Day Trippin' to Memphis...

This week is Spring Break and we are SO EXCITED! When you homeschool there are times that seem to drag on! Working with a Pre-K and Kindergarten child be overwhelming some days but we have a lot of fun!!! But this week was all about FUN! On Wednesday morning we headed to Memphis to go to the zoo. I have wanted to take the kids for a while and my cousin Kristy and her little boy, Carson, agreed to go with us, so off we went! We had the best day! That zoo is amazing! We saw Panda Bears, Penguins, Polar Bears, and Sea Lions. Ethan even decided to take a dip (ha! he was pretending to be swimming with the Sea lions!)

Carson is almost two but you would have thought he was the same age as the kids! He would run as hard as he could just to keep up with them. And NAP??? No way! He stayed awake the whole way there and home.

I love hearing the kids laugh from the back of the van. Even when you have no clue what they are laughing about. At one point Kristy turned around to see what was so funny.. and Carson was throwing and spitting gold fish everywhere! OOPS! Oh well, nothing a quick vacuuming of the van won't fix.

I would send hubby text message pictures all day and he definitely wished he was there to join us in our fun! We did too, we missed having him there with us. But after having so much fun, I am sure we will go back again real soon.

After four hours of walking around the zoo and chasing three kids we headed back to Little Rock. What a great day! :) Hope all of you on Spring Break are having a great time!

the rest of the story..

So, after the soccer game and Wye Mountain, and after working 12 hours on Friday night by 4pm Saturday I was EXHAUSTED! and I had to be back at work at 11pm that night.. so off we went so I could "nap". I woke up just in time to jump in the shower and get ready for work at 9pm. I was greeted by my beautiful kids, all excited to see mommy. I jumped in the shower and they continued to play.. for about two minutes... and then I heard it...
Ethan: "MOM! We have a problem!!!" ME: "(sigh) What is it, Ethan?" Ethan: "Scarlett cut her hair!!!" ME: "Scarlett come here!" again, still in the shower and at this point assuming she may have just cut a small piece or one chunk.. but imagine my surprise when I peak out of the shower curtain and this is what I see!... At that point all I could do was cry! Why did she have to do this at 9:30 pm on the Saturday night before Easter!??? I had actually gone to the trouble this year to get EVERYBODY matching colored outfits. I even had something new to wear.. What was I going to do with this???? I cried for awhile and then I had to laugh! What else could you do? Why would a four year old take it upon herself to chop her hair off.. with blunt tip scissors none the less. Sweet hubby picked up all the evidence before I had to see it.. and he did tell me "you didn't need to see that.. it looked like a massacre of hair"! Thanks! I appreciat not having to deal with that.. I was already at melt down point. By Sunday afternoon.. I had trimmed it up a bit and was getting used to the "short do" and she was loving it.. in between asking me "how long until my hair grows back" and prissing around doing the "hair flip" you might see a bit of remorse.. but definitely not ashamed of her hair! She told me it "was cute, just a little bit!". I do think she thought it would grow back immediately.. OOPS! I guess she learned that the hard way! We enjoyed a nice lunch at home and the Easter bunny did stop by, despite me telling her on Saturday night that he would not leave her anything since she cut her hair! I was so tired off and on on Sunday afternoon that it took me a while to get up and moving and hiding Easter eggs for the kids.

So at dusk were were outside hiding eggs for the first time that day! They actually enjoyed the night time egg hunt! I had found this wonderful cookie recipe on another blog that explained the death and resurrection and I was so looking forward to doing that with the kids but the events of Staurday evening got me so off track! So, today is Tuesday but we are going to make these cookies tonight and talk about the death and resurrection in full detail. I hate that I missed that opportunity but I know that Sunday or Tuesday doesn't matter.. it is just the fact they they will hear the story! Here is the link for the cookies: http://stainedglasspickup.blogspot.com/2007/04/resurrection-cookies.html

So, first thing Monday morning we were up and on a mission to get Miss Scarlett's hair cut and fixed and by this time she was very happy with her hair and told me that "she hated bows!".. so that may explain why she cut it off.. thinking she would get out of wearing bows. I had news for her.. I would just buy smaller bows! but she was going to wear bows in her hair! After getting her hair cut I must say I really like it.. it is not the long hair I am used to but somehow this new little bob cut really does suit her and it fits her personality very well. We talked Monday night and we came to a compromise (yes, I try to compromise with a four year old!) that we would grow it out but not near as long.. and she agreed that maybe that would be "OK".
Here are some pics of Scarlett's NEW DO! She is on the phone with her nana telling her about her new hair cut..

What a weekend!

Our Easter weekend was a lot of fun! I still had to go to work at night so that made my daytime events a little more tiresome but we managed. On Saturday morning Ethan had his first soccer game of the Spring season and since we have had so much rain the field at Burns Park were flooded and we had to play at Pinnacle Mountain. It took Ethan a while to get back in the groove and get moving.. but once he did he seemed to enjoy it.. again! :) He saw a little friend he had not seen the past two seasons.. so he did spend most of his time on the field talking to his friend.. as you can see in the picture. ha! He takes after his momma!


After the soccer game we decided to go out to the Wye Mountain Daffodil Festival. We had a really nice picnic lunch from Subway and off we went. The kids love running through the daffodils and I enjoy taking their pictures. I had hoped to have them wear their Easter outfits but it so cool and I had not had any sleep.. so that hindered my desire to put forth a lot of effort! SO, in hindsight.. I wish I had known what was to come later in the day...I'll post the rest of the story next.. :)

Baseball, Basketball and Pizzas! Oh MY!

Ethan had his first baseball practice today and I think I was more excited than he was. I could not wait to see him hit and catch the ball. The pitching machine was fierce! Balls seemed like they were flying in a 100 MPH and the mom in me wanted to run out there and push him out of the line of fire.. but the baseball lover in me wanted him to hit the ball even more than that. So I sat and watched and waited and watched several swings that were aimed for pitches way to high for him. And then it happened.. he hit the ball and he hit it hard. From that time on it was like he found his groove and he was doing very well. I could not have been more proud!
With all the batting going on and since I volunteered to be team mom (I swore I wouldn't do it.. but it was just too tempting) I was a little distracted. I knew Scarlett had gone out on the empty field beside me and was "running" the bases. Imagine my surprise when I turned around and this is what I saw! Such a happy little girl! Notice the "coy" wave and smile as she is standing ankle deep in a puddle of mud! I wanted to get mad but could really only laugh at this point. You can thinka her daddy for the love of mud and water! "Mudbowl 2008" would have been a favorite of hers. Practice was over at 7:30 and we were off to complete our Annual March Madness Pizza Party!

The art of making pizza's is a very delicate thing and hubby has mastered it! From the homemade crust to the homemade sauce he makes some of the best tasing pizzas! I love it! but he only cooks them once a year and that is the first night of the NCAA tournament. Here is hubby with one of five pizza's he made this evening. Yum! Yum! and we had lots of left overs. We invited my nephew, Mitchell, over to spend a couple of nights with us while he is out of school on Spring Break and this is how Ethan, Scarlett and Mitchell spent the evening. Curled up in the "big chair" watching basketball. Tomorrow I will post pictures from our afternoon at Alltel Arena watching the NCAA teams practice but for now.. I am off to bed! Having "three" kids has worn me out for the week!!!!

EGG-Cellent Fun!

We decorated eggs! What fun! I dread this each and every year because of the huge mess it makes. Normally I am all for my kids making a big mess, but something about eggs and dye just is not my cup of tea! They each get a dozen eggs, five coffee cups of colored water and go at it! They will sit in the kitchen floor for two hours dipping and redipping these 12 eggs. They mix colors, and try again. You would think there was a top secret science experiment going on in my kitchen. Scarlett refuses to use the egg dipper that comes with the packages and just likes to use her hands. Which, I must tell you that Easter egg dye is HARD to get off of little hands. After trying for what seemed like an hour I gave up and decided that her nails may be trimmed in green for quite some time. I remember thinking it was such great fun to dye eggs! Oh how the times have changed! I hope the rain lets up long enough for the ground to be dry this weekend for Easter egg hunts! That is the best fun! I still have to finish shopping for Easter outfits. I am usually so on top of it but this year I have been a bit lax. Ethan told me he did not really want to wear "the diamond stuff" again this year! Which means my big six year old may finally feel that he is too old for argyle! I hate that! He looks so cute in the little argyle sweater vest and matching socks. Hopefully he will relent and I can talk him into just one more year of "the diamond stuff"!

After all the cleaning of my kitchen I was exhausted and decided that I would just run to McDonalds for dinner. That makes my kids very happy! Hubby.. not so much! But he accepted and placed his order just like the kids and I was off. The Happy Meals have princess toys right now and Scarlett got a new crown! Just what she needed. I guess it should be said that a girl can never have too many crowns.

Hope you all have a wonderful day! Hope you are able to stay dry! It seems like the only way for that to happen is to stay inside!

I am off to get ready for guest. I am watching one of Ethan's little friends today since school is out. Pray for me!

Princess for a Day!

This weekend has been so much fun! The kids all had THE best time! I have been so blessed with such great Sister in Laws. Both of my brothers wifes are wonderful and hubby's sister is awesome! We were sad to see Jacob and Lillie go home yesterday because we know it will be a while before we see them again (after saying bye on Sunday, that is).

I just had to share a few pictures of my "girly girls". The girls were so excited to get their hair curled and make up on. They looked so cute! They both were more than willing to "strike a pose". I did learn one thing.. if I am going to be bathing two girls very often I need to buy more than one Hello Kitty Towel, more than one set of curlers and more stick on earrings! :) This is some pictures the "spiffed" up little girls. They "vogued" and then made "silly" face! The boys were gone to Ethan's baseball practice so it was just us girls for a little while. What fun! I miss being so little and carefree! and I guess you never outgrow the wonderful feeling of a great hair day! :) Even at four years old these girls could appreciate it!

What a great weekend! This will be a busy week! Gotta find some green for the kids to wear tomorrow! Scarlett has worn her St. Patricks Day T Shirt all weekend so I think we need something different on Monday. :) Don't want them to get pinched.. they would not appreciate it and Scarlett just might hit somebody! :) Hope you all had a wonderful weekend and a great week!

The Great MUDBOWL 2008

My cute little nephew and niece from Tennessee are here to spend the night with us and my kids could not be MORE excited! Ethan and Jacob (6) are three months apart in age and Scarlett and Lillie(4) are only one month apart. We do not get to see Jacob and Lillie near enough and they kids are SO CUTE when they are all together...but it is like mass pandemonium! We got lucky this time and my sis in law decided they could spend the night with us! What a ball! They day started with a big MESS!!! MUDBOWL 2008 in our backyard! Our backyard holds water since we are at the bottom of a hill.. and it is currently a big mudpit! So, what do you do??? Stay inside.. NEVER!! You go out in grungy clothes and play FOOTBALL! Hubby, Ethan and Jacob played tackle football and when they were all through I had the messiest couple of little boys you have ever seen. Lillie and Scarlett jumped on the trampoline for a bit but then decided a bubble bath and make up was much more fun. They quickly came
inside. Here are my two cute little girls! All nice and clean and ready for popcorn and a movie...but that will change. I've promised to curl hair and put on make up and let them play dress up.. I will post those pictures when we are all through getting "spiffed" up!

,,,and here are my boys!!! Be prepared this may be the messiest pair of boys you have seen....

They played with everything they had, all in, nothing held back! They were so messy they had to be sprayed off before they could even come in the house. Can you guess what I am doing now??? Laundry of course! Hubby called my sis in law and told her about the mudpit...she didn't believe in! I sent her a text message with a picture.. we will see what she says! :) It is hard to believe that two boys that do not particularly like to be dirty had such a ball in the MUDBOWL! Todd and Leslie may never trust us with their kids again! :) I hope they do.. because we are having a ball! So, wish us luck tonight! This will also be the first time Jacob and Lillie have spent the night away from home without their mom and dad. Our goal is to get them all so tired when it is bedtime nobody notices where they are. Up early in the morning for our first spring soccer game! Yippee!!!

Quick update...

Here are a few pictures of our last two weeks.

We played in the snow and made a snowman that lasted a few hours...later in the week, on our second snow, which was very little at my house, hubby took the kids hiking through the woods behind our house and they loved it! They saw 6 deer on top of the hill.

They went to a couple of birthday parties and as usual had a ball!

We got all our clothes ready and delivered to Duck Duck Goose. This was my first time taking part in the "big consignment" sale and I must say it was a lot of work! I will have to see how great the pay off is before I decide to try it again. On the way home from "Duck Duck Goose" sale, Ethan and Scarlett were in the back seat talking about playing the game "duck duck goose" and Ethan told Scarlett it was called "duck, duck, MOOSE!" not GOOSE! He explained to her "how crazy" it would be for a Goose to chase a duck when they were both birds.. but a MOOSE! Now that would chase a duck! Sounded pretty reasonable to me. :)

Hope you have a great weekend!!!

OOPS.. forgot to blog for a bit..

It seems I have forgotten to blog for a couple of weeks! I really intended to and wanted to but things have gotten in the way. I have lots of pictures to share and will get them loaded and post a proper update blog about the last two weeks. I spent the last week gathering and ironing my childrens clothes to take to the Duck Duck Goose sale, and in doing that I realized that my kids have WAY too much stuff! How do you find that happy place in between too much and too little??? So, I will post a big long update blog with lots of pictures. :) Thanks Leigh Ann and Abby for reminding me to BLOG!!! :)