Six Flags

This summer we took Austin and his friend Brooks to Six Flags for a day. It was an interesting trip up there. First the boys were VERY excited and kept asking "Are we there yet?!". And one boy had to take a potty break IN THE CAR IN A CUP, because of course we were stuck in Atlanta traffic.

They both liked to drive the cars. I rode with Austin and he cracked me up on how intense he was to "stay on the rode". He couldn't reach the gas, so I pushed the pedal and he drove.


They both loved Thomas Town! Even Sir Toppham Hatt was there! Austin is checking out his hand and the wheels are spinning in his head---"his fingers are together and don't move, mmmm?"

We stopped in time to watch the Wild West Show. It was a nice break to stop and cool down!

And we found some Characters to pose with, especially the one in the middle!

Hopefully they have good memories of the day. I know Austin talks about going back with Brooks! (That is if Six Flags doesn't "fold under" with the economy!)

Christmas In July!

Rebecca and I hosted a Christmas in July party last weekend. It was so much fun! Thanks Rebecca for opening up your house and hosting with me!
See Rebecca's blog for more!

Our Little Graduate

Austin graduated from PreK in May. He has grown so much this year and is ready for BIG school. Here's our sweet graduate in his cap and gown!

With is proud Mommy and Daddy! (And his proud teacher!)

He was #8 in "Say the Number" song.

He was Friday in "The Days of the Week" song.

A sweet smile for the family!

He was April in "The Months of the Year" song.

His favorite song "Blues on Kazoos".After getting his diploma.

He was given the choice of where to eat after graduation. Of all the places he could pick he choose Chick-Fil-A. But, he wanted one far, far away! I love this little man and can't wait to see the adventures he will have in Kindergarten!

Austin's 5th Birthday

Austin turned 5 in April! I know, I know, it's a little late! But, better than never.
So, he decided to have a baseball party. This was his first BIG party. Usually we'll just have family and a friend over for supper and cake. So, this time he got to invite friends from school and church over to play. Austin was so excited! He's such a social boy anyways and just Loves to have friends over to play. Ever since he could talk he would invite people over to his house by saying, "You come to my house?"

Here's little bother, Coop, playing right along with all the big kids.

The Birthday boy with his game face on!

The parent had the "cheap seats". Lawn chairs lined both sides of the house to watch the games.

Austin and friends playing in the sandbox.

Pappy joined in the fun too!

As a take home gift, each child received a bag of Cracker Jacks with a song attached. Thanks to Mom's creative mind, she came up with new words to "Take Me Out to the Ballgame". The song thanked them for coming and told them there was more to come. A couple weeks after the party each child got a thank you note with a baseball card pack, completed with a piece of pink bubble gum. The cards were of each child at the party.

Chocolate baseball cupcakes!

Yellow cake baseball diamond!

Of course we had ball park food! Hot dogs, nachos, peanuts, boiled peanuts, and popcorn!

Graduation Party

Lauren graduated this year and will be going to college. She is a dear friend and a great babysitter. But really she is family! We wish her the best!
The boys call her Lo-Lo. It all started with Austin when he was little and just learning to talk. So, the name has stuck and always will! We love you Lo-Lo!

We hung lanterns outside to welcome guests as they arrived. And when they left, the lanterns lit their way out (they're solar powered)!

This table was a perfect place for everyone to sign scrapbook paper and leave a nice sentiment for Lo-Lo to read later. (And always remember!)

Lo-Lo wanted cupcakes and not a cake, so that's what she got! Decorated with themed colors they were more like decoration themselves.

The mantel was decorated with more lanterns and was a great place for guests to place their gifts. After dinner and a slide show, Lo-Lo just pulled up a chair and had fun opening her presents. Her friends are a HOOT and were like children playing with all the wrappings and bows.

Each table had a lantern glowing on it, with candy to munch on through the night. These lanterns were a great buy at only $1 from the dollar store. You never know what you'll find there!

We had a great time throwing this graduation party for Lauren! She even picked the menu (of course, it's her party!). We had salad, lasagna, baked spaghetti, bread sticks, lemonade, and sweet tea.

Playing Catch Up

Okay, so these next posts may be late and out of order, but better than never!
Here are a few pics from the Easter Egg Hunt at church. Group pics---aaagghh! Someone is not looking, smiling, doing something silly, but I guess that's how it always will be. Maybe it is really capturing their mood at that moment! Enjoy!

A Roller Coaster

I feel like I've been on a roller coaster of emotions this past week and need prayers. It began several weeks ago with the planning of Austin's 5th Birthday party. This was is first "real" birthday party; inviting friends from church and school, theme, food, cake, fun, treats, etc. All was going well and we were busy getting the house ready, food, and decorations ready.

Then on Tuesday of last week Charlie got a phone call that two of his football players had been killed in a car accident. Life stopped and changed. Our hearts sank and the flood gates opened and prayers went up. The mood in our house was different. Daddy was now occupied with more pressing issues, obviously. I tried to keep the household going and party planning.

With last Friday passing, so did one of the funerals. May God bless this family and comfort them!

Then Saturday came with the big party. Everything went smoothly and the excitement was high! Austin LOVED having all his friends over to play! He is my social boy and likes to have someone to play with. I thank God for the five years He's given Austin to us and pray for many more to come.

Sunday was a day of peace, worship, and a much need Sunday afternoon nap (that almost made us last for PM service)!

Monday came with much anticipation of the memorial service at Faulkner for the two players. And knowing that was coming set the solemn mood. Until I found out that my grandmother had been put in the hospital Sunday night. Then worry set in. The boys and I found her still in the ER when we got to the hospital Monday morning. She was moved to a room later and we are now just waiting. Waiting to see if she begins to improve or not. She has Alzheimer's, is 88 years old, has not been eating or drinking much or at all, fell Sunday morning, and is just getting over Shingles.

So as Monday comes to a close, I feel that I've been on an emotional roller coaster. Charlie has one more funeral this Friday. Please pray for comfort and healing for this family!

I can't imagine the emotional roller coaster that Our Lord and Savior was on. Healing the sick, blind, rejoicing with the believers, being spat upon, teaching, praying, preaching, and trying to make others understand. The emotions I feel are nothing new. They are the same He felt. And He is our strength that will help us through it all.

It wasn't me thinking!

Referring to the previous post...it wasn't me thinking, it was God! After moving rooms around, I began to clean out a closet in the old office, now playroom. While doing so, I found something strange on the side wall of the closet. There are shelves on the inside of the closet and when I pulled everything off on of the shelves, there it was. Some dirt on the wall. I proceeded to brush the dirt off and found a tiny hole, a pin hole size. My heart dropped into my stomach! I knew exactly what it was, thanks to my sister-in-law having trouble with these at her house too, TERMITES.

We set up for someone to come take a look and tell us what was going on. Sure enough, we have termites, but have caught them early enough. This small hole is the only visible sign of them and we are having the house treated next week for over $800.

I mention all this to say, I truly believe that it was God motivating me to start moving rooms around a week ago today. Who knows how long this problem would have gone on unnoticed! God knew it was time. Time to move rooms, time to clean out closets, and time for tax money to be coming in. All in His timing!

I guess that's why He laughed too when I had big plans for this past weekend. Finish cleaning out rooms, school work, birthday party work, graduation party work, grocery shopping, making curtains, painting dresser, making Easter lunch, etc. Because he had other plans for Charlie and I. We've been sick for days with food poisoning. Yes, it was my cooking--some chicken on last Tuesday and we both took leftovers to lunch on Wednesday.

So, we are trying to get better. Just weak and sore. Thankfully, that night of the chicken, the boys were being picky and didn't want to eat what Momma made for supper. My final words before allowing them to get up from the table were "This is all you get to eat tonight! You can eat now or go to bed hungry! Don't ask for anything else to eat tonight!" And they both got up and never complained. Do you think they knew something! ;) Like Charlie said, out of the thousands of meals that you've made and we've only gotten sick from one, that's not bad. But, that's one too many for me!

So, we will hopefully get caught up this week on everything and celebrate Easter another weekend!

What was I thinking!

I've had the idea for a while to switch some rooms around in the house and yesterday I started the project. Mind you it's just me and the boys at home and Austin had been throw up sick Sunday and we went to the doctor yesterday with Coop and he has an ear infection and pink eye! So, with the blessing of my hubby as he walked out the door for work he said, "I'll do whatever you want." (Meaning moving the big stuff.) So I set to work right away and cleared out Coop's room, the nursery.

The crib wouldn't fit out the door together, so I took it apart half way, just to manipulate it out the door. Once that room was clean, I moved the office stuff in Coop's "old room". And then moved toys and shelves to the old office. I did break a desk, that I wanted to get rid of and Charlie wanted to keep. It was not on purpose, but as soon as it broke I thought, Charlie's not going to believe this! I ventured up to the attic for an old table, brought it down, cleaned it, and put it together.

Charlie came home from work and did the big jobs. Took the broken desk to his truck to throw away, put the crib and changing table in the attic. All that's left to do is clean out closets and organize.

I think Cooper was in the most shock! His "room" is gone, his bed is gone and now he's sleeping with his brother! I kept asking him if he wanted to sleep with Bubba in the big boy bed and he answered NO. Both the boys did GREAT sleeping together. Cooper stayed in bed and Austin loved sleeping on the top bunk. We had told Austin that he couldn't sleep on the top until he was 5, so only three weeks away til 5 and in his words, "I can't believe I can sleep on the top bunk and I'm not even 5!" Small thrills!

I'll take pics of the "new" rooms when all is said and done. So, what was I thinking? Spring Cleaning, I guess!

Spring Break

We actually did something for Spring Break this year! We usually just stay at home, but this year we took a beach trip. Charlie is from Panama City, so that's were we went. He knew his way around, saw old friends, and visited his former church home. The boys have never been there so it was neat for Daddy to show Austin where he grew up.

Austin & Cooper loved the water and sand. They were content staying out there for hours just digging in the wet sand and making tracks with monster trucks. We stayed at a great resort on Bay Point and will want to stay there again.

Boys look a pirate ship! They finally did notice it when the cannon went off!

Did you know...

that Mr. Q and Miss U are married! A couple weeks ago, while learning the letter Q, we had a wedding. Because, as you all know, Q and U are always together! We decided that they will get married, so they will stay together as we spell "Qu" words.

The wedding announcements went out and names were drawn to see who would be the Mr. and Miss. The children were excited all week and couldn't believe they were going to have a wedding in their classroom! All the other boys and girls were attendants in the ceremony and wore QU words around their neck. The ceremony was performed by the preacher at VP and parents, grandparents, and staff all attended the wedding. After a brief ceremony the reception began. All the normal wedding food such as, nuts, mints, strawberries, grapes, crackers, cheese, punch and of course wedding cake.

The students really enjoyed this memorable event. And hopefully from now until forever they will remember that when spelling a "Qu" word, Q and U are always together!

Let it Snow...Let it Go!

Who would have thought that after spending two hours at the park today, in the warm sunshine, wearing short sleeves and shorts, and getting a little sun burnt; that it was SNOWING here six days ago! But, I have to say that it's been GREAT! The snow was fun and it was also nice to see it go. How people live in that all the time...I do not know. Here are a few pics from playing in the snow. Cooper wasn't liking it at all. Last year he loved it! He finally stayed by the porch and enjoyed watching everyone else play.