have to say I am one spoiled chick!
I can't remember if I shared what I got for Mother's day so you get to hear it again possibly-the first four seasons of Ghost Whisperer. I know the show can be a bit cheesy but I happen to like it.
The girls and I got Matt a Blu-ray player and a leaf blower for Father's day. Tell me how horrible that is- we don't have a single tree in our yard but he wanted a leaf blower so he doesn't have to sweep the grass from the sidewalk after I mow. Yes, you heard me...I have been mowing the whole yard all by myself. Matt still does the weed eating but I am woman, hear me roar!
We have spent a lot of time hanging out with friends and enjoying the summer. We have spent several occasions at our friend's neighborhood pool and we of course have a blow up pool in our back yard. It has also been so hot outside that we have spent quite a bit of time inside reading, hanging out, and watching television. One could say that television could rot the brain but I figure mine was probably rotten to begin with.
We visited Matt's grandparents in Asheville for his grandmother's 90th birthday! She looks good to be so old! It was good visiting with his family too. Unfortunately, my fibromyalgia was killing me so I wasn't in the best mood for traveling. The girls are counting down the weeks until school starts back and we are already getting psyched about school supplies, which ranks really high up with Christmas stuff for me! We have plans for the next few weeks so I hope that the girls enjoy their last few weeks of freedom.
Matt and I have also recently decided that if we continue to wait around for extra money to fall from the sky, we are never going to get to Disney world. So we are attempting to plan an all expense charged trip for the spring. I don't want the girls to be so old that they don't enjoy it. If you have planning to tips to share, that would be great! Or if you would like to donate to our "Save our sanity- give us a vacation fund" , contact me and I will tell you how. Just joking!
On another note- I put off ever watching Twilight because I thought that it was a teeny bopper thing and didn't want to go there. I finally broke down and watched it and I am now addicted. I read all four books in 8 days! I had to wait on the additional Bree Tanner book because it was out at the library or it would have been completed in there too. Then I had to watch New Moon and for my anniversary, Matt took me to see Eclipse. Matt has now decided to listen to all of the books via audio book, because he is not as big of a reader as I am. I think it is cute that my husband actually enjoys it as much as I do.
My papaw has been in the hospital for the past 2 1/2 weeks and hopefully will get to come home this week. Keep him and my mamaw in your prayers. It seems that antibiotics just don't fight his infections very well and he seems to stay sick.
So now you have the past few weeks in a condensed version. I haven't been much into the pictures lately and what I do have includes the kids so sorry that I don't have to much to share at this time. I will try to get some to share soon. Hope everyone else is enjoying summer as much as we are.
We took the girls to my mom's to ride the miniature horses.

Matt with one of his Father's Day Presents.

Bailey climbed into the clothes that just came out of the dryer!

What a nice short vacation

I am blog illiterate so i am struggling with the photo thing. Typically, it shows my pictures and I can type under them but this time, it is showing the HTML junk so I will just have to give you a run down. All of the pictures are from Sunday afternoon and not in any particular order but I feel confident that you will be able to figure them out...1.J wearing his "Indiana Jones" hat, 2. The ducks as Matt was chasing them, 3. Matt fishing, 4. J having to bait Matt's hook because he is scared of worms :), 5. L taking a fish off the hook (for Matt)- you have to love a pretty woman who isn't afraid of worms or fish, 6. large mouth bass that J caught, and 7. Skeeter in her dress. Cassie was still at the house or I would have a picture of her in a dress as well.

I guess we will start at the beginning of our four day stay-cation...
Friday:
Matt's friend, Cody came over to hang out. The girls played on the slip-n-slide and a wet trampoline. I became a little more than nervous about the trampoline so it didn't last too long. After running around in the backyard all evening, Matt, Cody, and I watched "Alice in Wonderland" and Matt and Cody played video games. It was a nice start to a vacation.

Saturday:
We filled up the kiddie pool and played outside most of the morning. Late afternoon, we joined our best friends at their community pool, swam, ate pizza and cupcakes, swam some more and finally headed home around 8:30. After giving the girls their showers, we pretty much crashed.

Sunday:
We enjoyed a nice morning at church and then headed to Kentucky to visit my best friend from college and Matt's best friend from forever. The kids went swimming in their pool (which Matt remembers swimming in when he was a kid, it's just moved locations), then to the jacuzzi, ate some pizza, and headed out for more fun. The kids got to ride on the Rhino (a 4x4 utility vehicle). They chased the ducks, played with the dogs, and fed the goat. They went fishing in the pond and Pumpkin Pie caught the first fish, which happened to be the biggest catfish caught from it. Sweet Pea had to of course fall in the mud and get her behind filthy. Bugaboo (J and L's daughter) is a hoot...she was kissing the fish, trying to stick them in her daddy's pocket, and even tried to feed one the worms that they were using for bait (which makes sense). They threw back all of the fish that they caught but Bugaboo had to play with each one for a minute before she would allow it to be thrown back. J gave each of the girls time in the tree swing which essentially sent each child propelling about 15 feet into the air with tree limbs all above them. At least they were strapped in and he was willing to do the same with his own child. The kids loved it. J made a camp fire and the kids got to roast marshmallows and eat smores, although my girls had to be difficult. Pumpkin Pie only wanted graham crackers and chocolate bar. Sweet Pea only wanted an unroasted marshmallow with chocolate bar in between. We relaxed for a while and the girls rode around on the power-wheels and took turns for trips on the Rhino again. We left Kentucky around 8:30 so it was nearly 10 when we got home, bathed the girls, and crashed again.

Monday:
We joined our best friends at Cracker Barrel for a delicious breakfast before heading over to Dollywood. We hung out there for several hours and enjoyed many rides with the kids, along with my favorite thing about Dollywood- frozen cherry lemonade. After Dollywood, we headed to Tanger so I could pick up a present for a friend's son's party in two weeks and we headed home. After we got home, we mowed the yard and cleaned off some outside toys to get rid of. You can imagine by that point, I was exhausted.

Tuesday:
We got up today and cleaned up, then headed out to take some pictures of the girls since I haven't taken any in a while. Unfortunately, the sun was so bright and the day was so muggy that the girls were not into it and I only got a few good shots. We ran a couple of errands and headed back home for another afternoon of playing outside. It was very noticeable that the kids are completely run down and looking forward to returning to their normal schedule tomorrow. I have definitely enjoyed the time with the kids and with some great friends. My body couldn't handle too much more of this vacation stuff.

Our weekends are full for the next four weeks at least. I get to spend next weekend with my best friend and we have a birthday party each of the following weekends to attend. I will also be celebrating my 8th wedding anniversary in a few more weeks. More about that when the time comes. I also have to fit Father's day in two weeks as well. Hmmm, where is the time to sleep and rest!

I guess I could fill you in on other small things

Now that you have heard my tragedy, I can tell you about the rest of my life. Mother's day was very nice although I don't have any pictures. The family gave me the first four seasons of "Ghost Whisperer" and a Donkey Webkinz (because it fits their dad) and Matt picked wild daisies for me. We visited my mamaw and mom on Saturday, along with my sister, her boyfriend, and my nephew. I have been absolutely swamped at work and following two bouts of kidney stones, I feel a little more functional now. I did see a urologist this week and one of the stones is being analyzed. I also was asked to do a urine collection, which just sounds completely gross. It is just what it sounds-collect all of your urine for a full 24 hours. I am putting that off for now! My fibromyalgia has been a little difficult these past few weeks but I think it is a combination of the heavy work load, stress, and general fatigue from life. My baby girl graduated from Kindergarten this past week and it seems that her life is flying past me. It seems like it was just yesterday that she was laying in the floor jabbering with me and laughing. Now her jabbers are to back talk! She no longer laughs with me but at me! Both girls got an American Girl doll-Lanie and Sweet Pea also got a new bicycle, since she has outgrown her other one. My girls are very spoiled but I am so lucky to be able to spoil them and for that I am very thankful. This weekend, we kept my nephew and spent our time lounging around the house since it was so humid (before the storms) and then it stormed the remainder of the time. Plus we had the lice issue to deal with. My mom and her boyfriend bought two miniature horses this weekend so the kids wanted to see them. The mom should be broke within a week and the girls are already plotting how they are going to get back down there soon to go riding the horses. The mom horse is also expecting so I am unsure of how long until there will be a third horse to enjoy. Sweet Pea has been asking for a real horse for a while now so I guess she gets her wish. I just hope they don't end up getting her a real pig too. I am sure that I have left a few things out that were probably pretty important but I am human and I have work to do and I have to prepare for court this week. I would love to share pictures but sadly, my camera is collecting dust because I have been so scatterbrained and have honestly missed some wonderful photo opportunities.

My Worst Nightmare

Of all the things that I could dread in this world, LICE would have to be on the top of my list. I have made it this far in life and never had to truly endure the experience. My brother caught lice when he was in Kindergarten but I was only a young teenager and did not truly understand the experience. Pumpkin Pie complained of her head itching Saturday and her dad (being all manly) checked her head to say that she just wasn't washing her hair well. Later, when I caught wind of this previous conversation, knew that I needed to check for myself. I was horrified at the sight I found. We spent the remainder of the evening scrubbing everyone's hair with the special shampoo (although no one else was found to have anything) and then washing bedding, vacuuming, spraying items down with the special spray, etc...I didn't get to bed until after 1:00 a.m. I had nightmares all night and resumed my "cleaning" this morning. I have gone through everyone's head again and cleaned even more. I don't know that I will ever sleep well again. This has been a very tragic experience for me, even though it seems small to most others. Let's hope that lice never enter my house again. By the way, I only found a total of five bugs on her head, which I am sure is not a lot but was way too much for me to handle.