A Time For Baughnding

Dig It

2010-11-18T09:00:00.000-05:00

Tuesday night, we got to enjoy Trinity's third grade musical program. Unfortunately, Craig came down with the flu, spent all day and night in bed and missed the live performance. This is our third performance and each year still amazes me. We got there a little later than I wanted to this year and ended up on the back row. However, it was a part blessing because it allowed Kalyn and Xander to sit on the back of their chairs and see Trinity perform.

One interesting thing about this year's performance, called Dig It, was that it matched up with their social studies curriculum. Their songs were about Ethiopia, Mesopotamia, Egypt, Asia, Greece and Rome. They did a great job - singing, speaking parts, motions, it was quite the show. Here are some of the still shots from the performance:

before the show started, the kids have a time to find their parents and wave to them

this is part of the 3rd graders - my camera couldn't easily capture all of them

Now for the grandparents (or whoever else has time to kill) - here are the videos of the songs. I switched cameras recording the video after the second song and the other video was just not zoomed in enough. So, I'm not uploading the Ethiopia or Mesopotamia songs, however, just know they were quite entertaining.

Photo and video editing at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Kalyn's Birthday

2010-11-17T10:34:00.005-05:00

We had a good time celebrating Kalyn's birthday. Poor Craig was feeling horrible and barely had the energy to join in on the singing. Kalyn hopped off the bus asking if she could open her gifts. We made her wait a little bit until everyone woke up from naps. It was great watching her excitement throughout the afternoon.

the birthday girl is ready to begin

she got a bag of silly band rings - our glamour girl

she received a couple of puzzles to put together (princesses, of course)

Trinity made Kalyn her own personal card

a racing Barbie from our friends, Ben and Geof

(Kalyn then told me that Barbie needed a race car)

time for her "big gift" . . .

big hugs for her new pillow pet

what's a party without cake

Kalyn's Family Birthday

2010-11-16T12:16:00.003-05:00

We knew that Trinity's school performance was scheduled for the night of Kalyn's birthday. So, we planned to celebrate her birthday dinner the night before. Our new family tradition is to celebrate at Chuck-E-Cheese. We can usually find a great deal on tokens and pizza and the kids have a blast playing the games and racking up the tickets. It is a great special treat for everyone!

The boys playing the racing boats game

The girls really enjoy the marathon run game - but it takes both of them to make it spin - like two little hamsters in a wheel

Trinity was good at helping Xander try to dunk the alien

Craig rockin out at Guitar Hero

All the kids had a blast riding the simulated roller coaster

Trinity's favorite gate - the pirate shooting game

Yummy pizza is always a plus

The birthday girl!!

It was a great night of celebration and fun.

Happy Birthday, Kalyn

2010-11-16T11:53:00.003-05:00

Six years ago yesterday, we were rushed down to the hospital to deal with my high blood pressure. A little over 24 hours later, we welcomed precious Kalyn into our lives. The midwives' goal was to get her to 35 weeks gestational and she made it - to the day. She's kept us on our toes ever since.

Kalyn is a such a gift. She is a crazy, wild bag of emotions - from ecstatic about the latest exciting thing to crying over a sad point of a movie. She is so tenderhearted, but knows exactly what she wants and is not afraid to say it. She is a constant musical show - dancing, singing and performing for whoever is around. She is loving kindergarten this year - all the new friends and new experiences it brings daily. She is always willing to try anything, wanting to do whatever those around her are doing.

Enjoy her year's montage!!

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Happy 6th Birthday, Kalyn!!

We love you!!

Happy Birthday, Xander

2010-10-06T09:58:00.003-04:00

This morning, I heard Xander's little feet bounding out of his room and saw his precious smile peer into my room. His face was beaming as he said, "It's my birfday!" He was so excited. He's been asking for almost a week, "Is today my birfday?" He knew today was the day.

Xander is a fan of anything that goes - motorcycles, firetrucks, monster trucks, really any kind of truck. There are days when he is disappointed that he doesn't get to ride in "Daddy's truck". He makes anything into a drum set. He is pretty much in constant motion and constant sound. He loves his superhero guys and playing dress up into various characters where he can fight off the bad guys himself. He is continually trying to keep up with his sisters. He gives wonderful hugs that start my days off on a wonderfully precious way.

This year, he began joining the AWANA program Cubbies and he is doing so well remembering his verses and saying them with such pride. He also began preschool - three days a week. He enjoys all the new friends he's able to meet and things he's able to do.

It has been such a blessing watching him grow this year. We look forward to watching him continue to become his own special person. Enjoy his past year in pictures!

Happy, happy happy fourth birthday, Xander!!
We love you so much!!

Happy Anniversary

2010-08-31T07:00:00.001-04:00

Today, Craig and I celebrate 14 years of marriage. In the grand scheme of life, 14 years doesn't sound like long. Compared to some marriages, 14 years is a blink of an eye. However, we are proud of our 14 years. We've had ups and downs, moving forward and moving back, joys and heartaches. However, we have always had each other. We have always maintained our faith and our personal walks with God. We've come a long way. Together. Here's just a glimpse of where we've been in just the last 12 months.

Make photo slide shows at www.OneTrueMedia.com

My dearest Craig,

I love sharing my life with you. I love the life we have created together. Thank you for always being there for me. Thank you for being willing to talk things out and so often leading that discussion. Thank you for being a spiritual leader and leading our family in such wonderful ways. I love the way you love me and our kids. Thank you for being such a wonderful dad and a great husband! Thank you for working so hard and allowing me to stay home with our kids. Thank you for all you do to protect our family and protect our marriage. I look forward to so much more in our years together to come.

I love you.

Happy 14th anniversary.

Off They Go

2010-08-23T08:16:00.003-04:00

This morning, the alarm went off extra early. Our new routine as the school year begins. We've all been looking forward to this day for a while. Kalyn has been so excited to join Trinity at her school, ride the bus and meet all her new friends. Trinity has been excited to show Kalyn around the school, be back with her friends and learn cursive writing. We've done our school shopping, gotten lunch goodies to pack and pulled out the new school clothes (which is really just some longer shorts for Kalyn and some new shoes for Trinity).

We headed out to the bus, stopping for the traditional first day pictures, of course. The girls had picked out their clothes the night before and were ready to start the day. They both looked so cute in their little skirts (with the shorts attached underneath) and their backpacks.

We headed down the street to the bus stop.

Waiting for the bus on the bench Craig built a couple of years ago. We may outgrow it pretty soon.

The bus is here!!

Send our big girls off with our "I love you" sign.

I am already looking forward to hearing about their first day, their new friends and the general excitement! It will also be interesting to watch Xander as he adjust to not having his best buds with him at home. As he sat down for breakfast this morning, he called out, "Come on, guys. When are the girls coming to breakfast?" He was a bit sad that he had not been able to give them hugs before they headed off to school. He'll have fun today though - his buddy Asher is coming over.

Let the fun of the new school year begin!!!!

Nashville's Tomato Art Festival

2010-08-19T08:58:00.000-04:00

As we planned our trip up to Nashville, my mom mentioned that we would be in town for the annual Tomato Art Festival. Yep, they have an entire day and an entire festival dedicated to the tomato. I knew it was bound to be tons of fun. We woke up Saturday morning and walked the couple of blocks over to the festival, of course in proper shirts that would pay homage to the tomato.

I will say that my mom had the material in her grand arsenal of fabric. How handy!

Off we go~

The festival was lots of fun. It kicked off with a "parade" that was lead by a New Orleans-type jazz band. For this event, "parade" is defined as a group of people who follow behind the band walking down the street. We jumped right in as it passed by. We took some time to enjoy the wonderful music as the band hit the main stage.

The streets were filled with vendors of all kinds. It was amazing to see the creativity! There was one corner that was dedicated to kid activities.

There was an inflatable jumpy house which our kids greatly enjoyed.

They had a spot to spray paint the kids' hair (red and green only of course).

There was even a cute craft section where the kids could make tomato puppets.

We grabbed a popsicle and headed back to the main stage. My sister had a good friend performing and we didn't want to miss it. Her band, Coal Train Railroad, was amazing. It is a great mix of kid music in jazz form. It's one of those kid CDs that I wouldn't mind listening to over and over. Their songs included titles like My Bellybutton Stays the Same, What's Mine is Yours and Just the Juice, Jack. So fun to listen to and dance to.

The only bad thing was the heat. After being out in it for a few hours, we needed a break. We headed back to my parents' home for some lunch and much appreciated air conditioning. A couple hours later, we all headed back out to the festival. We couldn't pass up this photo opportunity~

We also couldn't pass up enjoying a huge snowball. Shaved and flavored ice on a hot day was a necessity.

The kids even were given a special tomato treat - yummy sugar cookies in the shape of (of course) tomatoes.

What a great (and interesting) way to spend a Saturday.

Nashville, Part 1

2010-08-18T13:31:00.001-04:00

A couple of weeks before school began, we travelled to Nashville for our summer vacation to my family. It was a very hot trip, but a fun one. It was wonderful to spend some time with my parents, grandmother, sister and brother-in-law.

Every trip to my parents' house includes a lot of time playing with my mom's collection of rubber ducks. The kids love the ducks.

We also visited their downtown library for a puppet show. This week, they were performing Many Moons. The kids really enjoyed watching it and getting the chance to see one of the marionette puppets up close afterwards.

Trinity found a jar filled with buttons. That lead to an afternoon of fun sorting and creating a "button museum". She had a wonderful time sorting the buttons and then showing them off to the rest of the family.

Xander is a motorcycle fanatic. He points them out whenever he sees or hears them on the road. So, he just loves the fact that his Papa has his own motorcycle. He talked all weekend about going on a "motorcycle ride". At one point, Papa took Xander out to the garage for the ride. He reved up the bike, and moved it back and forth about two feet. The look on Xander's face was one more of sheer terror than enjoyment for most of the "ride", but by the end, he was loving it.

Then Papa had to get a picture with his "little Buck".

Craig and I got a couple of nights out that we great enjoyed! One night, we got to have dinner with Ashley and Jeff. No pictures, but lots of laughter and smiles and just relaxing together. The next night, we were able to walk a couple of blocks up to a neighborhood ice cream shop, The Pied Piper. Their homemade ice cream is delicious. Craig enjoyed Strawberry Fields while I loved my Minty Python. A great way to cool off in the evening.

A couple of more Nashville posts to come, including our trip to the Tomato Festival. It was a great family-filled weekend.

Mandate

2010-08-03T08:55:00.005-04:00

As one more farewell event for our friend, Bud, Craig put together a guys' night out. Bud loves his guns, so it only made sense that Craig talked to one of his buddies (Rance) in his hometown who had some spare land. A cry could be heard over all the land...."Let's shoot somethin". After shootin no less than 1000 rounds of ammunition into the field behind the targets, a fawn, barely walking appeared from the brush directly behind the targets. Both the fawn and it's mother were seen safely frolicing wearing their bullet proof fur (apparently)

So Long, Longs

2010-07-24T21:39:00.000-04:00

We have had some very good friends that are heading out to the Colorado/Wyoming area for a job for about a year. We've known Bud and Diane for almost 8 years now and they have been great friends through the years. So, obviously, it was a little tough to say good-bye. However, we are hoping to welcome them back to the south in about a year.

We couldn't let them leave without a farewell party. We welcomed as many people as wanted to come and filled our house. By the end of the night, we counted up that we had almost 70 people mulling around our house. What a gathering. Everyone was generous enough to bring a side dish, drinks and desserts and we were not lacking any food. It was all so delicious! The night was filled with wishing Bud, Diane and their children Aaron and Jordan well-wishing as they head out west. Everyone had a great night of fellowshipping and simply being together.

relaxing in the back yard - Tad, Scott, Laurie, Diane, Rhonda, Angela and Brett

the boys in the kitchen - Charlie, Bud, Marc, Bryan and John

more people enjoying the AC inside

Bud managed to fit in a little surprise about half-way into the evening - a birthday cake for Diane, who had just celebrated her birthday. We all went in together and gave Diane a money tree so she can buy something fun for her new house.

Happy Birthday, Diane!!!

On a hot July evening, the popsicles were a huge hit with the kids.

We will miss them dearly. However, we are very thankful for all the technology that will allow us to keep up with them. Have a great year, Long family (and we'll see you shortly)!!!

Mission Auction Lake Day

2010-07-19T12:35:00.002-04:00

Our second mission auction event was a day at the lake house of one of our members. We've been up to this lake house a number of times and we love the opportunity to get away, enjoy jumping in the lake and relaxing with our friends. We were one of the first ones to arrive and one of the last ones to leave, so we made the most of our day (it does help that we're good friends with the owner and her daughter). The weather was great! Not too hot while you were out of the water and so relaxing in the lake.

The day began with Chris and Craig fighting against some ornery yellow jackets. We were very thankful that no one got stung during the day.

The kids were the first into the lake. Most of the adults simply sat on the dock and chatted.

We even had a visiting duck that wanted to join in the fun.

Most of the kids had a blast fishing. Even the big boys got into the fun as they sought to catch a huge fish that seemed to be teasing them, laying just out of their reach.

After a little bit, Craig decided that he didn't want to fish off the dock.

Lunch was delicious! We filled the porch and spilled into the main room - plenty of people!

After lunch, some of our wonderful boat captain took us out on the lake. All the kids that wanted to were able to enjoy a little ride on the tube. Kalyn and Xander were very excited about it while Trinity cheered from the boat. What fun!

Sweet Abigail was nice enough to ride with Kalyn. She was a wonderful "big sister" to Kalyn and took great care of her.

Xander and I rode together. He really did have fun!

It was a great day at the lake. Thank you so much to the Buchanans for openning up their lake house for our enjoyment!!

Rumplestiltskin Puppet Show

2010-07-18T11:50:00.001-04:00

Each summer, the Roswell Cultural Arts Center brings in puppeteers from all over to perform puppet shows. We really enjoy seeing various forms of puppets and all the shows. Due to our crazy summer schedule, we were only able to attend on of the shows, but it was lots of fun. This week's show was Rumplestilskin, performed by The Roz Puppets in Indiana. The bonus was that it wasn't the typical story - the puppeteer said that he always like to throw in a little twist, just for the adults.

anxiously awaiting the show to begin - I love those smiles

after the show, the puppeteer brought the animals out to show the kids how he made them move and talk

as the kids were leaving, the puppeteer brought out one of the characters for the kids to give him a high-four

Ugandian Orphans Choir

2010-07-16T11:12:00.001-04:00

I love when I find opporunities to expose my kids to new and unique experiences. Earlier in the week, I came across a flyer announcing the performance of the Ugandan Orphans Choir at a nearby church. I didn't know what to expect, but I knew it would be good. I was not wrong.

It was precious to hear their beautiful voices and watch their energetic dancing. It was also humbling to hear their stories of before they were with the group and the Childcare Worldwide ministry. The kids loved watching kids their ages up on the stage. What a wonderful evening!

The Family at Stone Mountain

2010-07-15T08:42:00.000-04:00

Back in December, we purchased season passes for the family to Stone Mountain. Craig and I have taken advantage of our passes a number of times, but we just haven't had (or made) time for all five of us to go. We finally made a plan to take everyone. Rain was forecasted, but that didn't stop us. We packed up our goodies and headed over.

We began at the Sky Hike. The great thing is that there is a section of the area that is not up high and open to kids of all size. Since only Trinity was tall enough for the "sky high" section, we decided stay on the low section. Good decision. The kids had so much fun! Craig and I even got to enjoy the rope swing at the end.

We planned to hit a show, but had a little time to kill. So, we headed over to the Dinosaur Train Craft Shack. The kids enjoyed digging for dinosaur fossils (AKA puzzle pieces) in the sand.

Apparently the rain threat was keeping the crowd away. We were the only family there for the first 5 minutes until one other little girl and her dad showed up. That meant that our kids each got to play a part in the little performance. Kalyn got some personalized attention before the show began. She announced that she had just lost her tooth and so the leader of the show taught her the "Tooth Dance". Kalyn was very shy about coming up on stage to perform it. Or not at all.

Within ten minutes into the play, the rain began and we had to find shelter. We grabbed our wagon of blankets and cooler from the laser show field and headed for a dry spot. We had a great view of the many waterfalls down Stone Mountain. It was an amazing sight and I am so thankful that we had the opportunity to see it.

Following the rain, the power went out. Unfortunately, that closed down most of stores and events. We headed back to the Dinosaur Train Craft Shack because that was the only spot that we open. The kids had fun coloring the big wall and making their own dinosaur puppets. The employees were great helping the kids stay busy and entertained.

When the food area opened back up, we grabbed our food and headed back out to the field. Everyone enjoyed a yummy dinner and got ready for the laser show. This would be the first time the kids had seen the show. They really enjoyed all the fireworks, the music and the lasered pictures. It was a great way to end our afternoon and evening out!

We are already looking forward to our next trip (maybe without the rain).

Kalyn's Tooth

2010-07-14T12:00:00.000-04:00

Over the past month or so, we have watched Kalyn's first loose tooth grow looser and looser. Thankfully, it managed to stay attached during her week with the grandparents. It didn't last much longer, though. Monday morning, Kalyn woke up and ran out of her room begging us to feel how loose her tooth was. We decided it was time to try and pull the tooth out.

Attempt #1: Unfortunately, the tooth was so tiny, that Craig couldn't get a hold of it with his fingers and the floss kept falling off. So, after a while, we decided to try again another time.

Attempt #2: Monday night. Still no luck.

Attempt #3: Tuesday morning. Craig tried to pull it out with his fingers. No success. Then he simply pushed her tooth over and it literally fell out into his hand. Kalyn was ecstatic. She finally lost her first tooth!!

Success!!!

The next night, we put her tooth in her newly made tooth pillow. Thanks so much to my friend Jennifer who did the embroidering for us! One more milestone for the blog!

No Kids Week

2010-07-11T11:30:00.000-04:00

Following our weekend of camping, we had scheduled for the kids to spend almost a week with Craig's parents. It sounded like a great idea as we were planning for it, but as Craig and I drove home in a very quiet truck, I couldn't help but have a bit of mixed emotions. I was excited about the free week with Craig, a chance to serve at one of our local ministries and open lunches with friends, but I had a feeling it would be a very quiet week without the kids. They were to be gone almost an entire week. I didn't expect the slight twinge of missing them, but I did.

Craig and I tried to make the most of our week together. We decided to do some work in the girls' room. We weren't looking to do a major overhaul, but just a few small changes. Here's their beds as the week began - well, after I cleaned up their room:

And here's the completed project at the end of the week.

I thought it looked pretty good and the girls enjoyed it when they came home. Kalyn was very excited about her "big bed", Trinity loved the new sheets (trust me, they're there) and they both loved their names on the wall.

Most of our free nights were spent at the movies. We hit the local dollar theater Tuesday night for $.75 movies and caught two movies (Date Night and Clash of the Titans). We also enjoyed some super yummy TCBY. This was a favorite treat when I was growing up in Orlando which I haven't had in years. It was fun introducing Craig to such a yummy treat.

Then, one of my dear friends, Pam, sent me a link to two free passes at a new theater near our house. We visited that theater twice (Despicable Me and Knight and Day). So that makes four movies for a grand total of $1.50. Loved that deal!!

We wrapped up our week with a little birthday party for me. We had a small little gathering of great friends. We ate delicious burgers, played a couple of hilarious rounds of Catch Phrase (until the batteries died) and then feasted on another summer treat of an ice cream cake (one made of just ice cream and crunchies in the middle, no real cake). Thanks my friends, for making my birthday so special!

Yummy, yummy ice cream cake

Firework Festivities

2010-07-09T10:41:00.000-04:00

Part of the fun of Craig's parent's house is that they have a pretty big plot of land (especially to those of us who only have about an acre of land) which is great for shooting off some small fireworks. Sam and Laurie were generous enough to stay late into the night to be able to enjoy the lightshow.

We began at dusk letting the kids shot off their own bottle rockets - with a bit of adult supervision and assistance. The kids had a blast doing it "on their own".
Poppers for all the kids!

As it got dark, we sat all the kids down and Craig and Sam began the show. Lots of sparks, lots of bangs and lots of "ooooooo"s and cheers!

checking out all the cool boxes of fireworks

(otherwise known as 15 names for the same 3 effects)

eagerly awaiting the start of the show

We finished with sparklers for all the kids. What a wonderfully amazing way to end the night!

pay no attention to the little man behind the ring of fire

this little light of mine, I'm goin' let it shine

strike a pose - and a sparkler

Happy Fourth of July, everyone!

Fourth Fun (on the Third)

2010-07-08T09:32:00.000-04:00

Saturday afternoon, we left camp for our afternoon of celebrating the Fourth of July. We began with a local parade in the town of Tallapoosa. We had a good time chatting with Craig's parents and his aunt while we waited for the parade to start.

Just before the parade began, a large train went by downtown and we had to go watch it drive by.

The kids enjoyed waving to the various cars and floats as well as picking up the candy they were throwing out.

Even Craig made sure the gum and extra-special treats were picked up (we didn't want the kids getting too close to the cars driving by).

Afterwards, we headed over to Craig's parents' home and met up with his family and a dear friend from his high school years. It was a wonderful time to catch up with our friends Sam and Laurie, enjoy some pool time, feast on some delicious food, spend time with Craig's family and put on a little fireworks show. We all enjoyed a chance to cool off in the pool before dinner.

our little fish - Kalyn

Trinity was really good at trying to keep her stitches dry

Xander loved the diving board

The boys were very excited about shooting off fireworks later that evening. They couldn't wait and just had to try some out early. We think Eliott had the right idea - run boy, run!!

Craig's uncle grilled out a delicious meal of burgers and dogs which was topped off with wonderful side dishes and a scrumptious dessert (of which I think Xander had three helpings). It was a great afternoon.

Trinity's Stitches

2010-07-07T21:18:00.000-04:00

Friday of our camping trip brought quite a bit of excitement. Craig's friend, Rance, and his adorable daughter, Tessie, came over to our campsite to visit for a while. It was tons of fun watching Tessie, who is 18 months old, toddle around and be entertained by Trinity's smiles and tickles. After our kids finished lunch, they headed off to the playground while Craig, Rance, Tessie and I began to fix our lunch and catch up. That lasted about five minutes.

the culprit stair

Suddenly, we heard Trinity begin to cry and scream. We looked up and saw her with her hands over her forehead in obvious pain. I headed over to give her the comfort I thought she needed before getting back into the fun of the playground. However, that was not the case. As I got there, I could see blood and knew it was bigger than a little kiss to make it feel better. I called back to Craig and told him that I need some help. We headed back to our camper and Craig had the wet paper towel ready to clean up her head. We checked out her forehead and saw a little gash just above her right eye. It was one time that we knew immediately that we needed medical help. We loaded up the car with the kids, and quickly said good-bye to Rance and Tessie.

on the way to the ER

Rance was so generous to offer to clean up the food that was out so we could get on our way to the ER. On the way, we called Craig's parents and had them meet us at the ER to take Kalyn and Xander to their house. Poor Trinity was in such pain, but she was such a great trooper. Trinity and I headed into the hospital while Craig moved the kids to his parents' car and the wait began.

waiting to be called back

We got into a room pretty quickly, but then we waited. Thankfully, we grabbed Yatzee on the way out of the campground, so we had something to keep us busy on the wait. Trinity decided to do a lotion-type topical anesthetic instead of a shot, so we got to wait a little longer. Unfortunately, the cream was not as pain-free as we expected, but Trinity did a great job. About 45 minutes, and a few games of Yatzee later, her stitches were in and we were on our way with our care instructions.

waiting for the anesthetic to take effect

completed stitches and ready to head back to camp

Unfortunately, her stitches kept her from going underwater while she was swimming, but it didn't damper her spirits too much. It was amazing to see how quickly she was healing. It was looking great by Monday!

I Thessalonians 5:18a reads, "give thanks in all circumstances" and we tried very hard to use this time to teach Trinity how to be thankful regardless of the situation. Here are just some of the ways we were thankful during her painful ordeal:

Where she hit - if she had hit a little bit higher or a little bit lower, the damage could have been much, much worse
Where we were - we were close enough to call Craig's parents and not have to take all three kids and sit in the emergency room
For Rance's visit - while we were sad to not be able to visit for as long as we wanted, since he was at the campsite, we were able to leave immediately and he cleaned up the food (we didn't have to put food away before we could leave
For our wait - while we did have to wait a little time, we got in pretty quickly and had time to enjoy a few Yatzee games, and in the grand scheme of life, the wait really wasn't too bad

Thank you, God for reminding us of your blessings, even in the midst of pain and struggles.

Fourth of July Camping Overview, Part 2

2010-07-07T08:42:00.008-04:00

Sunday ended up being the only day that we were at the campground all day. It was a very relaxing day. We began with a trip to a new fishing spot. We all started out fishing, but it didn't last too long. Kalyn was still a bit tired from our late night out shooting fireworks, so she soon was laying down on the blanket resting in the shade as Craig, Trinity and I fished and Xander ran around.

Craig took time to teach Trinity how to put a worm on her hook.

The excitement came when I caught the fish of the day.

After lunch, we hit the campground's putt-putt course. It was fun for all. It was a good opportunity to teach Xander how to hold a golf club and teach Trinity how to line up her feet with the direction she was putting. Craig even got a hole-in-one!! Way to go, Craig!!

We returned to our camper and enjoyed some delicious watermelon. Our kids LOVE watermelon!! It was the perfect snack for a warm summer afternoon.

Then we headed to the beach area of the lake. We had fun splashing around and playing the the lake and the sand. It was a bit tricky as we tried to keep Trinity's stitches dry and clean. Kalyn had so much fun being flipped by Craig. The water felt great and it was a wonderful way to cool off for a bit.

After dinner, we headed out on one more fishing trip. Kalyn found the perfect place to watch the fish.

Trinity wanted to catch a fish so badly. She kept saying she really, really wanted to catch a fish - a catfish specifically. She was pretty patient, but wasn't able to reel in any of her bites.

Then Craig caught a fish, though - a catfish. Just for Trinity.

Monday morning, it was time to pack up and head back to regular life. However, we did manage to fit in a bit more fun before the trip was over. We headed out on one final walk around the lake. We brought our remaining bread and fed the ducks one more time. We had fun watching one of the baby ducks. In the beginning, he had no idea what to do - a piece of bread would land in front of him and he would turn and paddle the other way. However, Craig was patient. He had the kids lure the big ducks near the edge and he would throw more bread to the little guy. Finally, the little duck caught onto the fact that he was supposed to eat it and snatched up a piece. We were all excited he figured it out.

Along the walk, we found a new little river bed. Kalyn enjoyed watching the little bit of water flow over the rocks. Very soothing.

The kids each found a bird feather. That began their creativity and they each became a bird superhero for the remainder of the walk. We had Trinity the Dove, Kalyn the Eagle and Xander the Falcon. It was quite amusing to watch their display of "super powers".

Here, the kids found stumps to stand on in order to "power up"

Overall, the walk was a great way to say goodbye to Tanner Lake.

As Craig and I loaded up the camper and prepared to leave, the kids had a little more time to squeeze in some more bike riding and playground playing.

Soon, we were on our way to meet Craig's parents for lunch. The kids are going to enjoy a week with the grandparents as Craig and I head back home. The house will be quiet without the kids and they will be missed, but I know they will have a great time.

Fourth of July Camping Overview, Part 1

2010-07-06T10:15:00.009-04:00

We love any opportunity for camping. We were very excited about our weekend of relaxing and getting away from the normal life for a little bit. We planned a long weekend and were looking forward to catching up with a couple of Craig's long-time friends during the holiday weekend. We headed out of town on Thursday afternoon and the fun began right after we set up camp at Tanner State Park.

a nice walk around the lake

getting in a little bit of fishing

yummy goodies - ice cream sandwiches and smores

Friday morning, we headed out for another walk around the lake. We decided to hunt for worms for our later fishing trips. Kalyn loved picking up all the worms she could find. Trinity and Xander needed a bit more encouragement, but was having fun by the end. We came back to our camper with plenty of fishing bait.

Kalyn even found a little snail that she carried around awhile before we convinced her that the snail would be happy back in the woods.

Lunchtime brought a lot of excitement and a trip to the emergency room with Trinity - and will bring a blog post of it's own. So, we'll jump to later for now.

Craig's parents were able to join us for dinner and a bit of fishing with our newly found worms. Craig was the winner as he caught the first fish of the trip. Each of the kids wanted to touch the fish before we put in back in the pond.

Charles Ray was a great help with teaching Trinity the tricks of the trade. She got a lot of bites, but just wasn't fast enough to reel one in. At one point, Trinity asked if Papa knew how to fish. We assured her that he knew exactly what he was doing.

Kalyn was great to watch. After a while of casting and not catching anything, she decided to move to another tactic. She simply dropped her line right in front of her and stared intently at the bait. I think she simply really enjoyed watching the fish eat her worm. It was just adorable to observe.

And what camping day isn't complete without smores all around?

Saturday, we were planning on heading to a nearby town for a Fourth of July parade and then meet up with one of Craig's high school friends at Craig's parents' home for some swimming a grilling out. That also will bring its own post. That morning, we had more fun.

After Trinity's accident we decided to play it safe(er) with the other two.

We fed the ducks with some bread that the squirrels found - well, what was left over from it. Xander was hilarious to listen to as he called the ducks. The kids loved it!

We stopped by one of the nearby playgrounds. The kids had a blast on the slides, the monkey bars and on the tire swing.

We also saw a unique thing. We often see pets around campgrounds, but we don't see pet goats very often. It clearly made the weekend more memorable.

Two more days of camping to go and lots of pictures, so we'll split it here. More in the next post.

Mission Auction Pool Party

2010-06-26T12:36:00.001-04:00

This year, our church held their almost-annual mission auction luncheon. It is a great way to raise financial support for our various mission trips and bring people together who may not normally be together. People (or groups) auction off fellowship opportunity - anything from dinners, class parties, camping trips, golf outings, quilting classes, pretty much whatever people think up to offer. It's always interesting to see what people put up for auction and enjoy the auctions we were able to join.

This year, our class participated in two group auctions. The first one was a pool party and cookout at a nearby home. It was a great time relaxing in the pool, hanging out with friends and eating some yummy, yummy food. This was the first time that Craig and I were able to really enjoy a pool party without having to be right next to Kalyn and Trinity. Both of them have become very confident swimmers lately and we are very proud of them! As long as Xander has his little "floatie" on, he's good to go. All the kids had a great time jumping off the diving board, shooting each other with water guns and simply having a blast!

nothing works up a good appetite like an afternoon in the pool

the boys enjoying a little cards after dinner

What a great afternoon with friends and for a good cause!

Swimming Lessons

2010-06-04T10:51:00.005-04:00

The emergence of summer also means the emergence of swimming lessons in our house. Trinity and Kalyn have participated in swimming lessons for a few years now. Last year, the switch clicked for Trinity and she started really swimming near the end of the summer. However, a refresher course and trainer professions to coach and encourage her for two weeks is not something we'll pass up too quickly. The kids were really looking forward to their lessons - Kalyn began asking, "Are we going to swimming lessons today?" about a month before they began (actually before they were registered).

We love the Roswell Rec Center. Their classes are reasonably small, the prices are great and the teachers are wonderful!! Trinity's teachers have remembered her each year - which is saying a lot when they've only saw her either eight or 16 days (for only 45 minutes each day) the summer before. She has made quite an impression on these high school and college kids teaching her! The night before the first class, Trinity asked if Miss Grace, her favorite teacher would be there. We love, love, love Miss Grace. I told her we would have to wait and find out.

This paragraph will epitomize just how opposite my daughters are. As we were driving to the pool, I gave each girl a little pep talk. To Trinity, I said, "Now remember, Trinity - you can do all the things that your teachers will be asking you to do. Just don't be afraid and get right in there and do them! I know you can." To Kalyn, I said, "Kalyn, don't jump off the edge of the pool before the teachers tell you." As we walked in, we were joyfully greeted by Miss Grace and Mr Spencer, (Kalyn's teacher from last year and Trinity's teacher from two years ago). Grace is Kalyn's teacher for this round of lessons. I tried to give Grace a small heads up about the girls' differences, but I'm not sure she really grasped it until half-way through the first lesson.

It is so interesting to watch the girls in their swim classes. Kalyn just can't wait to get out in the water to practice her strokes (a few times, Grace has had to put her back on the side of the pool because Kalyn's excitement has pulled her off the side). Every so often, Grace just laughs and looks over at me as if to say, "I can't believe these two are related." We can hear her laughing, singing and whooping up a storm. It's great to see Trinity excited about her lessons. Mr. Spencer, her teacher, is excellent with her, giving her just the encouragement and instruction she needs. It's also fun to hear Kalyn cheering Trinity on as she "swims" in front of Kalyn's class. A couple of times Kalyn's even called out to Trinity asking her to come to her class. It's cute!

Here are just a few of the pictures I've snapped this week of their lessons.

Trinity ~

Kalyn ~

And what does Xander do while the girls are swimming?

He picks flowers

He plays with his dinosaurs

He plays with his trucks

Pretty much, he just sits there and looks cute as he cheers them on

One week down, one more to go!!

Catching Up

2010-04-07T09:11:00.003-04:00

It has almost been a month since my last post. However, it has been a month filled with a full family trip to Disney, a number of school musical performances, a visit to a Jerusalem market, Easter celebrations and all around spring fun. So, we've been busy, which is a good thing. Over the next couple of days, I'll be doing my "back-blogging" and filling in all the missed events over the past month. Thanks so much for your diligence in following my blog, even in my blogging absence. Look to be caught up pretty soon!! I think some of my blogging will be done outside in the beautiful sun ~ the wonderful life of wifi!! Have a wonderful spring day!!!

*************NEW POSTS BELOW*************

Easter Hunts

2010-04-05T08:45:00.000-04:00

Easter Sunday we headed down to celebrate with Craig's family. We enjoyed a delicious meal with his family and some good conversations. Following lunch, we headed outside for the annual egg hunt. Craig's mom dyed about three dozen real eggs for some beautiful treasures to find. We can usually get three to four hunts out the kids before they are worn out. The kids were ready for the hunt - they had been hiding and hunting their own plastic eggs for the past week. They all had a great time searching for the hidden eggs. They even did one hiding on their own where Craig and I hunted.

The search is on ~

The three on the hunt - Trinity finds one in the tree

Xander found one in the grass

Trinity filled up her basket pretty quickly

Kalyn discovers one in the flower pot

The clover hid one, but Xander found it

Kalyn carefully takes her found egg to her basket - she got tired carrying it, so she hung it on her bike handle

Craig took some time to relive his biking days on Trinity's bike

It was a great afternoon with family. We stayed down in Bowdon for a couple of days after Easter. The kids had a great time hanging out with Papa and Gendy during their spring break and Craig and I did some cleaning out work in their sheds. This was the final wave of reporting their loss from the tornado that hit their house almost two years ago. This was a hunt in itself. There was a lot of stuff to go through, figuring out what was damaged, what needed to be tossed out and what they wanted to keep.

While Craig and I worked in the shed, the kids had a blast in the motorized jeep. They have so much room to drive around the yard in it. Isn't Kalyn just stylin' in her shades?

Craig's dad had some dirt delivered while we were there. Watching the big dump truck brought everyone out into the yard . . . plus one of the wild turkeys from the forest behind the house!

It was a lot of work, but after four trips to the dump, it was well worth it!

Easter Morning

2010-04-05T06:11:00.000-04:00

After the Sabbath, at dawn on the first day of the week, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary went to look at the tomb. There was a violent earthquake, for an angel of the Lord came down from heaven and, going to the tomb, rolled back the stone and sat on it. His appearance was like lightning, and his clothes were white as snow. The guards were so afraid of him that they shook and became like dead men. The angel said to the women, "Do not be afraid, for I know that you are looking for Jesus, who was crucified. He is not here; he has risen, just as he said. Come and see the place where he lay. Then go quickly and tell his disciples: 'He has risen from the dead and is going ahead of you into Galilee. There you will see him.' Now I have told you."

Matthew 28:1-7

We love Easter - the celebration of the day Christ Jesus rose from the grave! What better reason for pure, eternal, true joy than this? We try our hardest to make Easter a special day of celebration without taking anything away from the real meaning of the day. Our day began (after breakfast and getting dressed) with our kids opening their Easter baskets. We don't do too much for baskets, usually something small. This year, we kept along the same lines.

The girls each got a batch of silly bands. Trinity came home with some from school about a week before and it fascinated her - these cool stretchy bracelets that are shapes when they are off your wrist, but fun bracelets on. We had hoped to get her some faith bands (bracelets in the shapes of various Christian symbols), but we couldn't find them locally. So, we ended up getting various musical symbols, such microphone, guitars and music notes. They loved them.

Each of the kids also got specialized gummy packs. Our kids love gummies and often have them for snacks and little treats. Xander got Spiderman gummies, Trinity received My Little Pony gummies and Kalyn got Dora gummies. Each child also got their personal duck-shaped bubbles. Lots of fun to come!!!

Xander's main gift was a new Cars car - Chick Hicks. He was actually with me when I bought it. As I was looking at the various Cars vehicles, I asked him to name the ones that he didn't have. I decided to get the one he could name. He loved it very, very much.

Following the baskets, we headed outside to take some quick kid and family pictures. I love any excuse to get a picture of all five of us dressed up. Not too bad!

Then it was off to church to celebrate with our friends and our church family! We began taking a few pictures of just the kids outside our church. I love the trees that are in front of our sanctuary.

Trinity was singing with the children's choir that morning. I just love to see her sing her heart out and worship.

It was truly a blessed day of worship!

Easter Preparations

2010-04-04T18:24:00.000-04:00

The day before Easter was a lovely spring Saturday. I was just lounging around, actually catching up on some blog reading of my friends. I read about many friends doing things to celebrate Easter - one friend who had put together a Sader meal for her family, a second friend who helped her girls plant seeds and one friend was dying eggs and another. Well, all those ideas got me motivated and looked around for what we had at home. Cookie mix, cookie cutters, lots of decorating goodies and a Bible. Sounds like a plan to me.

So, I got the kids together and began reading the story of Jesus' death and resurrection out of one of their Bibles.

We then pulled out our various cookie cutters to pick shapes that were meaningful in the story of Easter. They each picked out a few shapes and got to cut out their own cookies. They choose flowers (new life), fish (the disciples ate fish when Jesus returned for them), crosses, a tomb and a butterfly (another new life) just to name a few. We ended up with tons of cookies to decorate.

By this time, Craig had returned from work and was ready to join in the fun! We took plain vanilla cupcake icing and added some food coloring to make various colors of icing. We had sprinkles of every color. Let the fun commence!!

Everyone was so pleased with their creations!! We had some very colorful and sparkly cookies, ready to take to Craig's parents' home the next day for the family lunch.

All the decorated cookies ~

We finished our day of Easter preparation by going through our Resurrection Eggs. This is something Our MOPS group assembled (each for our own families) a number of years ago and I finally remembered to get it out before Easter! Each egg has a special item significant to the crucifixion and a verse to read along with it. The kids really enjoyed it!

We headed to bed that night, ready and looking forward to Easter morning!!!

Easter Pictures

2010-04-03T09:41:00.003-04:00

A few days before Easter, we headed up to the mall, to our local Picture People to have the kids' pictures taken in their Easter outfits. Craig's mom and dad bought their Easter clothes and they did a wonderful job. The pictures turned out so cute!

Xander being Xander

Cutie Kalyn

Grown-up Trinity

The three of them looking adorable together

Kalyn's Spring Sing

2010-04-02T16:43:00.002-04:00

Each spring, the preschool holds their annual Spring Sing and Easter egg hunt. This year was to be no different. These productions are always a treat to enjoy!! The preschool's music teacher, Ms. Brandy, does an amazing job with the kids!!! A huge round of kudos goes out to her after every performance!! Here are just a few of our pictures and the videos from the songs. Just in cast you're wondering, yes, there is a beautiful bruise between her eyes. The poor girl accidentally got hit in the face by a swing the night before the performance. She's a trooper, though and kept going.

Ready to sing!

Song 1: "Sing-A-Ling-A-Ling"

Song 2: "Kum Bah Ya" on hand bells

Song 3: "Everlasting God"

Song 4: "He Is God"

I love the love Kalyn and Xander have for each other. (I promise, that's a hug, not a choke.)

The Spring Sing is always followed by "hunting" Easter eggs on the front lawn. The kids are limited to 12 eggs each, so it's fun to watch the range of kids from those counting their eggs carefully to make sure they don't go over the 12 limit and those who didn't really hear the stop-at-12-rule. Regardless, it's always fun for everyone!!

Waiting paitently for the signal to start . . .

. . . and they're off!!

The preschool is generous enough to let siblings hunt (when we bring in an extra dozen eggs for them too). Xander found an egg filled with goodies!

Kalyn takes inventory of her eggs

Finishing the egg hunt together

The weather was beautiful. The singing was enjoyable. What a great midday treat!!

Jerusalem Market

2010-03-28T20:57:00.002-04:00

It was a beautiful Saturday and we were looking for something special to do. We knew that there were a number of Easter egg hunts around town and we were trying to stay away from them - right now, at the ages our kids are, they are often divided out among three different groups. You do the math - three groups, two adults, tons of kids running crazy for melted chocolate. Not a good combination. So, we were on the hunt for something else.

Over the years, we have a passed a nearby church, Roswell Assembly of God, that publicized a "Jerusalem Market" about twice a year. Unfortunately, we haven't been able to attend, but we've been interested. This Saturday, the market was happening, so we decided to visit. What a great idea.

The church was set up as if we have travelled back in time to Jerusalem when Jesus was alive. There were tons of little shops, each one providing an opportunity to make something, eat something or learn something. We weren't able to visit everyone, but we hit as many as we could. Some of the shops we missed included a jewlery making shop, a game spot to play children's games, an armory where Xander got to decorate his own paper shield and a fruit store where we could sample yummy goodies.

There was a schoolhouse - the kids were each given their own yarmulke and learned how to write their names in Hebrew.

We visited a stone carving shop. Here, we got to "carve" (gray Styrofoam blocks) Hebrew words (such as God, allelujah, praise, glory and many others) with cute wooden sticks. A bit messy, but loads of fun!

The girls got to make musical bracelets with bells.

Xander enjoyed making a candle, actually due to time constraints, the helpers made one for him and sent a couple of extra components for the girls to make their own candles.

My personal favorite item was the empty tomb where Jesus was buried. You could have your picture taken with an angel outside the tomb - how could we pass that up?

At noon, all the shops shut down and everyone came together for a wonderful story of Easter and gospel presentation. It was a great mixture of music, a felt-board story and a little reenactment. The kids had a great time!!

Following all that, the kids were let loose for a little egg hunt. They had a few different sections, but there were a lot less kids in a much small location, so we didn't have the same concerns as we had with other hunts. There were even special eggs which meant special big prizes. Xander found one of the prized golden eggs from his age group and the girls had a great time in their hunt.

After the egg hunt, the church served grilled burgers and hot dogs, chips, drinks and cookies - a perfect lunch for a beautiful day!

The experience was great and we are already looking forward to the next Jerusalem Market so we can visit all of the shops. It was also a good reminder of how it felt to be a church visitor and how important it is to welcome those who visit our church. That night, Xander headed to bed with his golden egg prize - a white stuffed animal sheep, who is now affectionately called "Cuddle".

Second Grade Musical

2010-03-25T09:16:00.000-04:00

Each year, the various grades put on a musical for the other grades and the parents. Trinity is all about anything musical. She had been singing the songs for a while as well as teaching them to Kalyn (and trying to teach them to Xander). There are tons of kids in Trinity grade and we learned last year that you probably can't arrive too early to get a good seat. She usually ends up in the front row, which makes it hard to see over the rows of excited parents.

So, I headed up to school with book and snack in toe to pick some seats close to the front while Craig would drop off the kids closer to performance time. (Craig had a church practice to attend, but he was able to see Trinity as they performed for the school one day earlier.) I got a spot on the third row and still had quite a time dodging heads to see her. Kalyn was so excited to see Trinity perform and got a bit nervous when people sat in front of us. However, all turned out just fine! This year's musical was entitled, How Does Your Garden Grow? and it turned out wonderfully!! Everyone did a great job.

They start off each performance with allowing the kids to wave to their parents. I love this "tradition" and think it's a great way to the waving done.

Isn't she just the cutest little flower? I'd pick her!!

Singing her heart out!!

This group shot is about 1/3 of her grade.

Following the performance, each class goes back to their room. I just had to take a moment and snap a picture of her with her precious teacher, Miss Hunt.

Here are a few of the songs from the performance. The dancing and singing is just so adorable.

Song 1: We Are The Loveliest Flowers. Trinity was chosen as a flower dancer. Sorry about the people in front of us. She did a great job dancing!!

Song 2: Scarecrow. Watch Trinity get down!!

Song 3: The Garden Hoedown. The final song in the performance.

We love seeing our kids do what they love. Such a treat and a blessing.

Kalyn's Show & Tell

2010-03-24T08:47:00.001-04:00

We've said it once and we'll say it again, we love Kalyn's preschool teachers, Bernadette and Lisa. It's also fun because they taught Trinity as well. One thing they do is assign a child a "Top Banana" day once a month - they get to lead the lines, help out the teachers and bring in a show and tell item. Bernadette has always said that it would be best if the show and tell item matches up with letter they are studying for the week. I always try to comply. However, this month, I just had to laugh. There are just some letters that are a little bit more difficult. Both of our girls have now fallen on X week. X!!! Unfortunately, we had a great time with X three years ago with Trinity - sending her on a scavenger hunt looking for various Xes and sending in a "book" showing her journey and the various clues. The pressure was on (and Bernadette let me know, jokingly). I had to deliver. Here's what we came up with ~

We first put Dax up in his kennel then had lunch at Zaxby's, where Kalyn sat next to Xander.

We then went to Publix, picked up a couple of boxes and then exited.

At home, Kalyn did some mixing.

While we waited, we read books such as Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good Very Bad Day, Fox in Socks, Alex and the Box Shop and Six Silly Foxes.

When it was all over, Kalyn had an extra special treat to share with her class.

The book we compiled with pictures turned out wonderfully! I have already given my "warning" that if Xander somehow ends up on the X week when he's in Bernadette's class, he's coming in with just himself!

We All Scream . . .

2010-03-24T06:51:00.000-04:00

We love freebies. Any excuse for something free is a good opportunity. So, when we heard about free scoop day at Ben and Jerry's, we couldn't pass it up. We piled the kids in the car and headed out for a rare Tuesday night treat.

There were a ton of people as the line went out the door and down the sidewalk.

The wait was well worth it, though. Yummy.

We think Xander actually managed to get some in his mouth, too!

A too cool hubby and daddy!

Smores Time

2010-03-22T08:38:00.000-04:00

With the arrival of spring, we couldn't wait to enjoy some relaxing evenings out in the yard. One night, we grabbed some marshmallows, chocolate and graham crackers. We lit up a little fire in our fire pit area and had a great time. It is a wonderful way to end our day with some yummy goodies and fun conversations.

I just love the way Xander looks so lovingly and excitedly up at Craig!!

Picnic Time

2010-03-21T20:39:00.000-04:00

Sunday afternoon, we left Sea World and headed into downtown Orlando. We took the opportunity to drive by my childhood home and check out the old neighborhood. It was interesting to see how much things had changed as well as stayed the same.

We then headed to a park right behind my high school. It was amazing to see how much my high school had expanded, even since the last time we were down there four years ago. One of my parents' good friends had scheduled a relaxed picnic with our Orlando friends. It was great to see people I hadn't seen in years. It was a bring-you-own-food, come-and-hang-out gathering. We had the opportunity to catch up with our church friends and our neighborhood friends.

Our neighbors who willing shared their pool when we were kids and housed my bridesmaids - we love the Williams!!!

Fun with Aunt Ashley - we missed sharing the day with them. Apparently they missed us, too. Uncle Jeff said he kept reaching around for a small hand to hold.

What a great ending to our great weekend!! Thank you just doesn't seem enough to say to Papa, Mimi, Uncle Jeff and Aunt Ashley for making the weekend so special and so memorable. We love you guys!! Here's the perfect quote to close out the trip ~

Wish accomplished!!!

Sea World, Part 2

2010-03-21T12:06:00.001-04:00

In addition to the exhibits, we also got to enjoy a number of great shows and rides while we were at Sea World.

The Clyde and Seamore Take Pirate Island (sealion and walrus and otter) show was quite entertaining. It was amazing to see all the trick that the animals had been taught.

The Blue Horizons (whale and dolphin) show was out of this world. Not only were the dolphins wonderfully acrobatic, but the (human) performers were as well. Kalyn was mesmerized by all of the stunt performers as they dove from the high platforms and swung out across the water from various swings. Each time she saw something, she would say, "I want to do that. No, I want to do that when I grow up!" Her eyes were as big as saucers with every flip, turn and dive.

No visit would be complete without viewing the Believe show, otherwise known as the Shamu show. There was a very touching tribute to Dawn Brancheau, the trainer who had lost her life just a couple of weeks prior to our trip. Again, the animals were the stars with their flips and moves.

The rides were great! The girls loved riding Journey to Atlantis, a water flume ride with a number of drops! Plus, any spectator could spend a few quarters to be able to spray the riders as they landed at the bottom of the large drop. Just a little added "fun" for everyone!

Mimi was a great help as she watched the kids while Papa, Craig and I headed to the other two big roller coasters. (I think the ice cream helped during the second coaster also.) I had been a little disappointed that we hadn't been able to ride Space Mountain at Disney, so I really wanted to make sure that we got the chance to ride these coasters. Manta was amazing!!! We loaded as you would a normal roller coaster, sitting normally. But then, before the ride begins, our feet were raised up so we were now looking straight down in sort of a flying position. A very unique way to ride. We aren't in this shot, but it shows you how we were riding. Trinity was very eager to take our picture while we were riding and she caught a great picture!

The second coaster was Kraken. This one also had a special twist. Again, we loaded normally and then the bottom of the ride comes away, so as you ride, your feet are dangling in the air! To help get back to Mimi in time, the three of us split up with Papa riding first as us catching the next round.

Both of these roller coasters were great because the rides were pretty long, making the wait (albeit short because there weren't too many crowds) pretty worth it. Kalyn was a bit upset that she could not ride these - there were some tears, poor thing. She just wasn't tall enough. Maybe next time. It was a great day at Sea World. Again, one more day of no arguing, no complaining, no asking for sourvenirs, no traumatic meltdowns. We had one more event planned before we headed home the next day. One more Orlando blog, then it's back to our Georgia life.

Sea World, Part 1

2010-03-21T08:11:00.000-04:00

Sunday was going to be our last day in Orlando and we had a full day planned. We began by checking out of the hotel and heading over to Sea World. We were looking forward to a relaxing day watching shows, wandering around the park and hitting the big roller coasters! Jeff and Ashley were meeting with some of her friends from Orlando, so it was just Papa, Mimi and our family. We missed them, but we had a great time!

The park was fairly empty, we it was nice not to be swamped with crowds. As we walked in, we were greeted by Shamu. I think there was only one family in front of us for pictures with him!

We stopped by the Pacific Point Reserve to check out the sea lions. Craig decided to splurge for the day and purchase three areas of food for feeding the animals. It was very fun to watch them catch the fish that we threw their way. One sea lion actually took his fish and threw it up in the air and caught it in his mouth while swimming around one of the rocks about five times before he finally ate it. Each of the kids got the opportunity to feed them.

A little while later, we went to the Shark Encounter to watch the sharks. It was very cool to ride on the moving sidewalk through the large underwater viewing tunnel.

The shark viewing tank was very interesting to watch the small sharks swim around. We had hoped to feed the sharks, but the feeding shop was closed.

The Wild Artic exhibit was fun! It was very cool to see artic animals such as the polar bear, the (huge) walruses and beluga whales.

Checking out the polar bear in the corner

Beluga whales

We also got to visit the Stingray Lagoon. Here, we got to feed the stingrays and they were quite interesting to watch! They actually pop out of the water a bit to try and get the fish. We had to keep reminding Trinity not to tease them - the stingrays would freak her out a bit and she would pull her hand (and the food) back. Everyone had a great time with the hands-on experience.

Cast of Characters

2010-03-20T17:45:00.000-04:00

While we did not get pictures taken with Mickey and Minnie while we at Disney, we did come across a number of other characters.

We stood in line in Ariel's Grotto for pictures with Ariel. The grotto actually had a fun water spout area where the kids could play while the adults stood in line. We also found out (later) that a friend of Ashley's knew Ariel!

Xander seemed pretty excited to hang out with Ariel

We also took time to meet three of the princesses - Cinderella, Belle and Aurora (Sleeping Beauty). Trinity had fun showing Belle her picture on her name tag - we picked the kids favorite Disney characters as the front of their name tags with their names, our names and our cell phone numbers on the back, just in case of separation. This area was nice because each princess had her own little royal section. Both the girls were all excited, but Xander wasn't so sure. The most the princesses got from him was a quick hug for Cinderella and an even faster high five for Belle (so fast that my camera missed both of them).

Smiles with Aurora

Elegant Cinderella

Sweet Belle

We found Wilderness Donald and Goofy. Xander was a bit more excited about them, especially since Donald was on his shirt. Donald gave him the big thumbs up then squatted down to be on his level.

Saturday, we got to see Jasmine and Aladdin. This was Kalyn's opportunity to show off her name tag to Jasmine. Again, Xander kept far away from these crazy characters. The girls loved it.

While everyone else was on Big Thunder Mountain on Saturday, Mimi and Xander got to see Woody. It took a minute to warm up to his movie icon, but he did and both got big hugs out of it!

All of the characters were so sweet to actually stop, talk (well, the ones who could) with all the fans and sign all the signature pages. It wasn't just a smile for the picture and move on second. Taking into consideration the lines and people waiting, the all the characters seemed to know just the right amount of time to make each visit that more memorable.

Day 2, Part 2

2010-03-19T16:05:00.001-04:00

The sunshine continued all through the day. The weather was just perfect, not too hot and just cool enough for a light jacket. A gorgeous March Florida day!!

We hit a few of our favorite rides from Friday once again on Saturday. Remember that five-minute wait for Big Thunder Mountain I raved about from Friday? Not there. Suddenly, there were tons of people waiting to ride. So, we utilized the Fast Pass and had a slightly shorter wait, but still not the walk up blessing from the prior day. Everyone had just as much fun riding in the day as they did at night. Second day, still a family favorite.

We also hit the Buzz Lightyear ride once more, again using the Fast Pass. Ashley was our big score winner with over 50,000 points - or so she said she had that many.

We had a second day of fun pin trading. I think the kids ending up coming home with only one that they left with. It was always interesting to see what Disney cast members had which pins.

We also had a nice relaxing trip on the train. The kids enjoyed seeing a different side of the park and simply being on an open-air train.

We got some great shots with Cinderella's Castle in the background, from Main Street Station. Our timing was great - one of the cast members had cleared out the area for an upcoming performance, but they were still on their way. So, we were able to have her take our pictures without having to move any body else out of the way!

Our last attraction was one that Craig really wanted to hit, the Hall of Presidents. We thought the sitting down for a bit would be a good idea, so we headed inside the air-conditioned room. The idea behind the Hall of Presidents is the combination of a film on a huge screen that then rises to reveal animatronic presidents, all of them. It really is a pretty cool show. During the movie section, Disney takes time to highlight some historical events in presidential history, one of them being the civil war and Abraham Lincoln. The movie played bits of pieces of Lincoln's campaign speeches, talked about his campaign and then showed a scene from a civil war battlefield. Kalyn, who was sitting next to me, began to cry. When I asked what was wrong, she responded, "They killed him." I answered that they didn't kill him, but as I was speaking the animatronic Abraham Lincoln came forward. Her face lit up as she exclaimed, "He's alive!!!!"

As we headed out, we were amazed by the color of the quickly setting sun on the castle. What a great way to end our day in the park!

It had been a long day, filled with laughter, smiles and memories. We still have a bit of travel back to the hotel and the kids barely made it.

I think everyone was pretty tired by the time we arrived back home. We picked up some Chick-Fil-A for the kids and put them down. Thankfully, we remembered to bring our long-distance (and very-handy) monitor and were able to enjoy and adult dinner without missing anything going on in the room!

Day 2, Part 1

2010-03-19T08:43:00.000-04:00

Saturday morning began with the giving of the souvenirs. This was another great idea from either Frances or Ginger! (I really picked their brains about Disney with kids, since this was our first time and they are both seasoned vetrans.) Because they already had gifts, the kids didn't ask for any gifts throughout the entire trip. Correction, Kalyn asked for one stuffed animal. However, that was mostly our fault for stopping to regroup in one of the huge gift shops. Uncle Jeff and Aunt Ashley gave the kids their gifts of t-shirts for the girls and a Cars lunchbox and t-shirt for Xander. We gave the girls princess rings and princess fabric covered slap bracelets and Xander a Mickey Mouse mini tambourine and a Cars kaleidoscope. (All purchased at the Dollar Tree for a grand total of $6.36 - what a deal!!) I also made sure that we already had Disney shirts for them to wear, so they wouldn't feel the need to buy some (Xander shirts were all hand-me downs from Ginger's two older boys, and the girls' shirts I made or bought at a consignment shop for $2.50 - together.)

Thank you Aunt Ashley and Uncle Jeff for the great gifts!!

Oh the memories of slap bracelets. Now it's time to pass along the fun to the girls.

A fun music maker for Xander.

Saturday, the sun came out and brought the crowds with it. It was a beautiful day!! We were so excited to hit the rides we missed as well as hit our favorites once again. Unfortunately, the lines were a bit longer than on Friday, but that only meant that we got to take advantage of the Fast Passes a bit more. We loaded the ferry for the trip over to the park. There was a long line for both the monorail and the ferry, but we thought the ferry's line would move faster. We choose correctly. The kids enjoyed watching out the ferry windows, until the breeze got a bit more than they could handle.

Ready to begin the day!

We headed off to Adventureland first, the only section we didn't get to on our first day. Xander loved seeing all the pirates on the Pirates of the Caribbean ride. I would also have to say that Xander and Uncle Jeff really bonded over the weekend!

The Jungle Cruise is another long-time favorite. There's just something great about the cheesy humor behind this ride. It's all about how the "cruise director" embraces the cheesiness and this one took it on completely. It was great! After all, cheesy lines and bad puns fill our house on a pretty regular basis - maybe that's why I like this ride.

We took our tour of the Swiss Family Robinson Tree House. I think Kalyn and Trinity got some grand ideas of a tree house in their backyard. They'll have to be content with their swing set for now. It was fun to tie this attraction back into our Robinson Crusoe day from a few weeks ago.

We then hit Tom Sawyer's Island. This was one of the movies we had rented for the kids to see, so we had fun talking about the movie as we toured around the island.

Such cute smiles from my girls.

All boy, yes, he's all boy and really enjoying protecting the fort from the bad guys.

Kalyn was such a trooper Saturday morning. During breakfast, she commented that her ear had hurt, especially as she ate her bacon. A couple of hours later, we could tell she just wasn't herself. So, we headed off to get her some Tylenol hoping that would knock off anything that was slowing her down. Within 30 minutes, she was great, back to her singing, dancing, joyful self.

The Magic Carpet Ride was another one where the kids got to drive. Thankfully, Kalyn and I got the short line as everyone else stood in line while we went to get Tylenol. We timed our return right before they got on the ride! The kids loved deciding how high up we went and how much the carpets tilted.

Even standing in line can be fun with Papa!

We were having so much fun. Even the slightly more crowded streets and lines were not dampening our excitement! What was fun was seeing the fun through the kids' eyes. I have my own memories of Disney as a child. It was so much fun making new ones!! More to come soon.

Day 1, Part 2

2010-03-18T14:50:00.000-04:00

Our fun continued with more excitement and more rides. I believe we counted close to 20 rides and shows we hit on our first day. Here's more of our fun-filled first day.

We all climbed into a mine cart for Snow White's Scary Adventure. I remember this ride being a bit on the freaky side, but the kids did great! No fear at all. We were in the "Happy" cart - just perfect for our group for the weekend!

We also couldn't pass up It's a Small World. As we waiting in line (which was very short) my sister and I began singing along with the music. Trinity, being the music lover she is, commented that she didn't know the song. Ashley and I looked at each other, smiled and responded, "By half-way through the ride, you will." I don't think it took her that long. This ride was also our first (of many) opportunities to let the rides know how long the wait was. In all my years of going to Disney, this was actually my first time with one of their time cards. We made up for lost time, getting at least 10 during the day, sometimes more than one within our group.

I just had to have documentation about how short the lines were!

Kalyn is our little daredevil. She is always up for a challenge. One of our largest "fears" was that she wouldn't be tall enough to ride the exciting coasters and she would really want to, while Trinity would be tall enough to ride, but not want to. However, that wasn't the case. We came upon Splash Mountain and this was Kalyn's response when I told her we were going to go on it ~

Trinity opted to stay back with Mimi, Jeff and Xander. The sun had already set and she was cold from the day's rain. She was not up for getting more wet on a ride. The rest of us set out. I know I've said that the crowds were down, but I just have to put in a few pictures to show just HOW low they were. During our first trip, there were three empty boats in front of us and one behind us. So, as we ended the ride, we asked if we could go again. And we did - no getting out and going around the line, just staying in our boat and headed for round two. Kalyn loved, loved, loved the drops. After one of the first smaller drops, she looked at me and said, "Is that all? That's not very much." She didn't say that after the larger drop.

This is called NO LINE for Splash Mountain. Just walk up and get in your boat!

Thanks to Craig's camera on the big drop! Kalyn was screaming too, honest she was!

Big smiles when it was all over.

Following Splash Mountain, we did talk Trinity into joining us on Big Thunder Mountain. Again - the wait time was really just the time it took us to walk up to the ride. Crazy. Ashley and I kept looking at each other and saying, "This is not the Disney we remember." It was great. Trinity had so much fun on this ride. I was a little nervous about her getting to scared on it, but she was quite the trooper.

Yep, the sign reads the wait time is 5 minutes!!!!

Love Trinity's mid-ride squeal of delight!!

After riding as many rides as we could, we headed back toward the front of the park to see the SpectroMagic parade. We had to stop for pictures with the backdrop of the beautifully lit castle. It was just gorgeous at night!!

The parade was so much fun! The kids loved seeing all the characters, listening to the music and all the lights. The hero of the parade was the man on the little tractor - he pulled at least two of the floats along when they got stuck. He received his own round of applause as he passed by after helping out.

Eagerly awaiting the start

Xander was so cute waving to the characters!

As this float passed by, Xander looked up at me and said, "Mommy, that a big fish."

Following the parade, we headed out to catch the ferry back to the parking lot area. We had been given a tip that the ferry was a great place to watch the fireworks and avoid some of the leaving crowd. We had the huge ferry to share between about 20 people (remember our group being nine and three crew). We actually made it all the way across the lake before the fireworks went off. Unfortunately, the cloud cover covered up most of the amazing displays, but we could still see some of them. Well, those of us who were still awake.

By the time we were half-way back to the hotel, all the kids were completely out. I think that counts as a great day!!

Day 1, Part 1

2010-03-18T10:28:00.002-04:00

***Disclaimer - so as to not completely overwhelm our readers with a very long post, the next couple of days in Orlando will be split up among a few (hopefully shorter) posts. Thanks in advance for enjoying our memories with us!***

We had a wonderful time at Disney. It was such a great opportunity to spend some serious time with our family. Craig and I tried to mentally prepare ourselves for tired children, whines of wanting something in every gift store and a few random meltdown and arguments. However, they didn't happen. The kids were great!!!! Even the rain didn't slow us down. There was mostly just drizzle - enough that we had to keep rain jackets on, but not enough to get drenched. The rain also kept a lot of the crowds away!!! Such a blessing it really was for the first day.

Every trip to Disney has to include a picture in front of Cinderella's Castle - wet and all, we made it happen.

Xander favorite ride of the whole trip was Buzz Lightyear. He loves the Toy Story movies and loves shooting - what a great combination for him. Everyone else had a blast too!!

Xander and Uncle Jeff - shooting down the bad guys!

We all had fun on Cinderella's Golden Carousel. Craig seemed to have way too much fun!!

Aren't Jeff and Ashely the cutest together? They were awesome with the kids all weekend!!

What's a trip to the Magic Kingdom without stopping by Mickey's and Minnie's homes?

Xander got to ride his first roller coaster - the Barnstormer. We were a little nervous about how much height restrictions would impact the kids' fun, but it wasn't too big a problem. He had a blast (as did the other kids). During the ride, he wasn't too sure about it, but as soon as it finished, he said, "Daddy, I want to go again . . . faster!"

Just barely, but he made it!

The pin trading was a big hit. Note for next trip - Craig and I are getting pins of our own to trade and we're getting more. There were so many interesting pins we saw on people. Here are the kids with their first trader. Thanks, Frances for this excellent tip!!

Lunch at Pinocchio's Village Haus was just delicious! Finding a spot where all nine of us could sit down and eat, not the easiest thing.

The Dumbo ride has always been a favorite. The kids loved any ride where they got to "drive". Each ride brought a new mixture of people together. It was fun to see that Papa and Mimi got some quiet, relaxing time to themselves!

The Mad Tea Party teacups are also a long-time favorite. We decided that the grands (grandparents and grandkids) would be in one cup while the middles would be in another. This was a purely selfish move on our part as we wanted to spin as fast as we could. We thought that would be lots of fun and a great idea. However, as we finished, there was some discussion on that plan. Much dizziness, but it was worth it!

We'll end Day One's post with this shot - is there really anything more that needs to be said?

The Secret's Announced

2010-03-17T09:36:00.003-04:00

Friday morning, the kids woke up ready to start the day. We got them dressed in their Disney-themed shirts. Trinity even pointed out that everyone was wearing a Disney shirt - Xander in Donald Duck, Kalyn in Ariel and Trinity in Bambi. We headed down for breakfast and surprise (#1) - Mimi, Papa, Uncle Jeff and Aunt Ashley were there!! Hugs for everyone!!!

Breakfast was wonderful!! French toast, fresh fruit, individually made omelets, waffles, bacon, muffins. Yummy!!! What a great way to start the day.

We headed back to our room and gave Mom the privilege of telling the kids know our plans for the day (surprise #2). She gave them an option - we could go shopping at Wal-Mart, go to a movie or go to Disney. Trinity, being my talking-things-out child, clarified her answer for choosing Disney (as if she needed to) - "we've been to the movies, and we've been to Wal-Mart, like, 16,000 times". Xander was more excited about how we would get there - he really wanted to go in Papa's car. All about the transportation for him! They were excited, but I'm not sure if they really had any idea about what a visit to Disney really meant. They would soon find out the true magic of Disney.

We gave the kids the first round of souvenirs - mouse ear hats and their name tags with their trading pins.

We packed up all the travelling goodies - 2 umbrella strollers (thanks Ginger, for the suggestion of taking two and loaning us yours), drinks, flavored water packets, snacks and rain jackets- and began the journey to the park. We loaded the bus that picked us up right in front of our hotel, then took the monorail to the Magic Kingdom. We pointed out the princess' castle as we closed in! We would not let the rain dampen our excitement.

Thankfully, I had purchased and picked up ticket the prior weekend, so we just scanned our tickets and headed in the park. We were ready for the magic to continue inside the park!

Quick Turn Around

2010-03-16T09:04:00.001-04:00

I returned home from my half-marathon trip down at Disney on Sunday night. I had Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday to unpack me, unpack the kids from their visit with Craig's parents and repack everyone for our surprise trip (for the kids). Thankfully, my kids can sometimes be oblivious to some big things, so they still had no idea that we were planning something big. In preparation for our trip, we played a number of Disney-related games and watched many classic Disney movies. Craig and I were getting very, very excited as we pre-bought Disney souvenirs, ordered the kids trading pins and planned out our trip.

Thursday morning, we sent Trinity and Kalyn off to school with the hint that we would be picking each one up early from school. When I picked Kalyn up, she told her music teacher that we were heading out to "run errands". As she headed out to Craig and the car, I clarified that we were actually heading to Disney and Kalyn just didn't know yet. I thought Miss Brandy was going to jump in the car with us.

We then picked up Trinity, grabbed some lunch and headed out on the road. We had the movies prepared and were ready for a long trip. We warned them that we were going to be on the road all day and we weren't going to ask "Are we there yet?" or "Where are we going?" the whole way. Yes, we were on the way and the kids still had NO idea where we would end up. They were excited, though.

Naps on car rides are always a good thing (what am I saying - naps period are always a good thing)

Crossing into Florida (a small celebration was held in the front seat, so as to not arouse curiosity from the back seat)

Our trip went very well. We hit very little traffic and kept touching base with my parents and my sister and brother-in-law (Ashley and Jeff) as they were flying down. Unfortunately, there was really bad weather in Orlando, so Jeff and Ashley's flight was delayed. Just north of Ocala, we hit a stand still in traffic, which postponed our arrival time until around 8:30. Just in time for bed.

As we closed in on Orlando, we tried to keep the movies going so the kids wouldn't notice all the Disney signs. By this time, we had decided to wait until Thursday morning before they found out our destination. We feared that if they found out this late, there would be no sleep for anyone due to the excitement. However, we had a bit of a scare that our secret would be found out. As we turned onto the street of our hotel, Craig and I saw this huge welcoming wall ~

Craig was smooth - he pulled onto the inside turn lane, positioning next to a big truck that we thought would block the kids from seeing it. The light turned green and our lane stayed still. We ended up passing right by it, in full view of the kids' windows. Thankfully, they were still glued to the movie and our secret was still safe!! We arrived at the hotel, telling the kids that we were stopping here for the night. It was their first time in a real hotel and they were excited about it. We put them all to bed. Shortly afterwards, the rest of the family arrived at the hotel as we all looked forward to the joy of the next day!!!

Art Night

2010-03-11T14:01:00.003-05:00

Once a year, Trinity's elementary school has a fund raiser night. Each child has created a beautiful and unique work of art which a company frames (very nicely) and displays for all parents to see. The goal is that you are so enamored with your darling's creative masterpiece that you just have to spend the money to purchase it as you see it. I understand the point of it, but we have yet to participate in this specific fund raiser. (Especially since they send home the artwork about a week later.) We do, however, each year go and tour the cafeteria, searching each display unit for Trinity's display. This year was no different. We enjoyed seeing her show off her artwork with such pride and seeing her great all of her friends throughout the show.

This year's project was a very cool butterfly focus with a paper weaving background. Great job, Trinity!!!

Kalyn and Xander were cheering her on and Trinity hunted to find her one picture.

I love all the creative ideas my children think up. It is quite a treat to see what will be next!!

What A Weekend!!!

2010-03-08T15:09:00.006-05:00

Sunday night, I returned from an amazingly wonderful weekend with 7 wonderfully amazing women. This will just be a quick summary of our excitement with another detailed blog to come later, but I had to share. Each one of us has some of the pictures and I can't wait to get them all from everyone else. Here are some of my pictures and a bit of my story.

We had been preparing for a half-marathon run for about nine months. For most of us, this would be our first half-marathon. We weren't sure exactly what to expect. However, this was not your typical 13.1 mile run. It was the Disney Princess Half-Marathon. Yes, we loaded up our cars, said good-bye to our families and headed down to Orlando for four days. What an experience it was. This was going to be my first half-marathon and I was looking forward to it.

We had a great time at the event expo, with all it's booths of goodies and fun products. I was so excited to visit one of my favorite restaurants, Bennigans, and devour the delicious Monte Cristo. YUM!! We enjoyed walking around Downtown Disney for some fun shopping. A couple of the girls even got in a trip to the Disney park. We ate at the oh-so-fun Rainforest Cafe. We shared, we bonded, we cheered each other on throughout the entire weekend. It was great!

The Expo - I got an adorable 13.1 charm and a clearance shirt for only $10

I love Bennigan's and greatly miss this meal since there are no Bennigan's anywhere nearby.

The group outside Rainforest Cafe (obviously)

Sunday morning, we awoke. Early. Very early. We had to board the buses by 4 AM to be at the race location by 4:30 and to our starting gates by 5:30. Getting up at 3 is early. Very early. Very, very early. I'm not a fan of early. However, it was worth it. We arrived at the race, checked in our bag and headed to the start line (about a 25 minute walk away). It was so cold. My whole body was shivering by the time the race began at 6. I couldn't wait for the event to start just so I could get moving to warm up a bit. Since it was a princess run, almost everyone got into the spirit of it. There were some women in full princess costumes, some women in princess tu-tu's and lots of women in crowns! While it was a race geared toward women, there were a few men in the mix. Many of them also got into the spirit by dressing up - some as princes and a couple even as princesses. We even passed a couple where her shirt read, "Princess Carolyn" and his read, "Princess Carolyn's Waterboy" (and he was running with the belt with her water bottles). It was priceless!

Our red carpet entrance into the race

Trying to stay warm awaiting the start

The race was amazing! In true Disney fashion, our fairy godmother sent us out one group at a time. There were even fireworks to begin the race! Along the run, there were great encouragers - bands, Disney film/ride scenes and so many charters! At every mile, the marker was a huge storybook with a princess and her prince on it. We left from Epcot, ran up to the Walt Disney World Park and back to Epcot. Running through the Disney park and even through the castle was quite an experience.

Time for us to go!!!

By the way, the time began with the first group started (about 20 minutes before my group)

The pirate ship filled with pirates (that's motivation to run)

Getting ready to run through Cinderella's castle

My wish for Genie was that I was at the finish line - that didn't work too well

Unfortunately, my knee completely gave out around mile six. That meant I couldn't run (except in very short periods) for the rest of the race. However, I had a great adventure through it all! At the end, I was able to cross the finish line with two of my friends, Teri and Debbie. I had done it!! At the end, we were each awarded a beautiful medal. Then I hobbled to the first aid tent and had my knee wrapped up with ice.

Ten-Hut with the army men from Toy Story

Only one-tenth of a mile to go

Whoo-hooo!!!!!

From there, we all meet back up together, congratulated everyone on their finishing and celebrated the completion of our great event! We headed back to our hotels where we showered, packed up the cars and headed home. It was a long drive home, but it was wonderful to arrive back my eagerly awaiting hubby!

The Last Snow

2010-03-04T08:44:00.000-05:00

We've were blessed to have a few snow days this winter. However, snow was the last thing we expected to see on March 2nd. Yep - March snow. This is a bit crazy!!!

It wasn't enough to cancel school, but it was enough to cover the ground for about a day. What a little treat - one last little winter wonderland.

Dr. Seuss Day

2010-03-03T17:13:00.000-05:00

I saw this idea in one of my parenting magazines for celebrating Dr. Seuss's birthday and I was so excited to try it out. We used pizza dough and formed it in the shape of Cat in the Hat's hat. Then, using cheese and pepperonis, we created our own unique pizza.

It was delicious. We honored Dr. Seuss with a viewing of a few Dr. Seuss movies. We found a couple of DVDs with various stories on them for only $5 and were glad to have an excuse to watch them. The kids enjoyed the special pizzas and we enjoyed the relaxing family night.

Free Pancake Day

2010-02-24T16:55:00.000-05:00

We love free pancake day at IHOP. It's a great treat for the family to head out to dinner with only the donation to our local children's hospital. Following our trip to the fire station, we headed to IHOP for our free yummy pancakes. We were so glad to see that we arrived before the dinner rush and were able to sit down without too much of a wait.

Everyone cleaned their plates covered with pancakes. We all had a delicious dinner. We love national pancake day and we're already looking forwad to next year!

Annual Firestation Visit

2010-02-24T16:35:00.000-05:00

Each year, we take a visit to our neighborhood fire station in honor of the EMTs and firemen who arrived the night Trinity was born. We just like the opportunity to thank them for all their service to our community. Shortly after Trinity's birthday, we took our annual trip to say thank you and let them know we appreciate their willingness to serve. This year, the firemen welcomed us to take a little tour of the firehouse and checking out the fire trucks. Xander, who points out any fire truck he sees, was so excited.

They got to check out the inside of one of the emergency vehicles.

The kids also got to climb into the fire truck - sitting in one of the jump seats, letting them "drive" and checking out all the hoses. The firemen were so nice to take time to explain all the tools and components.

The kids had a blast!! What a very special treat it was!!

Trinity's Birthday Party

2010-02-21T07:59:00.000-05:00

This year, we made a slight turn in Trinity's party. Up until now, the party has been a big family affair - inviting all of our family friends and it's simply a big event for everyone. This year, we decided to have Trinity only invite the friends that she wanted to invite and have it be a true kid party. It was quite an event to watch her narrow down her friends and plan for the special day!!

As the girls arrived, they headed outside to our big jumpy house to have some fun.

Her party was centered around creativity. When everyone was here, we came back inside to start being creative. We had purchased foam pictures frames for each of the girls to decorate with markers and stickers. Our plan was to take a picture of all the girls and print them out to send home, however, we ran out of time. But, they did get a pretty cool and individual picture frame.

Following the frames, we helped the girls braid friendship bracelets. This was fun to watch them braid their own bracelets, help out others who had a little more difficulty and then trade the bracelets with each other. Another personal gift where no two were alike.

Cake time!! Sticking with the theme of creativity, the girls got to decorate their own cupcakes, ice cream and cookies. I love having a huge box of cookie cutters ~ we had the girls' first initials, the number 8, stars and flowers. The girls could cover them in icing, sprinkles and goodies! Delicious!!

In lieu of gifts, we asked the girls to bring coloring books and crayons to be donated to a local children's hospital. We've done donations in place of gifts for a number of years and we love it. After all, our kids have tons of stuff and they always get great gifts from family. Look at all the collections we received from her guests. They were so generous!

We were glad that Craig's parents were able to come and share in the fun. They brought gifts for all the kids - a monster truck for Xander and a ballet costume for Kalyn. For the birthday girl, they gave her a brand new purse, some fun lip gloss, a fully stocked pencil case and her annual Precious Moments figurine.

Following the party, Craig couldn't pass up the opportunity to try a big jump onto the jumpy house. Apparently it wasn't as soft a landing as he expected, but he can now say he's done it.

It was a great afternoon of celebrating. Thanks so much to all her friends who made her day so special.

Celebrating Trinity's Birthday

2010-02-20T15:49:00.000-05:00

Trinity had a couple of options on how to celebrate her birthday. She choose to go to Chuck E Cheese and enjoy an evening of games and pizza. We had a great family night!!

The night began with a round of pizza. It was so wonderful to have everyone eat without "reminding" them to take bites and stop talking.

Following dinner, we all indulged in some amazing game playing. Kalyn and Trinity did awesome at Skee Ball. Trinity then put her great basketball skills to work while Kalyn did a bit of shooting practice. Xander had a blast on the little carousel, climbing in the monster truck and riding the roller coaster simulator with Mommy. Craig had a great time with the pinball machine! Trinity and Kalyn made a wonderful team on the video game.

Feeding the ticket counter was just another game. Trinity got to select the prizes and was so sweet to get gifts for everyone. We all had so much fun being kids!!

The next day was Trinity's actual birthday and that's when we gave her her gifts. Trinity received new pencils and erasers, which she loves for all her school work and story writing. She was also given a cool MP3 player that plays music, videos and games. Craig had taken time to upload some songs and videos onto the player so she would have something to enjoy as soon as she opened it. We played the songs and everyone in the room began dancing.

It was a wonderful celebration!

Once again, happy birthday Trinity!!!

Aquarium Bound

2010-02-20T15:04:00.000-05:00

The day after Valentine's Day, the kids were out of school. So, we planned a fun trip to the Tennessee Aquarium. Once a month, Kalyn gets to be "Top Banana" in her class which means she gets to bring in a show and tell item, be the teacher's helper and lead the lines wherever they go. The teachers like it if the show and tell matches the letter the class is studying that week and her week's letter was T. So, we decided to do a book filled with Kalyn and pictures of various T items at the Tennessee Aquarium. (We knew getting a season's pass would come in handy.) We thought it would be fun and we had a great time.

Kalyn's book included pictures of her in front of tanks, touching animals (such as sharks, butterflies, stingrays and smelt), with Trinity, and looking at tree frogs and turtles. She was so proud to take in her book on her special day. Plus her teachers gave it an "A+".

We tried not to make the trip all about Kalyn. We made sure that everyone enjoyed the trip.

After watching the otters frolic around for a bit, one of the aquarium employees came up and asked if anyone wanted to feed the otters. Our kids jumped at the opportunity. So, they were each handed some smelt and threw it over the viewing wall.

The petting tank filled with stingrays and sharks is always a lot of fun. The trick is trying to keep a little bit of Kalyn's sleeve slightly dry during this excursion. Kalyn was able to even touch one of the elusive sharks - a rare treat!

Unfortunately, the butterfly room was not as active as it has been in the past. It took a while, but we finally found a butterfly willing to be held. So, each child got to have it sit on their hands.

We love being able to watch the divers in the huge tank is so entertaining and educational. The kids gets to ask questions while the divers tell about life around the aquarium.

We headed home after a full day. What a great day of memories.

Valentine's Day

2010-02-19T19:40:00.000-05:00

This year, we celebrated Valentine's Day a day early. The actual day, I was going to be at church all day between our morning service, a bridal shower for a former youth, handbell practice and youth. So, Saturday night, we gave the kids their gifts and had a bit of family time together. All the gifts were gifts that all of them could enjoy.

Kalyn got to open one of the movies.

Xander got to open up other movie.

(A side note, we acutally bought these as Christmas gifts back in September. However, when it came time to wrap them, I had completely forgotten where I hid them. I found them in the middle of January. So, they got them for Valentine's Day. It worked for us and they didn't know any differently.)

Trinity was given game that looks like a ton of fun - it's a fast paced "I Spy" type game. We can't wait to try it out.

When the gifts were opened, we all enjoyed a piece of our heart cake, made with strawberry mix. It was yummy.

It was a great night together!

Snow Days

2010-02-18T13:38:00.001-05:00

Over the past couple of weeks, we have been watching all the snow pile up in the north. While we do not want to be snowed in, we were hoping that we would have some white flakes around us. So, we were carefully keeping our eyes on the radar as snow was forecast ed last week. Last Friday, around 1PM, the snow began coming down. It snowed pretty solidly for most of the day and created a wonderful afternoon of fun! We began by getting the kids' feet protected from the wetness. We threw snowballs and then made a snow person. Unfortunately, Xander and Trinity got a bit cold and headed inside before we finished. Kalyn was our trooper who stayed out in the cold to help Craig and I complete our snow person.

Check out the line of snow on our mailbox!

Dry feet are good things!

Craig's on the attack with the snowballs.

Kalyn brings up a lid full of snow for the snow person.

Saturday morning we woke up and had a second day of snow fun on the driveway. We had a great time "sledding" with our large plastic box tops (hey, when you're in the south, you use what you have). We even had our homage to the Olympic sports of skeleton and downhill skiing. We even gained an extra child from down the street with our fun. It was a wonderful morning of fun!

Here's Craig's video from the snow days. He's so good at creating these! Enjoy~

Happy Birthday, Trinity

2010-02-17T07:00:00.000-05:00

Eight years ago, we welcomed Trinity into our world. Okay, actually we were stunned and shocked to have her show up. We looked at her and thought, "What are you doing here already?" And that night's excitement was just beginning.

Here's her slide show from the last year.

Just in case you missed it, here's her entry to the world.

Trinity,
You are a wonderful girl. It was been amazing to watch you grow. You are so caring to your younger brother and sister. You are such a smart girl, growing a little each day. You are always thinking, trying to figure things out. This past year has been filled with lost teeth and trying new things like basketball and rock climbing. You most exciting event was when you decided to follow Christ and accept his gift of wonderful grace. You are so sweet and have such a loving heart. You care so much about your friends and family. We can't wait to see what God is going to do with your life. We love you very much.

Love,
Daddy and Mommy

Auburn Buddies

2010-02-16T08:32:00.004-05:00

Craig and I loved our time at Auburn. We made some wonderful friends that have truly stood the test of time. A huge blessing is that a lot of our friends married friends, so when we get together 95% of each other know each other. It's a great thing.

Last week, we got to get together with our friends Brooke, Joey, Jay and Frances. Brooke and Joey live in Alabama and we don't get to see them too often (however, we're getting used to seeing them more often lately), so we were excited about our evening out. We enjoyed a delicious and fun dinner at Mellow Mushroom. We got the special privilege of sitting in a huge plastic tree for our meal. We had a great time, but the small children who kept peering in the tree were a tad jealous.

An added bonus to our dinner was that we found out it was "magician and balloon night". There was a professional balloon sculptor going around with his balloons.

Being that we were celebrating Frances's birthday, she really wanted a balloon hat. Let's just say, you may need to be careful what you ask for ~

Yep, she's a star. But fear not, we all got our own hats! Joey was actually first to receive his hat and being a VERY good sport, Joey actually kept it on for a little while. I have to admit that after a little while, it became very hard to take anyone seriously during our conversations. I'm not sure why ~

Following dinner, we headed back to Jay's and Frances's home for a game of 80's Scene It. It was quite fun and since most of our questions had to do with music, Craig rocked on it. However, the girls mounted a great come from behind attack to win the game! Ya women!!! It was a blast. We love our friends!!

Read In The Bath Day

2010-02-12T14:51:00.000-05:00

We're trying to have fun with our creative holidays celebrations. It's now becoming a daily occurrence for Trinity to go check out my calendar with the special days listed. Tuesday, we paid homage to "Read in the Bathtub" Day. We began by filling up the tub with lots of bubbles.

Then we did the washing with all three kids. Usually they aren't all three together, but for this special day, they were all tossed in together. They had lots of fun being together.

Aren't they the cutest? We read a couple of bath-related books. The kids really enjoyed it all. What a fun evening.

Pictures

2010-02-11T15:08:00.000-05:00

We are fans of The Picture People. One of our friends gave us a portrait club membership with Trinity was born and we have renewed it each year since then. Some times have been tougher than others and right now, we're waiting to discover that amazing photographer who we'll request each trip, but over all, we have been very, very pleased.

Monday night we went to have Valentine's Day pictures and Trinity's birthday pictures taken. Now, I understand that trying to get three children to look the same way and smile all at the same time is quite a feat in itself. Therefore, I usually try to just step back and let the photographer do their magic. This trip was nothing too out of the ordinary. Kalyn kept trying to pose in her own style. Trinity tried to make sure that the other two were in their places (which pretty much kept her from her spot). After every three poses, Xander would ask, "Are we done?" Yep, that's pretty normal. But still, after about 20 minutes of that, I was done.

We finished with the pictures of the three (for Valentine's Day) and Craig took Kalyn and Xander outside with a coloring book and crayons while I stayed in with Trinity's pictures. Trinity was great on her own. So I got to simply sit back and wait. While I waited, I got to watch two families with five children - all coloring nicely, peacefully and quietly. I have to admit that I was just a bit jealous at that moment. Let's just say my kids enjoy a bit more "discussion" with their coloring. Within 30 seconds, the youngest child took and handful of crayons and threw it at one of the older children. I tried not to laugh out loud. But I couldn't help but admire the timing of it all.

So, here are the pictures that came from our trip. Enjoy!

The End Of The Season

2010-02-10T08:33:00.007-05:00

Saturday was Trinity's final game in her first basketball season. I was sorry that I missed it since my run was at the same time. However, I was very thankful that I was able to watch all of her other games. I knew she would do great and Craig, Kalyn and Xander would be there to cheer her on.

Here are some of the highlights during the game. She took a wide open shot of at the basket, but unfortunately, she missed. She had some great defense moves. Overall, she did really well. They finished out the year undefeated! Quite a change from last year's team who were on the other end of the spectrum.

Xander and Kalyn kept busy with a couple of coloring books and a box of crayons. Always good entertainment!

Saturday night, the team celebrated the end of the season with a party at a nearby pizzeria. We were looking forward to trying out this new spot, just around the corner from our house. Village Slice was delicious and so helpful with our big group.

The coaches gave out little goodie bags - or MVP awards - to all the girls.

Everyone enjoyed the ice cream that followed the pizza.

What a wonderful way to finish out the season.

Chattahochee Challenge

2010-02-09T08:07:00.000-05:00

Saturday, I stepped up my running experience and ran in a 10K (6.2 miles) event. Well, I use the term "ran" lightly. Let's say, I participated. My first 5K (3.1 miles) event was almost a year ago, so I was glad to move up to the next level. However, it was part of the plan. In March, seven friends and I are heading down to Orlando to participate in the Disney Princess Half Marathon (13.1 miles). This run was a good way to prepare. Six of the eight of us were able to participate in Saturday's run.

It was a cold morning. We were very thankful that the cold drizzley rain held off until the end. Unfortunately, the parking was a bit limited, so we had to park about a mile away (and we were thankful for that after we heard that some people had to park three miles away). We were glad for our cell phones as we were able to catch up with everyone else. Here are all the runners, getting ready to go.

Teri, me, Shawn, Jennifer, Barbara and Debbie - waiting for the run to start

Jennifer and I started out strong. We agreed that we were partners - we run around the same level and it's helpful to have a buddy to encourage you along the way. We were feeling good, using a run-for-four-minutes, walk-for-one-minute rotation. Right before we hit the two mile mark, we saw the leaders rounding back and hitting mile four. We all cheered them on.

Unfortunately, my knee began hurting a bit around mile four. That sometime happens if I run too fast. The adenaline hits me and I forget to slow it down in the beginning. So, as a result, I had to walk a little bit more than I wanted to for the last two miles or so. However, the good thing is that I finished and I was pleased with my first time - 1:11:12.

It was great to encourage the others as they finished. That's the thing I looking forward to on our half marathon weekend - the comradarie and the change to hang out with my friends. Less than a month to go!!

Bubble Gum Day

2010-02-08T07:59:00.000-05:00

Friday was bubble gum day, so we had to have fun with that. We began our night with an online viewing of "How It's Made - Bubble Gum". We have recently become a big fan of this show and enjoy anytime we happen to catch it on tv. It was very interesting to see how this yummy, gummy treat is mass produced. Did you know that it's pink because that was the only color the inventor had when he invented it? Over time the main color has just stuck.

We had purchased a few different packs of Bubble Yum. We first held a mini-contest to see who could stack the pieces the highest. Craig and his engineering background was the clear winner.

Mad bubble gum stacking skills!!

We then gathered the toeses together for a little round of "bubble gum, bubble gum." Trinity was the grand winner. Way to go, girl.

We tried to teach the kids how to blow a bubble gum bubble. Within a few moments of handing out the bubble gum pieces, we realized that we had the three little bears in our home - Trinity's gum was too big (so we took half of hers and Kalyn's). Then Kalyn's gum was too small. Xander was just fine and never complained either way or another. Here's Kalyn's and Xander's attempt to blow their bubbles. (Trinity had thrown her piece out by now.)

Then, we cuddle up for a couple of bubble gum-themed books. I am becoming more and more familiar with tips of how to use our library and get the most out of it. It was quite interesting to watch me go in with my holiday themes and try and find matching books. It was another relaxing evening. I think these theme nights are going to be fun this month.

And Another One Gone . . .

2010-02-05T12:01:00.000-05:00

Another Tuesday, another lost tooth for Trinity. We were pleased that she didn't swallow this one. Craig was able to pull it out before breakfast. She was a little concerned when she went to put the tooth in her tooth pillow. She wanted me to make sure that I told the tooth fairy that the tooth was very little and may be hard to find.

We finished out our Tuesday night with a couple of books relating to Groundhog Day. While the national Punxsutawney Phil Groundhog didn't see his shadow, which means six more weeks of winter, our state General Lee Groundhog did see his shadow - an early spring. We'll see who was right! No big events, just a couple of relaxing books before bed. It was a good way to close out the day.

Celebrating Robinson Crusoe Day

2010-02-04T08:18:00.005-05:00

What? You didn't know there was a Robinson Crusoe day? Well, I didn't either until Monday. It began when the alarm went off Monday morning. The radio DJ announced that Monday was "Hula in the Coola" Day - a day where you're supposed to do summer-type things in the middle of winter. I told Craig that to "celebrate" I wanted for us to go to our gym's pool and then grill out and have some ice cream for dessert. Well, then I found out that the pool closed before Craig got home from work. So, I looked for other fun days that we could celebrate. Monday began our month of enjoying the fun days that some random person created. Monday was Robinson Crusoe Day.

The day began with Xander and I heading to the library to see if we could find a child's version on Robinson Crusoe. No such luck. So, we scoured the stacks until we found a book about a shipwrecked sailor. We also picked up a couple of books for Groundhog's Day to read on Tuesday. We came back home and began getting the fun together for the night.

After everyone was home and schoolwork was done, we began our exciting adventures. Each child was told that they were the captain of their own ship, however their ships had become wrecked somewhere in a few rooms. They headed off to find their paper ships. Once they were all found, they were given their captain's hats and ship flags to decorate. They had fun with it.

Then, they were given a treasure map to fine where our next happening would occur. The map included "the bay of girls" (Kalyn's & Trinity's room), "the boy cove" (Xander's room), "sweetness swamp" (Craig's and my room), "the unmovable mountain" (the wall separating our front and living rooms) and "the pit of fire" (the kitchen). The girls' job was to decipher the different landmarks on the map and figure out where the X on the map would lead them.

The X led them to our dinner on the front room. We had laid out beach mats where we had fish and fruit, a perfect meal for a shipwrecked sailor. We also included some fries and cheddar garlic biscuits, just to round out the food.

After dinner, Trinity asked if we were going to "present their flags." What a treat that was! Trinity tied together her hat into her flag with hearts and stars. Xander's flag presentation included his pretend guitar and a musical show. Kalyn was short and simple. They were very entertaining.

Then, we did what any good abandoned sailor would do - we built shelter. We had pulled out our long, lost Lincoln Logs and taught the kids how to use them. We had a blast building our little houses. However, we also found out that over time, Lincoln Logs can warp. Oops.

On a deserted island, what else is imperative? A fire. We talked about how the fire would be useful to the ship wrecked sailor. When you have a fire, what do you need to do? Of course, roast marshmallows. Yum!!

Our night ended out with our book reading time. I've really wanted to get back into a habit of reading together as a family. It's so fun to curl up on the couch - all five of us together - and dive into a book. It was such a great night. The best part of the whole event was Kalyn's comment as she said, "Mommy, this is the best day of my whole life!"

Game Night

2010-02-03T08:18:00.003-05:00

Saturday night, Craig and I decided to break out a game after bath night. Some games are more fun than others, some nights are more fun than others, but this one turned out to be pretty fun. One of our family favorites is Trouble. It's a game that is fun for everyone and everyone can play. Sometimes, the game goes on a bit long - we think someone is about to win and then they are sent back to start. It teaches us all some patience and endurance.

Xander was on Craig's team. They had fun together.

Trinity started off on fire, getting all of her pawns out very quickly. However, about halfway through, she lost the skills and found all of her pawns back in the start box and no six in sight (you need to roll a six to move out of start). Unfortunately, I could see a bit of her competitiveness coming out - a trait straight from me. She got to learn to enjoy the game, even if she wasn't winning.

Kalyn had a blast and was so funny to watch. When she got a couple of good rolls and found herself getting near another player, she would sing out, "I'm comin' for you, baby." It was hilarious!!

Congratulations to Craig for his victory.

Another Basketball Game

2010-02-02T08:14:00.004-05:00

Saturday was our second-to-last basketball game of the season. I can't believe that it's almost over. Unfortunately, my first 10K "race" is scheduled for next week and I'll miss her last game, so I tried to enjoy this one as much as I could. I am still amazed at her improvement over the weeks. This week, one of our girls was out, so Trinity (and all the girls) got to play the whole game. Trinity was "awarded" her first foul during the game. Apparently she forgot that she couldn't pull the girl with the ball to stop her from going toward the basket.

Blocking (with a little back up from her teammate Ralston)

She's right in there - trying to get the ball

Kalyn and Xander provided the halftime cheer show

Getting the rebound

She shoots - she hits the rim. But hitting the rim was a first. Can I express my humor in the decision to have my daughter as center during about half the game?!?! But she did as well as she could!

Another week, another win. At one point, it was so close, we couldn't count on a win. Way to go, girls!!!

Something to Think About

2010-01-30T11:51:00.002-05:00

Last week, our associate pastor joined us for dinner. His wife was out of town on a minister's wives conference and so we invited him and his kids over for some adult conversation and joint playtime. We had a great time and he showed me a great bit from a slap poet. Not only was it fun and entertaining to watch, but he had a great point. I just had to pass it on.

Typography from Ronnie Bruce on Vimeo.

Happy Spouse's Day

2010-01-28T11:30:00.000-05:00

Tuesday night, Craig and I had scheduled a date night. We found out that morning that it was National Spouse's Day. How perfect!!

Our date nights are nothing too spectacular usually. We like it that way. We really simply enjoy the opportunity to have some time to get some yummy food and enjoy some conversation without a mommy or daddy every 10 seconds. We had so much to talk about it was a great night out.

When we got home, we headed out to relax in the hot tub. We decided to just ask questions of one another. What's the most fun you've had with us together - as a couple, with friends, with the family? What are you most thankful for in the other person? What is God teaching right now? One would ask and then both would answer. It was a great chance to just talk about such a wide array of things. What a gift I have in my wonderful husband!!

And Another One Down

2010-01-28T11:16:00.000-05:00

Tuesday morning, we were walking out to the bus when Trinity turned to me with great excitement. "Look!" she said. "I lost another tooth!" She had mentioned (and showed me) just a couple of days prior that she had another loose tooth. Since I was out at a meeting the night before, I asked if it had come out the Monday night. "No," she responded. "I lost it during breakfast. I swallowed it."

This is the second tooth that she has managed to swallow. I just hope they don't cause too much internal damage. It hasn't seemed to be a problem so far.

She wrote a note to the tooth fairy that read, "Dear tooth fairy. I don't have my tooth right now becuse I swallowed it on acedent. From, Trinity P.S. What's your name?" And just in case you are wondering, the tooth fairy's name is Tina.

A Day of Celebrations

2010-01-27T14:28:00.000-05:00

Sunday was a truly blessed day.

We began the day with a wonderful Sunday school class. We love our teacher and thoroughly enjoy the discussion that comes with our lessons. Each Sunday brings such wonderful fellowship and diving into Scripture.

During our morning service, we got to celebrate the baptisms of two of Trinity's dear friends, Riley and Jordan. We've known these families for years and it was so wonderful to celebrate their decisions to follow Christ.

Riley & Jordan are ready for the dunking.

Jordan was first

Then Riley's turn

Following the service, we got to celebrate with a delicious lunch at Riley's home. It was such a blessing to share in their family's excitement. We loved the time to be with such good friends.

That afternoon, we headed to another special time, the dedication of our dear friends' son, Geof. This dedication service was a time set apart specifically for parents to come together and dedicate themselves to raise their children in ways that glorify the Lord. We were very honored to be invited to be a part of this time.

Isn't Geof just so cute?

Geof and his parents, Llew and Lisa

Xander found the chocolate cupcakes that were on the tables. He enjoyed them.

We love any opportunity to stand beside other parents and tell them that we will support and encourage them along this crazy parenting road. I think we all need those people who walk along this journey with us - people who are a bit ahead of us who can help us through the struggles, people a little behind us that we can support and people right with us who we can look at each other and say, "What are we doing?" I love my friends. We are truly blessed.

Another Basketball Game

2010-01-25T08:37:00.000-05:00

Another Saturday, another game. Trinity seems to get a little better each week. We're still working on developing some of the basics, but each game brings more smiles and cheers. She was gotten very good at passing to the open person and running down the court on each possession. This week, we played a team we had played before and they had clearly improved. I believe it was half-way through the second quarter before the first basket was scored.

Patiently waiting for her time to go in the game

This tip lead to the steal that lead to the first basket.

David vs Goliath? Maybe?

"Thou shalt not steal" doesn't really apply in basketball, does it?

The fast break. Look at her go!!

Taking the in-bound pass . . .

. . . and getting it to the open girl

The final score

Still undefeated!!

A Day On, Not A Day Off

2010-01-20T08:49:00.003-05:00

We are very excited about our upcoming trip down to Disney with our family. Well, Craig and I are very excited. The kids have no idea that the trip is on the horizon. It's been interesting to try and plan the trip and work with my parents, sister and brother-in-law (who are all going) without them picking up on anything. I have to say that sometimes I am blessed with oblivious children.

One of the ways we are trying to bring the price of the weekend down is by looking for (and taking advantage of) any deals we can find. Well, we found the Give A Day, Get A Day program. The gist is that if you volunteer with one of the selected organizations, then you are given one free day at a Disney park. We were all over that one. After searching for an organization and volunteer event that wasn't full and would allow Trinity to work with us, we found one! We signed up to work at the Martin Luther King Day Of Service in Athens. We selected to work at a site that would be preparing a community garden for their spring planting. It sounded like a perfect match for us. We loaded up quite a bit of Craig's equipment and headed out.

The garden when we arrived

Unfortunately, some type of stomach bug hit me that morning on the way over. I slept in the car until the work day started. Thankfully, I was well enough to work most of the morning, but I did have to take a few breaks. Not fun for me. However, Trinity and Craig were quite the troupers.

Before the work began, the work leader told us the story of the community garden. It had such a personal touch to her since she grew up in the neighborhood and her aunt still lives on the street. She told us how the area was infested with drugs and how the area that now holds the garden used to be the spot where "the candy house" stood. She told us how the community came together to work with the local government to clean up the area. It was a great opportunity to hear the history of the garden.

We cleaned out planting beds, We got rid of all the old growth. Craig cleared a large section of growth behind the garden. Trinity planted some flowers in one of the beds with some of the other children. She even took time to take water bottles to all the workers. It was a great chance to serve and give a little something to this special community.

As we were driving down (with Trinity deep into her video game with her headphones on), Craig and I talked about how we would respond if there was a lot of publicity about the free Disney day. We decided that we would just play it by ear and see what her response was to any Disney talk. Well, there was talk and she just looked at us. She said, "So some people get to go to Disney for working here?" We said, "Yes." She thought for a moment and then simply said, "Oh. Okay." and went on working. It was good to see her working just to help out others, not because she knew she would be rewarded for it.

The finished garden - ready for the locals to plant in a few months

Here we are with the project leader (in the black jacket and hat) and some of the neighborhood residents

Trinity in front of the flower bed that she worked on

What a great morning!!

Back To Basketball

2010-01-18T09:57:00.000-05:00

Due to the holidays and an ice storm in the area, we had a bit of a break from our Saturday morning basketball games. The 16th was our first game back of the season. One of our girls was not going to be there, which meant Trinity would be playing the whole game. We really tried to encourage her to not give up, even when she got tired. She did a great job the whole game. She ran up and down the court and did a great job. There were a few times that she was in there on defense as much as she could. It's been quite a treat watching her grow in her b-ball skills. I can't quite see her ever getting to be a warrior when it comes to sports, but she's having fun and that's the important thing.

Fast break - Trinity right in the midst of it

De-fense

Getting some words of encouragement from Craig

The scoreboard worker was amazingly fast, so I didn't get a picture of the final score, so I missed it, but they won - 6 to 8. It was close, but a good win and a great effort from all the girls!

Decades Night

2010-01-16T08:39:00.000-05:00

We love AWANA. Some weeks are a little tougher to get our verse practice done than others, but it is very much worth it to hear our children quote their scripture that they've been studying. Even as I type out this blog, I am listening to Kalyn sing along with her VBS music from a year ago, singing about serving her Savior, that God is faithful to forgive her, about putting God first. It's a blessing to see those fruit come out in their lives.

One thing that our AWANA leadership team does is create theme nights. The 12th was decade night. It was amazing to see all the creations that people came up with. I believe the youth helpers had more fun than the students. I wish I had taken photos of the workers, but I missed the chance. However, I did get Trinity in her cool 60's getup. Isn't she so cute?

Girls Night Out

2010-01-15T08:31:00.000-05:00

I love the opportunity to go out to dinner and catch up with some of my girlfriends. We had a great plan, we had coupons and we headed out to find this cute little tapas restaurant. Well, after driving around for longer than our tummies wanted, we ended up at little pizzeria. It was delicious and the night brought tons of laughter and smiles. Can't you tell we're having a great time?

Well, apparently at one point, I left the table and left my camera out. Here, just a thought to all you out there who may think of making goofy pictures on some one's camera while their gone: If they blog, think again. You never know where those pictures may show up. I'm just sayin'. Hee, hee, hee.

By the way, as we were leaving, we found the original restaurant that we were looking for. It was located in the building behind the place we ate. There was some discussion about whether it was actually open or not, so it's probably a good thing that we ate when and where we did. Thanks for a great night out, girls!!

Monster Truck Show

2010-01-14T14:26:00.001-05:00

While the girls were home, busily sewing together their stuffed animals, Xander was off. Doing boy stuff. With his boy buddy. He was a monster truck show. About a month ago, our friends invited Xander to join them at a monster truck show as part of an early birthday gift to their son. From the stories and pictures, it looked like they all had a great time!!

They got to ride on MARTA on the way down. Fun on a train (type of vehicle)

Let the loud noises and the show begin!! I heard that Xander stared at the trucks the whole time, completely mesmerized. He had little ear plugs in to help keep the noise down to a slightly tolerable level.

How cute are these two boys?!? Can you tell they are having so much fun? Here they are with their Monster Mutt hats and the truck that inspires the hats. Thank you so much to Asher's grandma for the great gift!!

Thank you so much John and Cacee for treating Xander to such a special and wonderful night. You guys are awesome! He was completely exhausted when he arrived back home, but it sure looks like it was worth it!!

Homemade Build-A-Bear

2010-01-13T08:14:00.000-05:00

For Christmas, Trinity and Kalyn were given their own Build-A-Bear kits from Craig's parents. Xander was out on a true boy outing last Saturday night and so we decided to pull out the kits and let the girls build their animals. Kalyn had a bunny and Trinity had a bear. They had been asking if they could make them and we were excited to finally have a night where we could assemble them.

We began by letting the girls sew up a bit of the animals. The holes for the thread were pre-made, which made it a bit easier for them. After a while, we helped out to move the process on a little bit faster. Actually Craig did about half the sewing while I gave the girls a bath.

The girls kissed the hearts they put in their animals.

The finished products were so cute. Aren't they all so precious?

Since then, the animals have been in the pretty constant care of Trinity and Kalyn. It was a wonderful gift! Thanks PaPa and Gendy.

Weekend with Manny

2010-01-12T09:00:00.000-05:00

Kalyn has a great preschool class. We love her teachers and she has a blast!! Her class has a "class mascot" that gets to visit with each child over a weekend. Last weekend was our special weekend with Manny. Kalyn was very excited to welcome Manny the Monkey home. He comes complete with a notebook of the adventures he's had with the other students, his pajamas and a change of clothes. The very first thing Kalyn wanted to do was change his socks. Since one of the teachers is a Georgia fan and the other one is an Auburn fan, he has two pair of socks - one with the G and one with the AU. Guess which one she couldn't wait to get off?

Manny got to play in the snow with us.

Kalyn took him sledding and then let him go on his own.

Kalyn helped him make a snow angel.

Manny went down the frozen slide.

Afterwards, he warmed up by the fire. It was cozy!

Saturday, Manny went climbing with Kalyn on the rock wall. Kalyn is doing so well in her climbing and having a blast doing it. She's goes higher and higher every time.

Sunday morning, he went to church with Kalyn. Usually, we don't take toys to church because it's just too much of a distraction, but we make a special exception for Manny's visit. He got to hear about Jesus growing up and the wise men visiting him.

Kalyn had lots of fun with Manny! What a special weekend.

Southern Snow

2010-01-11T07:00:00.000-05:00

Anytime we get snow, or even the threat of snow, it's a big deal. It doesn't happen often, so we are always excited when a little white precipitation makes its way to our house. We also enjoy it when the snow gives us a day off of school.

We didn't get a lot of snow, but it was enough to go play in. It even stayed around for two days. The ice stayed around for almost a week, which made getting up (and down) our very sloped driveway quite an adventure. The kids had a blast!!

We threw snow balls.

We caught snowflakes. This was the first time I could remember actually looking and seeing the snowflake "designs" as opposed to simply white specks.

The girls made snow angels.

We went "sledding" down our driveway. Even Craig and I got in on the fun.

When it was all over, we came in and warmed up with some delicious hot chocolate.

It was a great couple of winter days!!

Ice Skating with the Girlz Ministry

2010-01-05T08:18:00.000-05:00

We have a ministry within our youth ministry that is focused on our girls called Girlz InC (which stands for Identity in Christ). We try to encourage our female students to live who they are in Christ, not based on how the world says they should live. I've really enjoyed being a part of this.

On January 3rd, our outing took us downtown to go ice skating. I was excited about going ice skating at the outdoor rink until that morning when I found out the high was going to be about 20 degrees. BRRRRRRRRRRR. This Florida girl really doesn't do well in cold temperatures.

We had such a blast!! We began with a delicious lunch at the Varsity. An added plus is that we ran into some friends and had the chance to catch up with them for a bit.

The skating was so much fun. I can't remember the last time that I went ice skating. The rink wasn't too crowded, so it was nice. I decided that a good skater is one who can stay up on skates. A great skating is one who can avoid all the crazy skaters around them. I had a great time catching up with some of the youth and other leaders. We had tons of laughs!!

The rink

I had lots of fun with Laura and Teri

Our group

On the way out, we grabbed another group picture by the frozen pond

What a great outing!!! Thanks girls!!!!