Birthday Girl

Five years ago today, after a l-o-n-g wait, our baby girl Lily Grace was born. She was a week late and I had to be induced for her to come out..typical Lily we'd learn i.e. stubborn. She started smiling at 4 weeks and hasn't stopped. Even when she's throwing a fit or having a teenage style attitude that smile will come out and melt your heart. She's funny, smart, loves all things pink and I wouldn't trade her for anything! Happy Birthday our sweet girl!! Five years old today...Kindergarten next week!!

Shocking News

I was shocked by 2 pieces of news yesterday. First, of course was Michael Jackson's death. But the second piece was that he was 50 years old! Seriously, Michael Jackson was 50...holy crap...that makes me, gulp, in my mid 30's! Oy...

I used to love me some Michael Jackson...you know..before he got white and all crazy. I remember I had this poster of him in my room..he was wearing a yellow sweater vest. Don't laugh at the time it was Hot. I remember we even sang some Michael Jackson in 5th grade music class! One of my first albums, as in records, was Beat It. And I remember going to a friends house to watch the Thriller video when it came out. The dancing! And, remember the moonwalk and how cool that was. He truly was a music legend. I'm sure over the next few days we'll see lots of MJ..in fact, he was all over the Today show this morning. RIP King of Pop..RIP....

Jon OR Kate Plus 8?

I'm so sad for this family. So, so sad. You know I've been a big fan since the very first special (since I am wildly fascinated by big family stories on TLC). I do think the show has gone downhill in the last year with them pimping out everything from beach houses, trips, motorcycles and playhouses. Again, I say, it was much more enjoyable when it showed their real every day life. But I still can't stop watching. But anyway I digress, I was so sad to hear last night that their big announcement was indeed divorce. I was not surprised or shocked but just sad. It's sad to see two people who are Christians (or at least proclaimed to be when they wrote their first book and went on speaking trips to churchs) or anyone for that matter seem to give up and decided to separate. I am sure it's tough to be in the public spotlight and of course the editors of the show make us see what they want us to but it does seem as though they are giving up. {Sidenote: What is up with Jon's new look? The earrings? Seriously? Can you say midlife crisis} They kept saying they are putting the kids first, that their first priority was the kids. I'm sorry but it seems to me that if your first priority is your kids then you fix your marriage. And perhaps fixing your marriage means quitting the darn show. I think it's just tragic that they are continuing the show. I mean divorce is hard enough for kids when they aren't on TV...but these poor kids..going through all this while it's being broadcast across the country. Jon & Kate are in denial if they think the kids aren't being affected. Especially poor Mady & Cara - you just know people at school are talking about it.

AND, one last thing, I was horrified that Jon actually used the word "excited" to describe how he was feeling about the situation. And how he said he "doesn't hate Kate but you.." Um, no, we don't know. She is the mother of the your 8 children, she is the one you committed to 10 years ago and 10 months ago in Hawaii when you renewed your vows IN FRONT OF YOUR 8 CHILDREN. I'm pretty sure those vows included for better OR for worse. I do hope their separation is temporary and somehow they are able to work it out. I did actually feel sorry for Kate last night (which I rarely do). She seemed much more upset about the situation than Jon. But again..editting..and there are 2 sides to every story..clearly Kate has not been the kindest to Jon but then again what would people see if our lives were taped all the time?

Ohio by the Numbers

2000 - number of times Lily asked me how much longer on the drive up and back
8.5 - number of hours the drive up took
9.5 - number of hours the drive home took
1000 - number of times Lily had to go the potty "so, so bad"
2 - number of times we stopped on the way there
3 - number of times we stopped on the way home
3000 - lbs of candy consumed by my children during the week - thanks Auntie
2 - delicious meals served by Nana Cheryl
3 - hours Nana Cheryl and Curtie babysat so Erin and I could go shopping..thank you!
60 - number of times Jacob spit up on Erin's carpet - so sorry!
1 - number of nights Jacob actually slept through the night - it was rough
9:30pm - time the construction workers stopped framing the house next door to Erin..seriously!
500 - number of times Lily said she was "so, so hungry" at the zoo

A great time was had by all! Thanks Auntie!!

We Survived!

You may recall that last week I packed up all the kids and dragged them to Ohio to visit my BFF and her family. We had a great time and I must say the kids were surprisingly good for most of the time in the car. I learned that Jacob expires after about 8 hours - but then again he made it 8 hours before losing it. Bless his heart. We had a wonderful time - visits with Nana Cheryl and Curtie, shopping (w/o kids!), visit to the lake and the zoo. I think Paul was happy to have a little break but he kept telling me the house was too quiet with us gone.

Road Trip!

The kids and I (yes, all 4 of them) are headed to Ohio first thing tomorrow morning to visit my BFF Erin and her family (Nana Cheryl and Curtie). Erin moved to Columbus not too long ago and so she's dying for us to come check out her new pad. Plus, it's been 2 years since we've been to the Buckeye state so it's my really turn to go there. We had hoped Paul could go with me but sadly it didn't work out..darn work. So, in any event, it's me and 4 kids on a 7 hour road trip. Pray for us please.

I'm sure there will be lots to tell upon our arrival home on Friday...so until then my friends...have a good week!

Sweet and Sassy

Emma and her Daisy troop went to Sweet and Sassy the other day for their year end party. For those of you unfamiliar with all things little girly Sweet and Sassy is a salon for girls. Girls can get mani/pedi's, haircuts and up-do's, have spa parties and of course they sell all kinds of merchandise just for little girls. The Daisy troop was there for the Fashion Diva party where the girls got their hair & make up done, nails polished, had a dance party and then a runway show. Cutest. Thing. Ever! I wasn't sure Emma would be into it after the hair do meltdown at Disney (Emma hates having her hair done and especially hates it being in a bun) however, she was way into it. I hear she was the first one to get her hair done and selected the "princess" up-do which entailed a bun. Go figure. I guess when a cool teenager is doing your bun and make up at a cool pink store it's better? It was absolutely adorable. All the girls looked so cute and they had a great time. Of course I forgot my camera but here is Emma after we got home:

PS - Where were stores like this when I was a little girl?

PPS - Why didn't I come up with this concept? Major cash cow...

Jacob - 8 Months

I realized I haven't posted any pics of Jacob lately. Here he is a 8 mos. Yes, he has a mouthful of teeth - 5 to be exact with another one about to cut through any minute..He's sitting up and rocking back and forth on all fours - surely crawling isn't too far away! Yikes!

I Won! I Won!

So yall know how much I love, love Jen Lancaster, right? A few weeks ago I was reading her blog and she posted a link to win a copy of her newest book, "Pretty in Plaid." I clicked on the link and entered the contest. You had to write why you should win a copy of the book (they were giving away 3). I wrote something about how much I love Jen, how she makes me laugh out loud while reading and about how having four kids makes me flat broke so I can't afford to buy the book. So last week I get an email saying I won the contest. At first I wasn't sure (cause I never win anything) it was real so I emailed the contact and lo and behold she confirmed it. I sent in my address and.....today it came! Fed-Ex! Hardcover! So pretty and pink and plaid! So exciting! I'm off to read...

Summertime!

School's out for the summer! Well..for 5 weeks but that seems to be a perfect amount of summer for me. Emma's been out for 5 days and so far so good. We're home this week, then me & the kids are taking a road trip to Ohio. We'll be home for another week then off to the beach then school starts! I think the break will go by pretty quickly.

We are filling our days with lots of doing nothing..including totally neglecting my housework (don't I get a summer break?) and going to the pool. The kids all love, love the pool. The big girls are little fish and even Julia kicks around in the shallow end with her arm floaties on like she owns the place. Jacob seems to like the water too. He is happy to chill in his baby float or splash around while I hold him on the steps.

We had a nice weekend..pretty low key and relaxing. Today we got to see our friends, the Harts, who live in Hawaii. It was their daughter's sixth birthday and they are in town to celebrate and vacation. We were so happy to see them!

Hope your weekend was great!

Teacher's Pet

So today is Emma's last day of Kindergarten. I can hardly believe it. This year has gone by so unbelievably fast. She's excited to move on to First Grade but a little sad to be leaving her teacher. She absolutely adores her teacher, Mrs. Barnwell. Here is what she wrote to her in her thank you card:

In case you can't see it it reads: Dear Mrs. Barnwell, I love you. I like you. It fun haveing you. You are the best. Love Emma.

She's had a great year and we're crossing our fingers that Lily will also get her next year. So, we're off for 5 weeks which will be a welcome break. Then, July 7th Emma starts First Grade and Lily will start Kindergarten! OMG!!!

Weekend Wrap-Up

How is it really Monday again? The weekends go so fast. This is a "short" week for us though as Emma only has 2 more days of school! Wa-hoo! I am looking forward to a little break (please remind me of this sentiment next week when the children are driving me mad). On the agenda for track out: Potty Training - oh the joy! More on that later...So, 2 more afternoon carpool lines, 1 more drop off and then a 5 week break. Ah....

So it was a good week with the exception of The 35 Minutes of My Life I Will Never Get Back(more on that in a second). Friday night I got to have a girls night out at Scrapmania with my very cool friend Frances. Being around Frances always makes me feel much cooler than I actually am..to be a married mother of 3 she is surprisingly hip, cool and very funny. I got a lot of scrapbooking done too which was a bonus.

Saturday I worked out, took the girls to the pool then went to a Goodbye party for my friend Lauren who is moving to TN. She is also a super cool person who lives around a lot of other super cool people. Most of the folks there were her neighbors and they are tons of fun. The girls had a great time running around and playing. Sadly we had to leave early due to an unnamed baby who needed to go to bed but it was fun time and my friend will surely be missed.

Sunday was church. Then Emma & Paul had a Daisy Daddy/Daughter bowling date & Daisy meeting. We then had a cookout for our church. We got home, got the kids bathed and I decided it would be a good idea to go ahead and go grocery shopping for the week. Ha! Why I thought any part of going to Super Walmart on a Sunday night was a good idea I'll never know. I should I have realized the error of my ways when I walked in and the line for the "speedy" checkout was 15 carts deep..I kid you not. I thought for sure by the time I finished my shopping the lines would be cleared up. Wrong! So very Wrong! By the time I was ready to check out at 8:31 (I documented my time) every line (all 4 of them that were open) were back to the clothing areas. There were 9 carts ahead of me in my line. And have you noticed that very few people at Walmart have only a few items in their carts? No, everyone at Walmart has a full cart. Full. So literally it takes me 30 minutes, yes 30 minutes to get to the register. Thankfully my bff was available for chatting during this dreadful time and we got play Guess How Many Tabloids Kate Gosselin is on the Cover of This Week (the answer would be 6!). Speed is not life at Walmart and of course in true fashion I picked the Very Slowest Lane to go through. So finally at 9:06pm - 35 minutes later I get through the line and head home. I walk in the door about 9:20 just as Paul was thinking of calling a search & rescue for me since I'd been gone for so long. But at least my family has food for the week and as my bff put it at least I didn't have 4 kids with me while waiting The Line from Hell.

Hoping you had a great weekend!