Boys vs. Girls

Lunch conversation with 3 boys:
C: "I pulled the 4-wheeler up to the front all by myself last night."
MZ: "I drove Daddy's truck the other day."
Max: "I drive the tractor for hours with my dad!"
C: "Yeh, I've driven a tractor a lot!"
MZ: "I want a 4-wheeler for my birthday that I can drive all the time by myself!"
Max: "oh me too!"

So basically a "one-up contest"!


Same day but two little girls.

Hannah:"I need to go potty."
S: " I need to go potty too!"
(in the restroom)
Hannah: "I like yous panties!"
S:" Thanks yous! I like yous panties too!"

Totally different with boys and girls!

We are TEA'd off!

Happy Birthday America!!

To celebrate the 4th of July, we went to City Hall and took part of a TEA party. I have marked my kids as right-winged, red-neck extremist...and should probably feel bad for doing such a terrible thing but well I don't at all! Here are some pictures of our protest....BEWARE, they are very violent and may not be appropriate for young eyes.........

Update

Yes, I know it has been a month and a half since I have updated the blog! What can I say....I'm a slacker. No, actually, we have been so extremely busy that I have not even really thought about it but today for some reason I did! Since school has been out several things have taken place. Mom and Dad's pool is finished and we are constantly in it! Second, FCS, the boys school has closed and we have decided to home school the boys! Third, the garden is in full bloom now and we are about to add more to it!
So the pool is finished! YAY! Thank you Nanni and Big Daddy for putting in a pool! We love it so much! The boys are fish right now! At the beginning of the summer Nanni suggested we get MZ some sort of life jacket until he sharpened his swimming skills, but there was no need for that. He is currently the master at the back dive and will probably be doing a back flip by the end of the summer! S was a little hesitant to get in right at first but in the past two weeks we have worked with her and she is now jumping off the sides and swimming to the steps with her floaties on and not screaming about it! Big Daddy challenged C to swim 5 laps non-stop before the end of the summer, the other day he swam 30 laps, taking a few breaks in between. The next day he said his shoulders hurt! Ha, he was just sore from all that exercise! They will all three have great tans and bleached hair by the end of the summer, well we all kinda do now! Ha! I have discovered that if I let the kids swim for a bit in the morning and then again for a bit late afternoon, they will sleep like bears all night!
Second, sadly FCS is closing. We love this school and are very heartbroken to see it close, but God knows what's best for us. With the closing of the school, Daddy and I sat down and discussed our options for next school year. We figured that with his work/travel schedule it would be a great opportunity for us to home school the boys. That way we can go with him and always be together as a family, which is top priority to us! And today all of our books came in! We are very excited about this new adventure God has in store for us!
Third, the garden.....well the garden is blooming....some. We planted in the middle of a monsoon and prayed that each seed we planted would grow....most have, thankfully. We will soon have corn, tomatoes, peas and beans, cantaloupe, watermelon, peppers, and squash!!! We can't wait to have our first home-grown meal!!!
We are enjoying our summer! Hopefully I'll be better about updating the blog of our adventures and travels! :)

End of the Year Party

OK, the 2008-2009 school year has officially come to an end! We had a "End of the Year" party at our house to celebrate such a good year. We had the best teachers, the best group of parents and kids this year!

Everyone got here around 10 in the morning and the playing began! The kids played and played and played, some didn't even want to stop to eat lunch. All of them were on their best behavior, no one got in trouble, even Logan!

The only incident we had was Lucas falling out of the tree house. Well he actually he just missed a step climbing down the ladder. But he was super brave and very upset that he had to leave the party early to get an x-ray. He only sprained it, thank the Lord! We were afraid Ms. Betty might throw a hip out while she was hula hooping!!! But she didn't, she just showed us all how to do it!!

We tried to play some "organized" games. All the adults were game for some potato relay races, even though we all didn't get to participate! Ha!

It was a great party! My boys crashed afterwards! They love their school friends and teachers! We are going to miss everyone sooooooo much next year! Thanks to Ms. Betty and Ms. Peggy for an awesome year, thanks for the dedication to the education of my children. You guys are the best teachers we could have ever asked for and you guys will always be part of our family!! Love you both so much!!!!

MZ can hula hoop! Major hip action!

Ms. Betty hula hooping!!!



Still hula hooping! I love it!

MZ getting the potato from C

Ms. Barbra Sue did face painting, ALWAYS gets a dalmatian face.

Caleb and Lucas playing golf/ladder ball game before Lucas fell out of the tree house.

Caleb got stuck in S's car and MZ "helped" him get out!

Caleb and Montana swinging

Ms. Rowan giving instructions for the games

S and Laney coloring with sidewalk chalk.

Thanks everyone for coming and making the party such a great success! We love you guys more than words can say and hope we can be lifelong friends!

The Blue Dog

Big Daddy drives an older model, blue Toyota pub truck named "The Blue Dog." He picks the boys up every morning and takes them to school in this truck. The boys LOVE Blue Dog!! C wants to learn how to drive it this summer, it's a stick shift, we'll see about that? They think this truck is the coolest truck on the road! They would rather ride in "Ole Blue" than any other vehicle! Big Daddy and the boys have made so many memories in just the short 4 miles from our house to the school. The truck is part of the family!
This morning I got one of the best phone calls, it was momentous, it was record breaking.......The Blue Dog rolled over 250,000 miles and I was on the phone with Big Daddy when it happened! He called me just so I could experience it with him! Ole Blue lives on!

Awards Night

I can not believe that school is almost over! We have had a great year, we have had two of the best teachers I could have ever ask for, in fact Ms. Betty and Ms. Rowan are the entire reason we are at Faith Christian School. They love my boys so much and take such good care of them! C has excelled in all of his subjects, he loves reading, figuring how things work, and drawing things. MZ has learned to read!!! Yay!! He is enjoys math but likes gym time the best! These are great boys and have had awesome teachers to help lead them in the right way.

The boys had their Awards Night last Thursday. They were very excited to get recognized for all their hard work. MZ was also excited to "graduate" Kindergarten! He has talked about graduating for 2 years now! He got a tassel for a hat that he did not wear, and several awards for good grades. C also got several awards for good grades. They both are very smart....but when there aren't many people in your class then you are for sure going to get a lot of awards! It helps boost their self-esteem!

MZ after he got his rewards.....trying not to act like he's not excited.

Ms. Betty giving out the awards, MZ went in to class the next day and gave her the thumbs up and told her she did a good job speaking in front of everyone! She loved it!

Most of Ms. Betty's class, MZ's nickname at school is "Little Man"!

The 2nd and 3rd grade class, Clayton trying to look "unsuspecting." haha

Group Hug with Ms. Rowan after they got the rewards.

Very proud of himself and I am very proud of him too!

Ms. Betty and the boys, she has taught both of them, so she has been in our family for 4 years now! We love her!!!

Mr. Rowan and the boys. We have so much fun with "Ole Peg Leg" as Big Daddy calls her! She's awesome and we love her too!

The Almost Pool

MZ went to Nanny and Big Daddy's house by himself for a little bit yesterday. While he was over there he told them that C does not love them anymore, and that he is never coming back over again. They ask why this was so and MZ said he didn't know! Big Daddy ask him if C was going to come swim in the pool? MZ said "No, I'll just have the pool all to myself." So when C walked in the door to eat dinner, Nanny and Big Daddy asked C if all this was true! Of course it was all just a joke MZ had made up to aggravate C, it worked! C fumed for a little bit then told MZ "it's ok I've been meaning to tell you that the Indians left you in that barrel back there, sorry!" My boys are so aggravating!

Then later that night...

At the dinner table MZ started talking and this is what he said.."Nanny and Big Daddy, your other house was not that cool but this one is AWESOME! It has a WII and an almost pool!" Of course we all just lost it! Where do kids get this stuff?

An Apple A Day

S ate her first apple...like not cut up, just ate the thing! I have never heard one person enjoy an apple the way she did!! She smacked that thing every bite! She spit it when she would talk to me while eating it, she tried to eat the seeds and core. She chomped and smacked her way through the whole thing. Then was mad because it was all gone and wanted anther one but for my own sanity I couldn't handle her smacking another apple in my ear!!!

Friday Night Movie Night

Last night was almost perfect! The kids and I played outside for awhile. We all jumped on the trampoline together! MZ loves it when I make him jump "so high!"
After we came in, we ate our favorite Pizza Factory pizza and piled on the couch to watch our movies. First we watched "Bedtime Stories' which on any other night that would have been it, it would have been their bedtime, but with Daddy still out of town and nothing to wake up for the next morning, we continued our movie fest with "Marley and Me." At the end of "Marley" C ask me "why are older kids more emotional than younger ones?" MZ said "what does emotional mean?" He ask because he was crying (I was too!) and MZ and S were not. Of course everyone wanted to sleep in bed with Momma but Momma decided it would be better if we made a pallet on the floor beside my bed! We did absolutely nothing special but I enjoyed my babies so much last night! We finally all fell asleep around 12 this morning. Unfortunately that does not mean we slept in this morning!

Our Mini Vaca to Jackson

We followed Daddy to Jackson like Mary's Little Lamb, where ever he was going we were going too! So Jackson it was......we were so excited! Yes, the boys got out of school but we did their school work while we were there.

Tuesday we went to the Natural Science Museum. The boys have talked about this museum for a long time. Each year the school has someone from the museum come and bring animals and talk to the kids so they felt like they knew everything about it. I didn't realize how much stuff was going to be there. The two-headed snake was a favorite, crazy looking thing. The alligator turtle fooled all of us; it was very big, being very still and we could not tell if it was real or not.......until it blinked its eyes! Oh my! Then when we walked back by it had closed it's mouth. S liked the turtles the best. She chased one in an aquarium that she just knew she could take home. She kept telling the swimming turtle to be still and let her pet him! We walked outside to do the nature walk and Daddy called about the same time so the kids waled to the amphitheater. After I got off the phone I noticed C walking toward me buttoning his pants and zipping his pants. He had peed outside in the amphitheater at the Natural Science Museum! All I can say is you take the boy out of the country but you can't take the country out of the boy! I hope they don't have surveillance cameras.

Wednesday was my favorite day. Daddy took off at lunch, a VERY rare occasion, and went to the zoo with us! S picked out her giraffe outfit to wear to the zoo and the first animal we see is the giraffe. Priceless face she made when she saw it. Of course we named all the animals, we found Big Daddy and Daddy, the orangutans, grooming themselves. And we saw C and MZ, the spider monkeys, swinging from the cages! It was a casual afternoon spent strolling though a zoo holding hands and making faces and talking about everything and anything. We all loved it! And not to let C be "out do" him, MZ peed at the zoo in the bushes! What can I say!

Thursday we were coming home but wanted to fit one more thing in before the long drive home. We decided on the MS Capitol building. I think the kids liked it. C took lots of pictures to show his class and MZ was impressed with the golden elevator. MZ did try to go into the governor's office! I stopped him and he said "is he there?" I said "I don't think so" he said "I've met home before, he'll remember me!" Of course he would!! After the Capitol we went to lunch with Daddy and then headed home.

A great trip overall. Good family time!

At the Natural Science Museum:

At the Zoo:

At the MS Capitol building:

I want Dada at my house!

Daddy travels a lot. We are kinda use to it but some weeks are tougher than normal. Last week was one of those tough weeks! Poison oak, shots, crying spells at school for Daddy, crying spells at home for Daddy.......just a hard week. Sunshine said numerous times last week, "I want Dada at my house!" then she was talking to him on the phone and told him "I miss you all day", Daddy about cried! So to say the least no matter where he was going this week, we decided to follow!

Do you want to know the truth?

Easter is here and we have talked about the huge sacrifice Jesus gave and the empty tomb, we have our new outfits and pictures to prove it, and tonight we have decorated the eggs! After such a Jesus filled night the night before, MZ had forgotten all about the bunny! Right before the boys went to bed MZ asked when the Easter Bunny comes. I told him tonight and it seemed to have no real affect on him. Well.............As they were laying in the bed having their nightly talk, I hear MZ ask about the Easter Bunny, here's how the conversation went...

MZ " Is it someone dressed as bunny?'

C "huh?"

MZ "How does a little bitty bunny get to all the houses?

C "M do you wanna know the truth?"

MZ "huh?"

C " Do you want to know the truth about it?"

MZ "yea"

C "It's really just Momma."

MZ "Oh good, I didn't think a stupid rabbit could do all that!"

Then they talk about something else for a little bit and then MZ has another thought

MZ "Where do they get the presents?"

C "At a store, just like any other time!"

MZ "Well is Daddy gonna get us anything too!!!"

C "MZ, the Easter Bunny is MOMMA and DADDY! We just get a basket."

MZ "Well it never hurts to ask!"

You gotta love the truth!

That is not the only grand thing to happen tonight, as I sit on the couch typing this blog, S is laying on me holding her egg. She cried in the bed for an hour for her egg and Daddy finally gave in. He brought her to the couch and got her egg.

I have the greatest kid ever! I love them soooooo much!

Passion of the Christ

Our wonderful church had a showing of 'The Passion of the Christ" on Good Friday. C and MZ had never seen it and we chose to bring them to this showing.

They were both nervous and yet excited about the movie. We had some conversations throughout the week about what they should expect and what they might see. As soon as the movie starts both were hanging onto me. They asked so many questions about Jesus and the devil and John and Mary and all these characters they had read about in the Bible, and now they were alive on the big screen. C could read the subscripts but MZ could not; even with that, MZ understood so much about what was going on and C had many questions about definitions and why this and that, such teachable moments. C cried through the whole movie, I think he cried more than I did. You could tell MZ was in deep thought about everything. He can't stand for C to be upset and at one point he looked at C and said "It's ok Bubba, He's gonna be ok." Then MZ started crying. At another point I heard C whisper, "just stop beating Him, He doesn't deserve this." They did so well, but when they nailed Him to the cross both said enough! C just hid his head and sobbed and MZ said he was ready to go home. And I thought about it but I told them "the best is yet to come." It was a risky decision to let little boys see such a violent movie, but they see all these super heroes do these "wonderful things" and this night they got to see the best super hero of all do the most remarkable thing that could ever be done!

Today, the day after the movie, has continued with great conversation and teachable moments. They have both said at different times that they love Jesus so much(with no prodding). I ask them if they were excited about going to church tomorrow, and they said YES! MZ said "we are going to celebrate because Jesus is rising from the dead!" One of them said "Jesus won! The devil lost! The devil is a loser! No one can beat Jesus!"

This had been the best Easter season ever! We are excited about going to church in the morning and celebrating with our faith family the risen Savior! Thank you JESUS!

Ratledge Visit

Some of dearest friends came to visit during their Spring Break. For 4 nights and 5 days there were 7 kids and 4 adults all in our 2800 square foot house! Whoa! We had the best time!

They got here on Wed. night and we met at Danver's after church with the rest of the "crew." It is obvious to me that they are definitely a piece of our friendship puzzle because when they come back, it is as if they never left. Sutton has not been back since they left for CA almost 4 years ago; Cam and Quincy came back in the fall.....but the entire group of kids just pick up with the last conversation they had and played for an hour without one fight! Amazing!

So C and MZ had already had Spring Break but the last few days of this week they had Ratledge Break! The kids jumped on the trampoline, went fishing, went creekin', they burned things...... just good country boy kinda stuff! Trea and I and the babies (S and Bennett) and Quincy and Sutton went shopping quite a bit! Good girl stuff. Daddy and Ryan drank coffee in the mornings and sang the "Breakfast Song", except they liked to make up their own lyrics..depending on the topic of conversation. Very comical!

We had a cookout with the crew one night and we also went out for catfish, a Ratlegde visit tradition!

It was so sad Sunday morning when they left! I have heard the saying-"Guest are like fish, after three days they start stinking." But with the Ratledges they are so like family that we felt a void when they left! The kids were lost and our morning coffee seems so boring now! We love you guys so much and feel blessed to have you as our friends.


Quincy went with us to a wedding
trampoline time!

The girls

You can't take a pretty picture with these guys!!

some of the kids, three are missing

S wanted Bennett to hold her hand....He did NOT, he just grunted at her! They sat in these high chairs for hours at a time. They watched movies and colored and fought over what ever the other one had!

Catfish Night!

Quite an armful!

The boys singin' No mo Capt' Crunch, No mo soda pop, No mo'.........

Spring Break Day #4-New Orleans

Day 4 of Spring Break we spent with Daddy. He had a job to do in New Orleans and so we tagged along. I don't think any of us were really impressed with New Orleans but it was fun to spend the day all together. We did go to the Audubon Park, downtown New Orleans. This is a great park! The walking track has two lanes, a walk/run lane and then a wheels lane. We watched the "wheels" lane..very interesting sights. We saw this one guy that was roller blading and playing his blue guitar as he rode around, singing original songs. A little jazz band had come to practice I guess because they were playing right by the play ground! It was really cool to sit and watch the kids play and listen to live jazz! We ate at this little Italian restaurant, that was out of this world!!! It was a relaxed day, a good way to end our trip.

Spring Break Day #3-All day at the BEACH!

Thursday was my favorite day! We left right after breakfast and headed straight to the beach! I have to admit that the MS coast is not my favorite beach but it had everything I was craving at the time.....sun, sand, and water. We found the perfect place, set up the chairs, unloaded the



shovels and buckets and were set for the next few hours. The kids played in the water, S covered my feet in sand, C caught a crab.....all this is great and we had fun but the best part of the day was.....We had been there for a few hours, eaten lunch and a snack and then MZ said the most amazing thing! "I'm tired, can I lay down?" This was miraculous! So I decided S was sleepy too! I knew C would never go to sleep but I knew he would lay down and not run off! So all 4 of us took our nap on the beach, with the sounds of the ocean splashing, the sun beating down, and the breeze blowing across us! It was by far the best nap I have ever taken! When we all woke up we headed back to the hotel to swim in the pool. A GREAT DAY!!!