The royal family

OH my am I tired.

Tonight we went to Dalton and Braxton's birthday party. The kids had a great time running around in the dark with flashlights and glow sticks. Ashley insisted on giving the boys one of her first "rattle" babydolls that she had. When Dalton opened it up he just looked uninterested in it and put it aside. Then Ashley said, "Look at what it does" and she picked it up and shook it. So Dalton humored her by shaking the doll and then put it back down. Ashley wasn't going to give up so she took it to Braxton to show him. When she noticed he did NOT have the doll when he was in the other room, she took it to him. Braxton was so sweet and carried it. Austin and I tried to tell her that boys don't like dolls, but she absolutely insisted and had an absolute breakdown when we said no. When she finally irritated me enough, I finally gave in and said, "ok". Then she had a meltdown because we didn't wrap it and it needed a bag. (big eyeroll)

Well here are the pictures I promised. I tried to full around with Photoshop. But I forgot how to change the walls into stone walls. I worked on it almost an hour and gave up. I will just ask Greg tomorrow to help me do it.

So which group picture is your favorite? I am going to create a layout using one or two of these pictures. I have a favorite, but I want to know yours. Also- Do you have a caption to fit the picture you choose?

Choice A:

Choice B:

Choice C:

My Gym

On Wednesday we went to a place called My Gym. This is just for kids. It was amazing! The kids LOVED it! Unfortunately it costs $10 per family per hour. So every now and then that would be fine. But it just wasn't long enough. Austin got really mad that we had to leave. He said he didn't like their rules.

Anyway, Austin ran around there like crazy. He is a natural gymnist. I need to get this boy into gymnastics. He was climbing, swinging, balancing, pulling himself up on the bar, etc. It was really fun to watch him.

Ashley loved this big ball. She got inside and I rolled it all around. Then she would roll Mason around in it.

Mason loved to get in the balls. He would jump in. He would also climb the rock wall all the way to the top and balance and roll in the big ball. They all definitely want to come back.

Ashley just loved burying herself in the ball pit. (especially when it was time to go)

Today I set up a photo shoot at church and got some cute pictures to share. I need to full around with them a little bit in Photoshop. I want to add a background. But, I just may share the pictures with you before I mess with them first. Tune in tomorrow or later on today for pictures of our royal family. :)

Have a happy weekend!

Ahhhhh....I love Friday nights! I'm sleeping in tomorrow...so don't call me very early in the morning.

This weeks happenings.

Yay! I am finally caught up on reading blogs. Now when someone posts, I might beable to respond right away instead of weeks later.

Anyway, did you know our dryer broke? It has been broken since we got back from Florida. Greg tried to fix it...but it just wasn't going to be fixed. So Monday I went out and bought one and thankfully on the same day our tax return came! It will be delivered on Thursday. Hip Hip Hooray! 3 times now, I've washed a few loads and Greg would go out to the laundrymat at night to dry them. I will be so happy to be back to normal again.

I just love this picture of Austin and Ashley.

Yesterday the kids played outside. They found 2 bungee cords and tied their bikes together. It was really cute.

Sunday, it was raining so I pulled out their NEW umbrellas that I forgot to give them for Easter. I never did get a great pictures of all of them, but here are a few pictures to share.

Later today we are going to My Gym. We have never been there, but I think it will be great.

Have a great day!

All about our wedding

I came across this on BChsMamaof3's website. I thought it would be neat to share my own story.

All about our wedding....

1. Where/How did you meet? I met Greg at David Lipscomb University in Bible class. It was Revelations class of all things. He was the smartest person in the WHOLE room so I asked him to tutor me. We would get bored of signing in to class the normal way, so we would each do some fun way of signing in. He may have written his... eneerG gerG and upside down, and then I would write mine in cursive backwards. Then we would mix it up and do something different the next time.


2. How long have you known each other? 15 years


3. How long after you met did you start dating? Ha! Um he asked me out immediately and I said, "no", but he was persistant! He asked me out for Valentine's Day and I told him I had plans, but my friend extremely encouraged me to go out with him instead of her. So I did. We had a nice time. He forgot his wallet and I paid for our date. LOL! After about 2 months of dating him I looked at him and said, "I don't know why I'm still with you, I know I'm never going to marry you." and HE AGREED! Then Summer came and something happened while he was in Florida and I was in Tennessee. I guess I realized that I did love him. And it's been grand ever since then.

4. How long did you date before you were engaged? One year to the day. I told the stinker not to propose on a holiday, but I knew he was going to do it anyway. I told my parents earlier that morning that I thought I would be calling them late that night.

5. How long was your engagement? One year and 40 days.

6. How long have you been married? 13 years

7. What is your anniversary? March 26th

8. How many people came to your wedding reception? Um...400? We had an open wedding and reception so that anyone in the church who wanted to come could.

9. What kind of cake did you serve? Ummm? It was kind of like a fancy birthday cake. It was only ok. If I had one thing to change that would have been it. I picked it out, but it just wasn't what I expected.

10. Where was your wedding? Cuyahoga Falls, OH

11. What did you serve for your meal? buffet style- I don't even remember.

12. How many people were in your wedding party? 13?

13. Are you still friends with them all? not really. I'm still good friends with Natalie but we don't talk often since she's in Ohio and I'm here.

14. Did your spouse cry during the ceremony? no- but he looked worried most of the time. He told me afterwards that he was trying to just concentrate on being in the moment.

15. Most special moment of your wedding day? The weather was beautiful and just as we were pulling out it started to snow big snowflakes. It was GORGEOUS.

16. Any funny moments? OH YES! (blushing)

17. Any big disasters? One of the centerpeices caught on fire and my MIL threw it on the floor and stomped it out. Well that and the hotel we stayed in the first night gave away our reservations. (AND we had TWO confirmation numbers) I looked like Bridezilla! I was so upset I had mascara running down my face and I just went to the car and let Greg deal with it. We got the penthouse-which was really nice, but I was too upset to enjoy it.

18. Where did you go on your honeymoon? We went to Niagra Falls and then travelled to Toronto for one day. (Brrrrrrrrrrrrrr!!!)

19. How long were you gone? Golly I don't remember.

20. If you were to do your wedding over.... I loved my wedding! It was big like I always dreamed, I had the perfect dress, and music and dancing...it was fabulous! I just would have called the morning of my wedding to let the hotel know we were still coming.

21. What is your song? Silly song to have as ours...but Greg sang it to me when we were dating... Do you remember when we met?

22. Describe your wedding dress: White with a long train. Very lacy and beautifully decorated with pearls. The veil was just as beautiful. It was trimmed with pearls that flowed all the way down as long as the train of my dress.

23. What kind of flowers did you have at your wedding? Silk flowers- but it was really pretty.

if you decide to tag yourself and copy this - please leave me a comment so I can come check yours out!

Who's the smartest?

So Austin is talking to Daddy.

Austin: I'm the smartest.

Daddy: You are smart, but Mason is pretty smart too.

(I wish you could see his thinking face)

Austin: Ashley is the whiniest, Mason is the silliest and I'm the smartest.

Daddy: Oh is that so?

Easter

Well Hello! Yes it's been a long time since I really blogged. I had a REALLY bad week last week. The highlights: Our dryer broke, I thought I had an abcessed tooth (turned out to be a popcorn kernel stuck), Austin drove the flour into the Family room with his remote control car, Ashley and Mason got the sugar bowl and dumped it in the Family room and Austin peed on a mirror to see what it looked like. And Saturday was SO bad that the Easter Bunny almost didn't come on Sunday. Anyway, the Easter Bunny is very forgiving and did come.

So on Sunday morning, Greg told the kids the true meaning of Easter. Then they went down to get their Easter treasures. On the way to church, I talked to them. I told them that just as God has forgiven all of us for our sins, I forgive all of you for being so naughty yesterday. They said, "We forgive you too Mom."

Anyway, the rest of the day was nice. We went to Logan's Roadhouse for lunch and then to a friend's house for Easter dinner.

The kids are demanding my attention, so I gotta go! Enjoy the pictures!

Ashley's PRETEND conversations

Gramma sent some money for the kids to buy an Easter present. Ashley bought this PRETEND phone. On the way home this is the conversation I heard in the back of the car:

Hello Gramma? Thank you for the money.

Well...I bought a pink telephone...it's kinda furry.

Ok gotta go.

Love you to.

--------

Hello Gramma? uh huh..

I miss you too.

Well...I don't know.

(to me) Mom, Gramma wants us to come to Ohio to visit her.

yeah, I told her.

Well...you can call me anytime.

I love you, Gramma.

Bye.

___________

Hello Gramma?

Well...Austin got freight cars and Mason got Bob the Builder Pla doh.

Uh huh

yep

I love you and miss you too.

bye.

___________

(Goes on a few more times)

Ring.

UH...Why does she keep calling me?

Scrapin Memories Stuff

I AM SO S L E E P Y!!!

But for you Michelle I'll write this blog...

Scrapin' Memories got in the new Rhonna Farrer line French Twist. They have the new Jenni Bowlin stuff. They've got Autumn Leaves new line of accrylic stamps and Jenni's too. Oh and the new line of Heidi Swapp stamps.

They are open on Sundays 1:00 to 5:00 but closed on Mondays. Other days they are open 10:00 to 6:00.

OK I'm typing with my eyes closed now...so I guess I better get to bed.

Dyson Vacuum

Check out this contest over at 5 minutes for Mom. They are giving away a Dyson Slim Vacuum. Oh how I would love to have this. I need a vacuum cleaner, mine just doesn't work very well anymore. And I'm sure you've heard all about the buzz on Dyson Vacuums. So I'm entering the contest, because at least this way I have a chance at getting one.

Have a great day!

Honk if you're scrapbooking!

SO... Have you ever scrapbooked while driving?



Well I realized I shouldn't be doing it when I accidently honked at the person in front of me. (Oooooops)



Actually, I was swapping out a picture. I had the layout finished, except one of the pictures that I printed on stinky paper at home got scratched. So I went to Sam's Club and got it developed again. It is such a nicer quality paper than what I have at home. Anyway, at a stop light I decided to put adhesive on the back of my picture and put it on the layout. Yep- I guess I pressed a little too hard on the horn. The guy looked back and I put my hands up in the air and said, "SORRY". Am I a dingbat or what?



Anyway, this layout is my first design team layout. WHAT? Yes, you saw that right. Scrappin' Memories asked me to be on their design team. Is that cool or what? So here it is what do you think? After getting home I realized that in the original 5x7 picture I had cut off a little to the left taking off some of that red and green. I'll probably fix it when I get it back or go to the store next.

And after Dana gets to the store...I'll tell you what they got in. :)

I thought it was a snake.

So most of you know that I use a C-PAP machine to sleep. I've had it for almost a year and last night was the first night it scared me.

In my sleepy stuper, in the middle of the night, I slightly opened my eyes and thought that there was a SNAKE coming close to my face. I jumped up so fast and knocked my machine off the bed side table on to the floor. If it really was a snake it would have either bit me as soon as I moved or had been stunned and stricken down by this crazy woman's fury trying to get away from it.

Can you see me flailing my arms, gasping for air and fighting a hose attached to a machine?

Greg got up to help me, and all I could say was "Sorry, I thought it was a snake."

Thank goodness the machine still works.

Special Day!

WE are HOME! Yay! We made it home last night after a long day of travelling. The kids really did well. It took us 14 hours to get to Florida and 13 hours to get back.

Well today is a VERY special day!!! Today is Greg and my 13th anniversary. I'm very blessed to have a wonderful husband!

2 pictures

Here are a couple of Nana's pictures from the Space Center.

Beach and Kennedy Space Center

What lovely weather we are having here!

Yesterday we went to St. Augustine Beach. It was so nice. The kids had such a great time playing in the sand and running away from the water. We will probably go back tomorrow.

Today we went to The Kennedy Space Center. That was really interesting, but I felt like we were rushed through the whole thing. We didn't get to see everything. I would have liked to walk through the space shuttle. But the kids had fun and we even found some plastic planets in the gift shop for Austin to play with. He was going nuts! He did this cute little dance. He has been carrying Saturn around everywhere.

We also went by Aunt Kiki's (Greg's sister) store to see her and where she works. It was nice to get things at half price. I wish I could have gotten Easter presents there, but the end of the month is coming upon us and we are quickly running out of money.

I am so tired and I better get to bed. I hope all is going well with all of you.

Austin's new friend

Austin has found a new friend. This is Stormy. Austin is smitten! The other day I asked him what he was doing and he said he was playing hide and seek with Ashley and Stormy. So he finds Stormy first and then he says, "Come on lets find Ashley." I said, "OK I'm coming" He said, "I was talking to Stormy."

He wants a cat so bad. It almost makes me want to get one, but not quite.

We went to Disney yesterday. It was loads of fun! It was extremely hard at the end of the day when they all fell asleep and we had to hold them and try to get them to the car. Greg held 2 of them and every now and then one would just lean backwards. Some people standing in line with us for the tram would help every now and then. When we got close to the tram and then couldn't get on- another couple said, "Here take our spot." We were so thankful! We lost Austin's shoe along the way. We got the kids in the car and Greg went back to look for it. I flagged down a security person and she went and picked him up and they found the shoe together. We got back to the house at 2:00 AM. AY! AY! AY! I was trying to keep Greg awake by talking to him, but I was falling asleep after each word. He kept slapping himself in the face- he really had me worried, but we got home safely.

Today we went to the St. Augustine beach. OH IT is SO beautiful here! WOW! The kids played in the sand and ran into the cold water and then ran away from it.

Tomorrow we are going to Kennedy Space Center. I've never been there. I am looking forward to it.

Spring Break

Oh what fun! We are in Florida this week. The drive here was very long, 14 hours, but it wasn't too bad. The kids did amazingly well. Please pray for our safe return.

Tomorrow we are going to Disney World Magic Kingdom for the day. It'll take a little over 2 hours to get there.

Today- Greg took the kids out on a canoe ride in the river behind his parents house. Actually, none of them liked it, but they sure looked cute. Then Greg and his sister took the canoe out further. They saw a great big snake and then they saw 2 dolphins. Neither one of them had a camera on them. At first Greg got a little nervous when he saw the fins -- for a few short moments he thought they were really close to some sharks. YIKES!

Then we took all the cousins to Picture People to get a picture. We got a couple good shots. Then we went to Chuck E Cheese. The kids went wild but had a great time. While my MIL, SIL, all the 7 of the kiddos and me took the kids to Chuck E Cheese, Greg and his Dad went to hear N.T. Wright speak at Flagler College. Greg was so tired when he got back, we barely talked. I did get out of him that today was one of the best days of his life.

I've been taking pictures, but I haven't loaded my pictures to my inlaws computer. I don't know that I will, so I'll put pictures on here when we get back to Nashville.

Tennessee Scrapbook Part 1

This is what I have been working on over the last few weeks. It is for a homeschooling project. We were to compile information about TN and whoever got me is compiling stuff about their state. And so I made a scrapbook as my main project. And for the record I am so counting these 20 pages in my scrapbooking goal. :)

Tennessee Part 2

Nashville Tour

What a wonderfully busy day we had today! We toured Nashville with the kids.

I am dooing a homeschool project that is really cool. I am putting together a box of TN stuff and sending it to another family and in return I will receive a box from another state. I have SO MUCH stuff to put in this box. I want to put together a little scrapbook of where we went and what we learned to send to the other family, however I printed out 100 little pictures. I'm not so sure I can make it a "little" scrapbook. I'm sure going to try though.

I'm so glad Greg was with us. There would have been no way I could have taken the kids everywhere we did by myself. I might try to post some of the highlights here, but first I need to make my pictures smaller.

DON'T FORGET TO SET BACK YOUR CLOCKS! If you don't you will be late to church.

Reading and talking and talking and talking!

Alrighty- Post 4. Just trying to get caught up.

I am SO proud of Austin!

I was making some flash cards for the kids. Mainly for Ashley b/c she has a hard time with rhyming. I want to show her how the rhyming words have the same ending. As I was making them Austin came in the room and started reading all the cards. He read over 200 of them on Thursday night. So I decided to start making the words more difficult. He would get frustrated on some of them and say, don't tell me and he would work them out.

He would sound them out like this: "t...rrr... when 2 vowels go a walkin' the first one does the talkin'...ay...tray"

He even sounded out the words, cheat and wheat and lunch and wish.

I was so excited, I told Austin that I was so proud of him. And he said, "I'm so proud of myself!" How precious is that? I bought him a train tonight, because I thought this was a big deal and deserved a reward!
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In the car Mason started irritating Austin by calling him a genius (over and over again). Mason really likes to push his buttons and take it too far. I told Austin that what Mason was saying was a really good and nice thing to say and that he should tell him thank you. He thanked him and Mason continued. So Austin said, "I KNOW...you just don't need to say it anymore."
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Today- I couldn't keep up with Austin! He was actually driving me crazy! I know it is a good problem to have, but that much talking was making me insane! He was talking non-stop and asking all kinds of questions that I had no idea about. He found a picture of the solar system and he told Greg and me that it scared him, because he is afraid that the Earth will bump into the sun or that Jupiter will bump into Earth. He wanted me to find a better picture and then he started asking all kinds of questions. I mean questions like why do we only know about these planets? Or Why is Jupiter so big? Does anyone live on these other planets? Why doesn't anyone live on these planets? Can you tell me about what is past Pluto? Can we talk about why these planets are cold? and on and on and on....nonstop.

Hey Gayle---Was Greg like this?

I admit it...I turned on the TV so I could get a break, but I just knew he would be around the corner in no time telling me that it isn't good to watch TV all the time. (He's done that!) He did come around the corner giving me possibly a 7 minute break and started in again. Can we look up trains? Can you believe I finally got a break when I took them to Chuck E Cheese tonight?

Anyway, I'm exausted. I've been getting tired earlier. Obviously- I've stayed up late yet again to write on my blog. Goodnight!