This is how we do it...

Are you 33 inches tall and having a hard time reaching the sink to wash your hands or brush your teeth? Well worry no longer. Nathan has taken the time to show you step-by-step how to get to the sink to brush those pearly whites. He asked me to photograph him for your viewing please.. and mine. ;)

Silence, is it ever a good thing?

I don't think so. Unless there aren't any kids around.. or it's nap time, I guess. But other than those two times, silence is never a good thing.

Today the kids and I were in my room laying on the bed watching some TV and waiting on some people who bought our furniture on Craigslist to come. Nathan got down and wondered off. I heard him in the next room playing and then later heard nothing. So I went looking for him. I walk down the hall and turn the corner to find: Yeah, silence is never good. Well, except for Nathan's teeth. I guess it's good for them. Me, notsomuch.

Fall is a comin'

Today was a wonderful day. There was a strong fall breeze blowing and it was just so nice. The kids and I went to the park to play. Right after we got there a little dog wondered up. In the neighborhood we live in, it's very odd to see a dog walking around without it's owner. So I waited a few minutes to see if anyone would come up and claim him, but they never did. Thankfully the dog had on some tags so I called the number and its owner didn't realize he was gone. So she and her husband came to the park and got him. The kids had a good time playing with him while they could.. well except Nathan. He wasn't too happy about me holding the dog and he surely didn't want to pet him either. Oh the dog's name was Pedro.

This evening Kent decided to finally trim the hedges so the kids and I went out and helped him pick up all the trimmed limbs. It was so sweet to watch the kids be so helpful. Even Nathan was picking up the leaves and trying to put them in the trash can. It was really nice to look up and see all of us working together to get the yard work done.

Today was just a really laid back kind of day. I'm hoping the fall weather continues. Days like today, when nothing really happened but still turned out so great, are really nice surprises.

Wonderful Surprises

I'm not good with secrets. I can keep them, if someone asks me to, but keeping my own is hard. I love surprises and love surprising others, but it's just so hard to do.

Wednesday I told the kids that we were going to have a day FULL of surprises. They were very excited and wanted to know every detail. "That's part of the surprise, you don't get to know what is happening until it happens." So their first surprise was that Kent took the day off. Our car was supposed to get out of the shop that day, so he wanted to be there to get it. We also had playgroup at the local YMCA. The kids didn't know about that either, so it was a surprise for them to get to run around and play with other kids their ages. After playing and having a snack we left to go to the mall for lunch. Kent left and went and picked up the car and brought it back and got it ready for our next and final surprise. The kids got into the car and realized something was up. The portable DVD player was out and running. We only use them for long trips. "Where are we going momma? Why are our suitcases in the back? Are we going to the beach??" I told them we would tell them in a few minutes. We got the car ready and I kisses my husband good-bye. He wouldn't be making this final surprise trip with me. So as we pulled out I turned around and told the kids we are going to Alabama to see Gramsie, Poohba, Granny, PawPaw, Mimi and Papa. "Yay!!! We are going to Alabama!!!!! But wait.. it takes foreverrrrrrrrrrr." "Do you not want to go?", I ask. "Yes, yes we do!!!!" So off we go. As we were almost in town I took a picture of the NASCAR sign coming into town and text it to all our family. Who, by the way, didn't know we were coming either. Well, except my parents. They knew. So a few minutes go by and I get a text from Kent's sister. "Are y'all in town?" Then as I was just about to get to Kent's grandmother's house I called her and here is how that conversation went:

Me: Did you get my text?
Granny: Yeah. How did you do that?
Me: Well, how about you unlock your door and I'll tell you.
Granny: Huh? Where are you at?
Me: Your backyard. Come unlock your door.
Granny: YOU'RE HERE!?!?!!?!
Me: Yep. Come unlock your door!

Then Kent's momma text me back and said, "Interesting" She didn't get it. She didn't figure out we were in town. Haha, it was so much fun. And so great to see the reaction on every one's faces.

Ticked at Wally World

But really.. it doesn't take much. Wal-Mart the monstrous place that likes to shut down every mom and pop store in any given town has done it again.... I hope they paid dearly for this little blunder. I mean really??? What kind of place actual does this crap?

First Soccer Game- 2009

Jon Kent had his first soccer game today. It went well. It was hot and humid, but the kids had a good time nonetheless. Zoey was a bit disappointed once she realized she wasn't going to get to play, but we are going to sneak her in next game. We have a jersey for her and since Kent's the coach and their is one player who hasn't shown up, we will slide her in and let her play. Anyway, the game went well. We got there at 9am, practiced for 45 minutes and then had the game. That way practice and game time is all at one time and then you are done for the week. Works for me! Hopefully, as each week passes Jon Kent and the rest of the kids will pick up more skills and learn more about the sport. And hopefully the weather will cool off for those of us (me!) who don't like to sweat.

Rainy Day Happenings

I like rainy days- sometimes. It gives me a chance to get the house back in order. Gives the kids a chance to play on their own. Find new things to do indoors. And to practice for winter. Yes, practice. We all know once winter comes, then most days its too cold to go out for any long periods of time. And it's a lot of work to get 1, 2, 3 or 19 (Hello, Duggars!) kids all bundled up to spend a short amount of time outside before someone has to come back inside to pee. So, I like to gather ideas up and start seeing what works and what doesn't. I use old ideas from last year, get new ideas from other people's blogs and use my rainy day ideas as well.

Today I pulled all the cushions off the couch and love seat and laid them in one straight line and told the kids to have fun. They jumped from one to one. Raced. Wrestled. All sorts of fun stuff. It was a good 45 minutes of energy exerting bliss!

If you got any good ideas for things to do indoors then leave a comment and let me know. Goodness knows I need all the help I can get!

Thankful Thursday

I'm thankful for my many blessings... especially the three above.

Oh my dear, Jon Kent...

You are quickly approaching 5 years old. Where has the time gone? You are smart, caring, protective, tenderhearted, loving, kind and a man with fine taste in women. You say I'm beautiful after all....

But today, you took the cake. As you and your sister discussed having friends, you said you didn't want to be friends with any girls. But when Zoey mentioned she was friends with a girl named Madison you said you were too. Your reason?

And I quote, "She looks good."

Well isn't that a great reason?!

When you're 16 I'm chaining you to your bed and homeschooling you.

By the way, my apologizes to Madison's grandmother who regularly reads my blog.

Let's see where this takes us...

I've started a new exercise routine.

P90X.

Today was day one.

Like Kent said, "Is it 90 days yet?"

Didn't so much feel the burn/pain while doing it.

But now...

Wow, my muscles feel like jell-o and I'm just shaky.

Hopefully in a few weeks I'll be feeling better and stronger.

Here's to 89 more days!

Simply Summer

Summer is running around with no shoes.

Summer is swimming.

Summer is dancing in the rain.

Summer is staying up late.

Summer is playing in the waves.

Summer is a late afternoon thunderstorm.

Summer is catching lightening bugs.

Summer is climbing a tree.

Summer is tank top tan lines.

Summer is blueberry picking.

Summer is watermelon seed spitting.

Summer is sitting in a swing and listening to the birds.

Summer is but a season..

But the memories of summer are a lifetime.

Playgroup: Round 2

We had another playgroup today. It was at a base near by. They had stables with ponies to ride and a fairly big playground. We arrived at 10am and I got the kids out and they went off to play. I noticed I had forgotten the diaper bag, but thought nothing of it. Nathan had already blessed me twice this morning with poops so a third, I thought, was out of the question. So we headed to the playground and the kids played. Around 5 minutes later Nathan pooped. Awesome. So I head to the car to hopefully find a magical diaper laying in the seat. No such luck. I look under the seats hoping and praying for a misplaced diaper. Crud. I look around to see if any kids around look to be the same size as Nathan. None. Just newborns and pottied trained kids. Suddenly a light bulb goes off... PADS! Yes, dear readers, I slapped two Always pads together and voila a diaper. Or a pad diaper. Or a "Please hold together for the next hour until I can get us home and you in a real diaper" diaper. Thankfully, so very thankfully, it held together and there were no accidents or more poops. Soooooo.... after that excitement it was time to ride ponies! Jon Kent and Zoey rode ponies and Nathan watched. They had a great time. I got to talk to a few moms for a bit here and there. After the pony rides it was time to head home for lunch, naps and pad.. err.. diaper changes.

Random pictures from our week away

Boy, it's good to be home.

After being gone for 9 days, it feels really good to be home. And yes, this place does indeed feel like home. That fact is proven now. South Carolina is home.

To start where I left off...

Our car was broken. It's still broken but drivable. We are going to take it back to the repair shop sometime this week to get the other part of our problem taken care of. If we would have left it in the shop in Alabama it would have been Thursday or Friday before we would have gotten it back. There was no way Kent was going to be able to take that many days off work. So the mechanics fixed what needed to be fixed and said it would be fine to drive but don't put it off getting the rest of it fixed. Thankfully our warranty paid off and we were only out $50 instead of $1500.

I picked Kent up from the airport Friday and it was sooo good to see him. I missed having him around everyday to talk to and cut up with. I was all nervous seeing him again because of my new hair cut, but he said he really liked it. So that was nice to hear. We then went to P.F Chang's to eat. It was really good and we had a good time.

Saturday was the big game. Auburn football. Woot! We had the best time. We woke up to bad news of an 80% chance of rain. So we ran to Wal-Mart before picking Jon Kent up from my parents' where he spent the night and got some ponchos for just in case. We picked up Jon Kent and headed down to Auburn. We walked around for a bit, ate lunch, went to Tigerwalk (where it was ridiculously hot and Chizik was late so we left) and then went into the stadium. Our seats were great. We watched the teams warm up, watched all the pregame stuff and settled in to watch Auburn played. Jon Kent got antsy but after half time and getting some food and funnel cake in him he was good to go. We stayed the whole game and watched Auburn beat La Tech. WARRRR EAGLE! I got some really good pictures and we even got a couple of shots of the three of us. It was a great and memorable night! Oh and NO RAIN!

Sunday we went to church and spent time with family.

Today was a traveling day. We went and spent some time with my parents early this morning and then headed to Chick-fil-a to get our free chicken sandwiches.. along with fries, drinks and nuggets that we did pay for and spent some time with Kent's family. Then we headed the 230 some odd miles it takes to get back to our house. We quickly unpacked and settled in.

Tomorrow we get back into our routines and get geared up for soccer season in these here parts. Jon Kent will be our only "official" player this year. Zoey is technically too young to play, but since Kent and his boss will be the coaches she will probably be sneaked in to play.. lol. Shhh, it's a secret.

Enjoy the pictures!!

I'm still kicking.

We are just enjoying being in Alabama and seeing family. Not a lot of internet access so I haven't been able to get on and update like I would like to. We are having a good time. Well, other than my car being broken (check out my tweets to get up to date on that). But the run down is it's broken, they are trying to fix it, at first we didn't know if the warranty covered it, it does, thank goodness, looking for a part, can't find it, may have it by tomorrow or it may be Tuesday, we are supposed to leave Monday, Kent may have to take an annual leave day Monday, it will eventually get fixed, the end. Yes that was full of grammatical mistakes, but you get my drift.

The kids went to the zoo today and then to Chuck-E-Cheese. They had a ball. I had a semi girls' day with my BFF. We were supposed to catch a movie, her cut my hair and just hang out with no kids. But one of her girls ended up getting sick, so we just hung out around her house while she cut my hair. Pictures may or may not follow. Once I have a chance to play with it, we'll see. I love the cut, but I don't know if I so much love it on me. We'll see.

Kent comes home tomorrow from his training. Yay!

Saturday we are taking Jon Kent to his first college (Auburn... WAR EAGLE!!!!) football game. The seats, we are told, are very good. I hope we have a great time and that Auburn wins!

Well, that just about catches you up on my life over the past almost week. OH!!!!!!!!

Nathan got his first "real" big boy hair cut yesterday. He looks so cute!! I'll have to get before and after pictures soon. For some reason my parents' computer isn't letting me pull any up.