April and May

 Dollywood - April 16th

 J's birthday party- May 6th

 The chicken with no feathers hanging out at the goat's dog house
(Below) Pumpkin Pie driving the Rhino

 Mother's Day- May 13rh
Mamaw with her handpainted Mickey and Minnie for her flower beds and Me and Ry acting silly

(Below) Taking off the training wheels May 16th

It seems like it has been something every weekend.  The girls have had their music recital and several field trips- Titanic, caving, Safety City, Creation Museum, fun day, etc. and then their award ceremony last week.  Sweet Pea got the highest GPA in her class again this year.  You have never seen a happier child.  Pumpkin Pie made the A and B honor roll, which was a big deal compared to the rest of her class.  This year was a little more difficult and the kids were expected to keep up with their work more independently.  Her teacher was wonderful and has helped Pumpkin Pie grow so much this year. 
So in April, we went to Dollywood with the Brackett's and took the field trip with the school to the Creation Museum.  It was a very neat trip and would definitely like to go sometime when we could walk through and read everything.  Keeping up with a group of children kinda prevented reading so much on this trip.  The kids were wonderful though and we had two of Pumpkin Pie's best friends in our group.  They were very polite but then again, Pumpkin Pie had them scared of me! 
In May, we went to J's birthday party and then to their house afterward.  The kids always love hanging with the animals and their godparent's.  Jason let Pumpkin Pie drive the Rhino...five acres of open land and she nearly hits one of the cars in the driveway.  I am definitely not going to be the one to teach her to drive.  The kids are already making plans for when they can go to spend the night with their beloved aunt and uncle.  We also got to attend the Lupus Walk on the 20th that Lynette arranged.  It was awesome and she raised over $2000 for the Lupus Foundation. 
Sweet Pea asked for her training wheels to be removed on the 16th.  I was shocked at how well she did and continues to do.  The kid does not have much fear in her. 
Also this month, our roof has a leak.  We are waiting to hear from insurance about getting the roof replaced since it seems to be from the storms that came through not to long ago and caused some damage.  Our heat pump also went out on us this week which was insufferable.  Luckily, a wonderful man from our church came out and fixed it for us the next evening (charging us less to come out and make repairs than other companies were even willing to come out for).  Thank God for good Christian people that have talents because I could have hugged this man's neck for giving me air conditioning back, especially since my husband was contemplating a window air conditioning unit (such a hillbilly). 
On the weekends that we haven't been in Kentucky, we make the trip to my grandmother's house.  I love spending time with her and the kids typically enjoy the attention (and deserts).  I also received another surprise right before Mother's Day.  My sister is expecting again and although she is only 8 weeks along, I have already purchased the cutest little blue dress for this winter.  I have been researching and comparing prices on other big things too and am so excited to have a new baby in the family by the end of the year.  I know that my nephew will be a wonderful big brother and my girls are looking forward to helping out as well. 

The Story of Jesus's Life

This is a paper that Sweet Pea had to write for school. She had to use her spelling word list. I am copying it on here as she wrote it.

"When Jesus was born he was the son of his earthly father, Joseph, and his heavenly father, God. Other people, like shepherds, came to worship the son of the living God. Now in Jesus's times they didn't have a single pouch to carry anything in. And when he was older he was brilliant. He loved to worship God. But He had not one earthly brother. His mothers name's Mary. The Lord won many lives, and none except Peter, didn't mean to reject Jesus. Jesus taught that He should be in front of their very lives. Jesus was born in the month of December. The people probably started to wonder about Jesus. One day Jesus was a wedding and He might have eaten, lion, lemon, melon, and banana. Meat from a lion is nothing special. Then a thousand people got saved because of His wonderful teachings."

Isn't that just the sweetest thing?! I love that meat from a lion is nothing special!

Spring Break

Matt's big laugh when he got his only hole-in-one!

Farm scenery

Matt playing with bubbles at Wonderworks

This one is for my cousin- Stacey. Know what? Cow's Butt! (Sorry, they didn't have chickens.)

I guess I haven't had anything really major to blog about lately. My Papaw passed away at the end of January and will be missed so much. My Mamaw decided to do some cleaning in the weeks after his passing and ended up with a broken rib and some bruises when her china cabinet fell on her. We have spent almost every weekend with her and I am hoping she will spend a few days with us at the end of the month since she is starting to feel a little better. Matt celebrated a birthday and we did make him a birthday cake but I didn't take any pictures of it. I also didn't get any pictures of his birthday present - Star Wars Saga on Blu-Ray. We have started watching the movies with the girls but I am pretty sure that at least one of them has some strong profanity in it so we are pre-screening them before the kids get to see them. We celebrated a friend's birthday at the end of January but again, I didn't get any pictures. It seems that my camera has not been used much lately and I am definitely going to have to make up for that since the weather is improving.
Unfortunately, I talked my sweet husband out of a vacation this year, thinking that getting some big items paid off was more of a priority. Boy, do I regret it now! I really miss Disney and would have definitely enjoyed a vacation there this year but I am considering a fall break or early December trip.
Matt and I did take the week off with the kids. I got the carpet shampooed and house cleaned (the whole thing was clean for part of a day), which is a miracle. It typically happens in increments and is never cleaned completely at the same time. A dear friend of ours lost his mother and we visited with them.
Tuesday got to be the fun day! We took the kids to Pigeon Forge and went to Wonderworks, Olive Garden and Ripley's Putt-Putting. Putt-Putting was the one thing that Sweet Pea said we must do for vacation so she was definitely happy. Wednesday, we spent the day being lazy and letting the kids play outside. Thursday, we had a few errands to run and got haircuts. Friday, we went to visit my mamaw and she made some delicious roast beef. Yummy! Matt made some baked potatoes, lemon pepper roast, rolls, and noodles to go with it and I was in hog heaven. Saturday, we did some summer clothes shopping and had dinner at Cracker Barrel with some of Matt's family. Today, we were blessed to hear some good preaching and take a short nap. I fixed biscuits, gravy, and scrambled eggs (Matt fried the bacon) for lunch because Matt loves those kind of meals and I thought I should be nice to him at least one day this week.
While I definitely enjoyed a week off from work, I would have enjoyed a week at Disney even more. Time with my family is always enjoyable though and I dread going back to work and the routine of the week because I feel like I miss out on so much with the kids. Luckily, I have a job that I absolutely love beyond measure and am blessed with some wonderful people to work with.
I think I might also start planning that Disney trip for the end of the year too :)

December

I try to convince myself that I am going to keep up with things better but I somehow always manage to fall behind. This month was super busy as I am sure that everyone else is in December as well.
Typically we make our gingerbread house on Thanksgiving. This year did not work out that way so Sweet Pea and I decorated it on the 15th. It turned out cute and with a lot less stress this year. We bought the pre-made gingerbread house versus the ones that you have to piece together yourself this year and it saved a lot of time. The real fun is all in the decorating and sneaking candy anyway. Sweet Pea and I took turns squirting the left over icing in our mouths to get that good old sugar rush afterward.
The finished Gingerbread house

On the 15th, I had lunch with my work. On the 16th, I took my mom, sister, and nephew Christmas shopping. My mom is the worst to wait until the last minute and hates driving anywhere at this time of the year so I did my good deed for the month. I enjoyed the time out though and my nephew was great for me. We had fun looking at all of the Christmas decorations out and about and laughing at all the craziness.
On the 20th, we got together with some friends to eat dinner and exchange presents. The girls got Amazon gift certificates (although they did not fully comprehend the reason yet) and we got a single serve Keurig machine. The hot chocolate is delicious! Both of the girls have had to have hot chocolate at least once a day since we received the gift. The girls also put on a little dance show for us that they coordinated that evening, which was funny to watch!
Our new Keurig

I took the 21st off with plans to visit my best friend from college but she ended up having to work so me and the girls ran a few errands to piece together the last of the Christmas presents and wrapped gifts that evening (that hadn't already been completed).
On the 23rd, we went to Dollywood to check out the Christmas lights. It was cold but it could have been much worse and the crowd was not horrible.
Christmas lights at Dollywood

On Christmas Eve, we went to Matt's aunt's to eat and exchange presents. The girls received Amazon and Itunes gift cards (and I again had to finagle my way around why with Pumpkin Pie), Hello Kitty water bottles and banks, and fudge and pecan pie. The sweets were the girls special requests from their aunt.
Bailey and Shelby playing

We always celebrate Christmas with the kids on Christmas Eve because Christmas day is so busy with everything else. The girls each got a new jewelry armoire, Ipod Touch, and Kindle Fire, among other presents. We gave Pumpkin Pie her Ipod touch as her big present and Sweet Pea the Kindle Fire. Matt snuck upstairs and put the Kindle Fire on Pumpkin Pie's desk and the Ipod touch on Sweet Pea's desk to find when they carried their other items upstairs. Pumpkin Pie is oblivious to the world at times because she never noticed the huge gift on her desk until we pointed it out. The girls were absolutely thrilled because they had no idea that Christmas was going to be so nice for them this year. I told them not to expect this kind of gift giving every year because we rarely spend quite so much on them.
Me and Bailey
Bailey's presents

Bailey after he opened his presents- he snuggled up with his new penguin and went to sleep. I think he liked all of his gifts (candy cane bone, his favorite dog food, peppermint flavored bones, some new toys, a blanket and a new picture frame for his picture).
Matt's presents- Grippo's, popcorn, new gray Bass shoes that I thought were super cute, sweater, khakis, socks, etc. His big present is already on the desk; he got a new computer for Christmas but given he picks those kinds of things out, he got to get it early.
Sweet Pea's presents
Pumpkin Pie's presents

My presents- Coach purse, new shirt (based on Courageous movie), and odds and ends. My big gift was an Ipad 2 but Matt is not good with keeping secrets so I got it early :)

Christmas day we were blessed with being able to attend church. After church, we went to my grandparent's home. We ate dinner, read the story of the birth of Jesus and then opened presents. The girls again got way more than they should ever get.
Bailey sticking his head in his new toy box from his wonderful aunt and uncle

After my grandparent's house, we always go to my best friend's house for the evening. It gives me some much needed unwinding time from the holiday stress and I love that I can just be silly with her and she gets it. I got a couple of really cute pictures of the kids running around playing cowboys with their hats and guns. I received an M&M's popcorn bucket, cups, blanket, clock, and Ipad case. The girls got Ipod cases and Kids Dance 2 for the Wii.
My M&M clock
Me and Matt on Christmas night

In between a couple of work things that I had to do this week, I have managed to get all of the presents put away, the house cleaned, and all of the Christmas decorations stored safely in their boxes for next year. On the 29th, we took another trip to Dollywood. This time we went to ride the rides and have fun versus seeing the lights. By the time we left Dollywood, the whole parking lot was full and people were parking at Splash Country. It was ridiculously crowded!
Matt on Adventure Mountain- pretending that he is going to fall. Sweet Pea had been requesting to do Adventure Mountain forever and they finally decided to wait in line for the "adventure". The line wait was about an hour long and that is short compared to previous estimated times.

Today we have all chilled out and rested from the holiday busyness. Matt finally touched some of the paint up that I have been fussing about for a year. Let's hope he did it right because I don't want to fuss about it again. Hope everyone else has enjoyed their holidays as much as we have.

November

November has been a good month. The weekend of the 12th, we took the kids to the Wilderness Water park. We promised that we would do that in place of a birthday party this year. Sweet Pea's best friend and dad were able to go with us and we all had a great time. We also went to Dollywood.
Weekdays are always packed with work, homework, music lessons/practice, basketball games/practice, etc.
Wednesday night before Thanksgiving was awesome! My sweet husband took me to see Breaking Dawn-part 1. I admit it; I'm a Twihard. I've read the books several times and Matt even has the audio books on his Ipod that he has listened to a few times in addition to reading the books.
Thanksgiving day, we gave thanks with dinner at home with just me, Matt and the kids. After we ate, we visited with Matt's family for a few hours. We kept up our tradition of getting the kids new pajamas and a new ornament and then decorating the Christmas tree. I did a little online Christmas shopping and purchased a few little extras that we wanted.
Friday we ate lunch with some friends, did a little shopping and then they came over to the house to visit for a little while.
Saturday was Thanksgiving dinner with my family. Matt fried fish and my sweet uncle fixed my spaghetti with tomato juice. Friday evening, my Papaw had a mini stroke so it was great getting to hang out with him and seeing him doing alright (everything considered). We also got to meet my cousins girlfriend, who is a sweetheart (and I might be partial because she wants to be a therapist!).
Sunday was church and then my best friend from college (and her husband and daughter) came to visit. We ate Red Lobster for lunch and then hung out at the house. Jason played Wii- Just Dance 3 which was one of the funniest things to see. AND even better than that...I got my Green blow up M&M to go outside with Red that I got last year.
So we are back to the regular work week and running around like crazy again. Most of my Christmas shopping is complete and any outings we have now are just because we want to get out of the house and get a good laugh at the craziness. I am planning a shopping day with my mom because she isn't done with shopping yet.
The girls had their music recital today and did an awesome job. God has blessed our family with so many wonderful things, people, and privileges. I am very fortunate to have a home and a family that I love so much.




Thanksgiving dinner- (above) Bailey begging for food, (below) the spread- Macaroni, potatoes, biscuits, and turkey- YUM!

Our new tree, our old tree was 9 years old and falling apart.


Me and Matt in front of the tree

Me and Bailey- he loves to pose for pictures.
Papaw with his grandkids.

Clouds

I remember as a kid that I would lay on my back in the yard and look at the clouds to try to find things in them. As silly as it sounds, Matt and I still occasionally play this game when we are driving some where or just hanging out. I try to get the kids into the game but they are missing some imagination! Occasionally they will play but often just make fun of me and Matt.
Fast forward to Sunday...I saw the most incredible cloud ever! It was completely a cloud with no jets, airplanes, huge birds or anything causing the effect. I also thought it was slightly ironic that I caught a sign in the picture that reads "Hill blocks view". I often am reminded of how we forget God is still in control when we are in the valley. Those mountains we have to climb can keep us from looking just a little bit higher and seeing God with His outstretched hands like a parent holding out their arms for that baby just learning to walk. This had to be God's gift to me on Sunday just to remind me that just over that next hill, He is there waiting with outstretched hands and encouraging me to keep going.

Disney On Ice

Gepetto

The Green Army guy- I told Matt that this guy has definitely been playing Michael Jackson on the Wii.

Belle (Beauty) and the Beast
Genie

Timon rubbing Pumba's belly

Tuesday, we took the girls ice skating with some of the performers for Disney on Ice. I think it made the show much more fun to look for the people that they met. We went to to the performance on Saturday and it was wonderful. The characters changed it up a bit this year and skated around the edge of the rink shaking kids hands and giving high fives after the performance (for those that had floor seats). I think the girls had a great time and I know I did.