Our Playdate

My friend Tamah and I have decided to have weekly playdates for Caroline and Abby this summer. Oh, I should probably include Will in this too because the girls are real sweet about including him in all of their fun. Anyway, so far this little arrangement has worked out perfectly. The girls have a great time playing together and each week, one of the moms gets a chance to catch up on all the things we can't do with kids in tow.
On Tuesday, Abby came over and we (yes, I play with them some too because they are too cute and say the darnedest things) played, had a picnic and even took a nap. Now, getting three kids down for a nap when all they want to do is play together is quite a challenge. Against my better judgment, I let the girls talk me into letting them bring out tent into the living room so they could watch a movie before they took a nap. Well, the movie quickly had to be turned off because I could see their eyes would not be closing anytime soon with all the giggles coming from inside when various songs came on the screen. I was about ready to put the tent up and separate them when all of the sudden I heard silence for a few minutes. I peaked in and found this:Abby, we can't wait to play with you again soon!

Our Triathlete

Today Matt completed his first triathlon, the Soak Up the Sun Triathlon in Reunion. It was a .25 kms swim, a 8 mile bike ride and then a 2 mile run. We were glad to see him finish in the middle of the pack, especially since he was one of the last ones to enter the water. I almost missed him crossing the finish line because I was busy running my mouth (imagine that) to a friend of ours whose husband was in the race as well. That explains the picture below because I was hurrying to get the camera in position so I wouldn't miss him as he ran by. He was just too fast!
Unfortunately, Matt did not take his watch, so he is not sure of his time. After the race, he went to check out his official time with the race officials, and discovered that they had some sort of problem with the times and didn't have an accurate time for him. Their records indicated it took him just over an hour, but that included a 20 minute swim, which was totally wrong. Hopefully they will discover the error so we'll get a more accurate time. In the meantime, we'll rely on their time for the bike and run portion and add about 6 minutes for the swim (which we are sure he swam under this time) to come up with a 50+ minute to finish. Needless to say, I'm going to make sure he wears his watch next time (if there is indeed a next time) so that he can see if he meets his goal.Of course the kids and I were on hand to document this momentous occasion. He even obliged me by smiling at the camera. After the race was over, Matt made Caroline's day by letting her ride his bike. She was tickled pink and said she might have to do one of those one day.

Happy Birthday, Aunt Erin!

Halleluyeeerrr...today is Aunt Erin's birthday! Where did I get the spelling for hallelujah you might ask? That is how Aunt Erin taught Caroline to pronounce it, so it is only appropriate that we shout a big HALLELUYEEERRR to Aunt Erin on her big day!

Happy Birthday, Pop!

Today we would like to wish Pop a very happy birthday! I am so fortunate to have such a great dad who enjoys spending time with me and my family. He is always willing to lend an ear and offer his advice. He is young at heart and is always ready to have fun on the farm when we visit. It seems that as the years go by, my parents have become two of my best friends (probably because I've grown up a good bit and I'm now a parent myself) and I am so thankful I have them in my life. Pop, we hope you have a great day and we'll help you celebrate when we come visit you this weekend!

Mommy's Day

Mother's Day has become a lot more fun now that I am a mother of course! This year, we spent the day with Nana and Mommaw on the farm. Since I volunteered to cook dinner (which according to my husband is what mothers do), he promised to do what fathers do on Father's Day...take us out to eat! (If you are wondering, yes, I have my hands full with him and the kids.)

Anyway, Caroline was so excited that it was finally time to give me my "Mommy's Day" present that she picked out of me. Granted, I already knew what it was because as soon as she and her Dad came home from the store, she showed me the pamphlet she was given that had a picture of what she picked out for me on it. Nonetheless, the charm bracelet she chose fit perfectly and the angel charm was precious.Despite it being Mother's Day, the kids weren't too excited to oblige me with a good picture. This is the best it got. They did, however, pick lots of rose pedals off of the rose bush for me. I just count my blessings that God allowed me to be a mother, and I cherish each day I have with my precious little angels!

Baby Lane is growing up

This past Saturday we attended Lane's 1st birthday party. Caroline loves "Baby Lane" and was thrilled that she was able to hold the birthday girl. Unfortunately, she is beginning to realize that Lane is not really a baby anymore, but is becoming a toddler on the move. Thank goodness Aunt KK is going to come to the rescue by adding another baby to the family real soon! Will decided to give the cake a try before Mimi got to the table with it. Here's a picture of Josh (my cousin) and Lane. There is no doubt that he is that little girl's daddy, is there?And of course Uncle Randy obliged everyone by giving wagon rides. Next time I'll have to get a better picture of his pulling crew...those horses are beautiful!
On the way home, we passed Pop on the road riding Durango. Caroline said, "Pop is going really fast. He better slow down or he will get a ticket."

Nana's Retired

Congratulations are in order for Nana! After 28 years of teaching school (four of which she taught me), she has finally decided to close the math book and relax a little. The kids and I decided to help her celebrate this momentous occasion and joined her for her retirement reception. Caroline was a champ and sat through the entire hour-long presentation, while Will and I got to explore the hallway since he couldn't keep his mouth shut. He babbled about something the entire time. I think the only reason Caroline was such a trooper was because she knew Mexican food was only a possibility if she was sweet. So, once we got Will off the stage (he slipped away from Pop Buddy and thought he was so funny sitting on the opposite end of the stage and refused to come when called), we headed to the Mexican restaurant to celebrate some more. Nana, we hope you enjoy your retirement and I'm sure we will be seeing more of you these days.

Mudbugs

This evening, Matt decided to pick up some crawfish on his way home from work. Well, maybe he was prompted just a little. Anyway, it was the first time our kiddos got to meet these funny looking creatures. Here are a few snap shots from their first encounter. Oh, and if you are wondering, they ate spaghettios instead because neither one of them would try a bite and Will fed himself (as if you can't tell from the pictures).

Bookworms

Today when I put Will down for a nap, I couldn't seem to pry the book he had out of his hands. So, I figured there wasn't much harm in letting him sleep with it. When I went in to check on him, I found this:He gets it from his sister, I assume who likes to read before she goes to bed at night. Her favorite book at the moment is my devotional book. You should just hear the stories she is reading to her baby doll out of this little book!

Happy Birthday, Ol' Pal!

Today is the long awaited day that I get to wish one of my best friends a Happy Birthday. While I am excited it's her birthday, I'm more pumped that it is finally payback time for the sweet birthday wishes she sent me on my birthday.

Please let me introduce you to Laura Elaine Baria Henson. We met playing tennis at Mississippi College. Don't you love the barbed wire tattoo I let her give me before one of our matches? Anyway, we got to know each other really well on our very LONG trips to Texas. It was then that I found out how strong she was.......and about all of her previous military experience, so I knew I needed her as a friend in order to stay safe during my college years. I must admit, if I had not had Laura as my best friend in college, MC would not have been the same. Instead, we have lots of funny, embarassing and not to be shared on the world wide web stories. Then there are some that are worth mentioning...like when she kept pestering me in the hotel one night that I finally had enough. Since we had been working out in the gym, she was determined to show me just how strong she was, so she kept trying to body slam me to the ground. Well, during one such "slam" I decided to pick her up and throw her on the bed. Well, obviously I had been eating my wheaties because instead of Laura hitting the bed, she flew over the bed and hit the wall...hard. Of course then panic struck because we were all afraid that I had injured our star player before a big match. Luckily, she was fine and of course won her match. Laura and I are both country girls at heart and often decided to travel back to Texas (as if we hadn't spent enough time there already) to see George and Clay. Then there were all the fun times on the farm (you can check out those pics on her blog) and the many chocolate milk runs late at night to ease our anxieties over tests and those pesty boys.Who would have guessed that these days we'd both have young kids (she's expecting her 3rd boy) that we hope act more like their Daddies did in college! Happy birthday, ol' pal! I hope it is great, filled with less trips to the bathroom and more time off your feet. Next time we're together, I'll treat you to some chocolate milk!

Planting flowers

Since I have so many empty flower pots around the house (mainly because of plant neglect in which a once beautiful plant died while in my care), I decided we should try our hand at planting flowers from seed. Who know if anything will come up, but I figure it was a cheap, fun project for the kids. Let's just keep our fingers crossed that at least one seed decides to sprout, otherwise I'm going to have a very unhappy camper named Caroline.

Of course the interesting part of our planting was when Will found a worm. He thought it was the coolest little creature and kept trying to aggravate his sister with it. Oh the screams! Anyway, before we knew it, he decided to see if his little friend tasted anything like a gummy worm. Disgusting, I know. Luckily we caught him before he took a bite out of his new found friend. After we got through that ordeal, he decided he would put his little buddy in his sand box for safe keeping. Luckily, we caught him again and made certain we didn't have any unwanted guests setting up house. Matt thinks all of Will's boyish ways are hilarious. I'm not in total agreement because I'm usually the one trying to get him out of the messes he makes. But, it does make for interesting days!

Caught!

If you wonder where she gets her love for ice cream and eating out of the tub, it is directly from her father. No matter where she is or what she is doing, she can hear her daddy get the ice cream out of the freezer and comes a running because she wants "just a little" too.