Happenings

These girls have had a big day

Mary Connor finally has a tooth- yay!

She also learned  to clap today

Lyla James accomplished going from sitting to getting on her tummy

Love when they are fresh from a bath and in their pjs

Kite Flying

I love playing outside with the kids.  I look forward to afternoons when we have no activities or obligations and can just play in the yard.

However, I really do not like flying kites.  My reason being it usually requires an engineering degree to be able to put them together and I lack the patience and skill to actually get the things in the air.

AC and B, of course, love it.

After much begging, we got the kites out this afternoon and I was pleasantly surprised.....they have now reached an age that they can fly them with very little assistance from me.....yay!!

LJ and MC loved watching them...LJ clapped for them every time they ran by....

MC got bored and decided she would check out and taste the grass.

Easter Weekend

....and what a great weekend it has been!

We planned to leave around lunch time on Friday to head for my family's in Tennessee.  T took the big kids to breakfast so I could work on getting us packed and, of course, the van decided to be difficult and had some kind of hose explode.  A little behind schedule, but we got there.
For Christmas, my grandparents had planned a tip for all of us to tour the Natchez Trace Parkway and eat lunch at the Davy Crockett State Park.  Bus trips are a fun tradition for us.  We have gone to Washington D.C,  a 2 week trip "out west",  and Myrtle Beach.  The trip was planned for right after Christmas, but it was canceled because of icy weather so they re-scheduled for this weekend.

Grandpa Hudley, the best tour guide ever.

What can I add to that?.........

Coach and Lyla James ready for take off

Grandpa Hudley and B having a deep discussion while enroute...

Aunt Lolly and Uncle Richard with MC

LJ with cousin Rachel....

These cousins are crazy about each other.....

Grandpa Hudley and cousin Murphy

Quite the crew and this is about half of the original cousins.....

The babies snoozed in the stroller during a short hike....

One of our stops included an old tobacco barn....  Brian with Uncle Rick's IPod in hand

The Easter bunny made a visit to CC and Coach's this morning

So cool.....

The baby girls apparently knew how cute their glasses looked because they left them on for about a hour.

After church we went to the farm for Grandpa Hudley's breakfast and the Crockett egg hunt.

These kiddos were fast asleep before we left the driveway of the farm.....

Staying Organized

....or my attempts to, anyway.  Kelly's topic for this week's Show Us Your Life is about organization.  Here are a few things that work for our family.

I love Mom Agenda!  My favorite product, the wall calendar, is no longer available and I'm still upset about it.  Just like the planners, it had lots of room for writing on the dates and seperate areas for up to 4 children.  A wall calendar seems to work best for us plus I keep a planner for my lists.

LOVE a list.  I make one for every day.  I can't remember anything these days unless it's written down.
I also have a schedule for the week that looks like this:

Monday-
Clean Bathrooms
Water houseplants
Laundry:  Darks and Baby Clothes

Tuesday-
Dust
Change bed linens
Laundry:  Colors, Linens and Towels

Wednesday-
Floors (we have all hardwood and area rugs so it takes a long time)
Recycles and Trash
Iron
Laundry: Kid's uniforms, Whites, and Baby Clothes

Thursday-
Kitchen
Paperwork
Laundry:  Delicates and Darks

Friday-
Glass
Laundry- Towels, Kid's Uniforms, Baby Clothes

Some weeks this goes like clock work, but most weeks some things get pushed to other days or just don't happen.  I'm ok with that as long as the kitchen and bathrooms are clean and the rest of the house is generally picked up.  The laundry is just never ending- anyone relate? Doing a few things each day means I don't spend an entire day doing laundry or cleaning.

I hope each of you have a wonderful Easter with your families.  I am so thankful to be able to celebrate the miracle of Christ with my family!

Field Trip and Egg Hunt Part 2

Today was Anna Cate's class Easter party and Egg Hunt.  The girls in her class are so close and sweet together.

Anna Cate and Mary Jack

They all want to hold and feed the babies...Lyla James and Mary Connor love the attention.

Fun crafts and games.....

A funny story... AC's teacher is single and AC and the other girls make a prayer request every day that God will quickly bring her husband-to-be to her soon because these girls want to be the flower girls in the wedding....thank goodness Ms. C. thinks this is hysterical!

A Field Trip and Resurrection Rolls

Today the babies and I went with Brian and his class on a  field trip to a retirement community.  It's times like these that I'm happy with our decision to have AC and B in seperate classes, but don't ask how I feel about it when both classes have things going on at the same time or when I'm trying to keep homework assignments straight between the two classes.

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Brian and his sweet friend, Beckah Grace

The kids made resurrection rolls with the residents.  They are basically marshmallows dipped in melted butter. cinnamon ,and sugar.  Then wrap the marshmellows in crescent dough and bake.  The marshmallow melts when baked and becomes hollow to represent that Jesus's tomb was empty on Easter morning.  I found the recipe here.

The women were so sweet and patient with the kids. 

The class also sang and read aloud.

This was slightly nerve-wracking to watch, but there were no injuries....

And then, my camera battery died.  I think I might need to invest in a second battery or maybe just remember to charge the one I have. 

Anyway, the kids had a Easter egg hunt in the lawn and then we went to a bounce house to play and eat lunch.  I wish I could bottle up the teachers B has had this year.  They are so loving to these kids and truly enjoy being with them.....everything a parent could ask for.

The big 4-0

Todd and 3 of our close friend sturn 40 this year, so we had a party to celebrate last night.....with no electricity.
Friday afternoon we had a huge storm,not a tornado, but 80 mph winds.  So many homes were damaged by old, large trees falling.  Thankfully, there were no injuries.  We didn't lose any trees or have any damage to speak of.  We lost power Friday afternoon and it didn't come back on until late last night.
We just lit tons of candles, grilled everything for dinner, and enjoyed being with our great group of friends....so much fun!!

Lauren and Krista of  Lark Events were able to get these cute cupcake toppers to me on very short notice....like late Friday short notice.  Love these girls and highly recommend them for all of your entertaining needs in the Middle Tennessee area!

Reading List

This weeks's Show Us Your Life topic at Kelly's is book lists. 
In the fall, I read Radical by David Platt.  If you haven't read this yet, it is amazing. 

Apparently, I live under a rock because until this week I wasn't aware that he had written another book, Radical Together.  Can't wait to read it. 

A friend recommended Modern Parents, Vintage Values to me this week.  Sounds great.

When I was in the hospital on bedrest last summer, I read like crazy.  What else is there to do when you are stuck in bed for 3 weeks.  Here is that post for some of my favorite books.

In keeping with the book theme, our school's librarian asked the kids to bring a favorite book and dress up like the character in the story to celebrate National Library Week.

B chose Caps for Sale by Espher Slobodkina

AC chose The Twelve Dancing Princesses, the Barbie version.... any opportunity to wear this costume to school ,yet again.

Can't wit to read everyone's lists!

Boyhood

B has always been "my" boy.  If he had a problem or needed help with something, he would ask for me.
In the past few months, thing have changed.  He has become T's shadow and seeks his advice on everything...from the type of pajamas "men" sleep in to the fairness of the lady's go first rule . 
As much as I love to see the bond between them grow and I know this is an important time for that to happen, I will have to admit it makes me a little sad because I know this means he is reaching a new milestone.
AC talks frequently about the man she will marry....we pray for him, we wonder what color hair he has...she has even asked T to buy our neighbors house if it goes on the market so she can live there with her husband (and, according to her, so I can babysit her 7 babies while she goes to her meetings)
Up until recently, Brian has always been a uninterested in talking about the wife God is making for him.  Tonight when we were saying his prayers and I asked him what he wanted to pray about, he said, "I'm going to pray for my wifes. (Yes, wifes.  He means wife- singular.  I asked)  I want her to be just like you, but more fun."

Spring has sprung!

With Easter just a few weeks away, I finally got around to getting some of our decorations out.

Our buffet in the dining room. 

Our Easter egg tree is a favorite because it was Todd's grandmother's and we found it in the attic when we were remodeling.  He remembers helping her decorate it every Easter when he was little and now our children love decorating it.  I stuck it in this little flower pot so it won't fall over.

I ordered these Easter pails from If You Say Sew and I love them!  They are adorable!

AC made these little chicks in preschool last year

Simple mantle decorations....I have a thing for birds- can you tell? 

These little sweets are excited for their first Easter!

For more Easter decorating ideas, hop on over to Centsational Girl!