Fun with Olivia, Jude and Lincoln

We were so excited to spend our Saturday afternoon with our friends Olivia, Jude and Lincoln as well as their sweet parents Courtney and Jeremy.  The kids had a wonderful time and played SO WELL together!  Needless to say they will all sleep well tonight!

Sweet Lincoln

 LOVE this action shot

 Caroline trying to kick Andy

 the kid entertaining themselves while the adults finished dinner

 They were trying to get their items into the "club house."  The kids was that Caroline would go up first and that they would give her the stuff.  Jude and Olivia started at the same time and Caroline said "Hold on, I can only get one at a time yall!"

 Team work at it's best

They played outside until we couldn't take the mosquitoes anymore.  Then they brought the fun inside until it was time to go home.  What a great way to spend a Saturday afternoon!

Friends day fun

Today we had our friends over for a little Easter fun.  We made, and decorated cookies as well as decorated Easter eggs.  Caroline loved having her friends over and was super sad when they all had to leave...it didn't help that she knew a nap was in her very near future! :0)

Caroline and Isabelle getting started

 Truett, especially loved the dough...

 love this picture!  two very proud princesses

 Once the cookies were cooled, the girls came back inside to decorate.  One pan didn't make it because this mama forget they were baking!  Oooppps! 

 Gra and Luke, John Joseph was sleeping...he didn't make the photo shoot

Thankful for sweet friends and precious little kids!

A whirl wind of a weekend!!

This weekend was jammed packed with lots of fun and exciting events!  We are exhausted tonight but couldn't be more thankful for family and friends that we got to spend this weekend with!

Friday night we celebrated Stacey's birthday!

 Our girls played outside for about 3 1/2 hours and would have stayed longer except it was completely DARK!!  So we ate cake and ice cream and they watched a movie while we chatted on the back porch.  So thankful to see this family for more than 3 minutes at the coffee corner at church!  Did I mention it was after 10PM before we left and almost midnight by the time we got to bed????

 Saturday we hit the road bright and early for our friends wedding.  We wanted to make the most of the trip and see as many people in the area as possible.  We started by visiting Mrs. Virginia, my adopted grandmother!  She treated us to a yummy lunch at O'Charlies!  It was so nice to see her since we don't get to visit often...this sweet lady has been by my side through so many of life's adventures and I am SO THANKFUL for her! :0)

We were in town for our friends John and Susan's sons wedding.  Instead of having a kid free weekend away and staying at the local Hampton, our friends invited us to spend the night with them.  Caroline LOVED being with Wyatt, Walker and Lala.  They played in the backyard, went to the park with the sitter and were all asleep by 8!

 The adults enjoyed an amazing evening!  The wedding was so sweet and absolutely beautiful!  Wish I had taken a few pictures...oh how I love weddings!  So thankful we were able to celebrate the start of Jack and Laura Anne's life together.  We have been praying for this young lady for the last 6 years in our small group and such a gift to see God's faithfulness!!

The zoo was about the half way point for our trip home, so we decided to take advantage of being so close!  We thought that it would be dead given that it was a Sunday morning around 11, WRONG!  The place was packed!  We had to park close to the picnic area, which we usually do only because we want to, not because we have to!  Caroline LOVED having daddy there...he hasn't been with us since she was a tiny little thing.  She thought she needed to show him around and tell him all about the zoo.

 

 She didn't want to feed the giraffes but thought daddy needed to!

 When she saw the Llama she said "OH MY MERCY!"

 Zoo trips aren't complete without a ride on the carousel.  We realized yesterday the skinny poles mean the animal doesn't go up and down...some little curly headed girly wasn't too thrilled about that.

 lunch of champions, daughter like daddy

 Within minutes of leaving the zoo...now that's how you end vacation!

Words can't really express how much fun we had this weekend!  Thankful for good friends and great family!

It's official!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

We have now added $20 a month to the gas budget...our girl is OUT OF PULL UPS!!!!!  As I packed for our weekend away, I realized that we were out of pull ups.  We had one left and I knew I wanted to save it for our trip.  So our girl slept in panties last night and today...we have dry panties just like the pull ups from the last few weeks!  She is super proud of herself and so are we!  However, this to me is the close of the baby stage...no diapers, no nothing...oh how the last 3 1/2 years have flown!

Happy 6th Birthday Jay!

 Tonight we celebrated Jay's 6th birthday with cake and ice cream.  The kids had a great time and loved being able to play outside once the cake and ice cream were finished.  Happy birthday Jay, we hope you had a great day!!

Homemade laundry detergent

 Last October a friend introduced me to homemade laundry detergent.  It works really well, very easy to make, makes a ton and MUCH cheaper than the regular stuff!!  It costs less than $20 and last almost 6 months.  (I gave away several sandwich baggies to friends so it may have lasted even longer than that...)  Anyway, if you are looking at a way to cut cost in your monthly budget, here's your answer!

• 1 4 lb 12 oz box Borax (2.15 kg or 76 oz) found in the detergent isle

• 1 4 lb box Arm & Hammer Baking Soda (1.81 kg) found in the cooking isle

• 1  box Arm & Hammer Super Washing Soda 55 oz (3 lb 7 oz) found in the detergent isle

• 3 bars of Fels-Naptha soap, found in the detergent isle

• 2 small containers of Oxy Clean or store brand Oxy Clean (try to get about 3.5 lbs total (1.58 kg)) found in the detergent isle.

Using an old cheese grater, grate the soap.

 Next add the other items and mix together.  I bought a locking container from Wal-Mart to store it in.  A friend bought a 5 gallon bucket with a lid from Lowe's for hers.  I place a couple scoops in the smaller container that I use each day.

Directions for use:

1. Scoop 1 tablespoon for a normal load of laundry or 2 tablespoons for larger/dirtier loads.  (I often have a container of Oxy Clean on hand to add a little extra scoop if Caroline's clothes have stains)
2. Place the detergent in the machine and let water fill before adding clothes.  (This allows the soap to melt)

We don't have a high efficiency washer but I have heard that this works well in those as well.  You can research it if you like...

Dentist visit

Caroline was so excited to go to the dentist this morning!  (I am one thankful momma because at 31 I still cringe at the thought of going to the dentist!!!)  She hopped right up in the chair all by herself, another sign that she is growing up...last time she needed mommy to sit with her.  Thankfully all looked great!  We go back in  months!

 cleaning Alex' teeth

 just a little too happy don't you think...maybe she has a future in dentistry!

Baby Jude needs our prayers...

For those who have been following our friends Rose and Brian's story, you know that Baby Jude has overcome many hurdles in the last 100 days.  Last night, Baby Jude experienced a little set back.  A portion of the AlloDerm patch used to repair Jude's hole in his diaphragm has detached.  Jude will need surgery to repair and given the issues in his abdomen, they would prefer for the original surgeon to make the repair.  However, the DR. is out of town this week so it will be next week before the surgery is preformed.

PLEASE PRAY FOR THIS SWEET LITTLE BOY AND HIS FAMILY!  Feel free to follow their blog for updates.

Sprucing things up

I think we may have gone from winter to summer and completely forgotten about spring!!!!  Today's high was 85 degrees and everybody was in the flowering buying mood!  Caroline, Granny and I headed out to buy a few things.  (I've got a feeling we still have at least one more frost before winter is over...so I didn't buy anything that would be too hard to move or cover) The local greenhouse as well as Lowe's was packed!  When we got home, Caroline was ready to plant.  It was a little late so we decided that we would wait until she woke up from her nap...it was the first thing she said!  We had a great time planting flowers together and hanging out.  Now if we both just remember to water them!!!! :0)

getting started

 I loved this...she looks like a little old lady bending over with her hand on her hinny!

 got to admit, I was a little nervous this little guy wouldn't make it as she is tugging it out of the package

 one proud little potter

 "gotta have water right mommy?"

Funny thing is, we were doing this exact thing a year ago this weekend.  My oh my how my little girl has grown!

Vanilla medicine

Caroline hasn't felt 100% this week.  Not really any fever or any other bizarre behavior other than just real sluggish and coughing.  She woke up M, T, W and Th morning between 2-3 AM.  Some mornings she went right back to sleep and other mornings, we were up watching Dora and Curious George around 3:30 AM.  Needless to say this mommy is exhausted and forgot what it was like to have a newborn in the house!  YIKES!!!!  Thursday morning she woke up the second time around 8 with a horrible nose bleed, poor kiddo.  Thankfully it didn't really seem to faze her.

Anyway, we have been giving her Tylenol and Motrin as well as some cough syrup.  Today she came across some white chocolate morsels.  As she was enjoying them on the couch, she said "Mommy, do they make vanilla medicine.  I like this one and would like it if they did!"  I love that kid!

Field Trip to see Peter Rabbit

Today several of the classes at our school headed to the local theater to watch the live performance of Peter Rabbit.  Not really sure what it would look like, I asked Andy if he could attend with Caroline.  Of course, he was thrilled to come along.  (He has had a CRAZY busy week at work and today was no exception.  Being the WONDERFUL dad that he is, he took his lunch break to join us.)  He was waiting when our bus arrived and Caroline quickly ran to his side.  We were about 15 minutes early and she crawled up in Andy's lap.  Moments after this picture, she feel asleep...yep asleep...slept through the ENTIRE thing!  Oh well, maybe next year!  Daddy enjoyed the snuggle time and so did she! :0)

"I didn't wet my pull up!!!!!"

A few weeks ago while we were at the beach, Caroline went two nights straight without wetting her pull up.  We were impressed and thought we were on to something only to realize we weren't.  So I didn't really push it, having learned my lesson from potty training...she will do it when she's ready.  About a week later, she went two straight nights again without wetting so I decided to try to reward her.  I said "Caroline what if we made a chart with 6 squares.  If you don't wet your pull up at night, you can draw a smiley face in the square. When you get 6 smiley faces, we can buy a treat.  How does that sound."  She got really excited and said "Sounds great mommy, what's a chart?"  Needless to say, we created a chart on Princess paper and hung it in the bathroom.  She decided that she wanted to buy a blue lollipop when she filled all her squares.

Each morning that she woke up with a dry pull up, she got to draw a smiley face in her square.  She was really excited and it was the first thing she wanted to do.  Well today, we filled in our last square and headed off to the store in search of a blue lollipop.  Once in the candy isle, she changed her mind and decided she wanted blue M&M's.  :0)  We are so PROUD of her!!  Congrats baby girl!