Our lazy Saturday

While Daddy was away, we were pretty la-zy! It is so hard to cook for one adult and two kids, when the kids would just LOVE to eat chicken nuggets for two meals a day! Saturday, we played around in the morning, I washed some dishes & noticed our water pressure was low. I even had Ella Grace check her water in their bathroom to see if it was coming out "fast & hard". She said it was fine. We called Pop & Nana and were going to Skype. I thought I would get shower, but as I went in my room a neighbor called to see if we had water....nope! No shower and no water for about 2 hours. Then, we had a precautionary boil alert...which stinks. BUT, we Skyped, the kids played games on the computer and then we had a birthday party to attend!

Major's friend Ben had his 5th birthday party at the bowling alley. Jeremy had plans to keep Ella Grace & take her fishing, but Alaska changes that, you know? So she went with us and I hooked her up with her own lane and shoes.

She was having a big time!

Major made a strike on his second frame! Awesome!


Thank goodness for those guards or there would have been very few points scored!

Flashing those muscles! I love his eyes!


He devoured this cupcake, much to my surprise.




And birthday boy got to go in this wind thing and grab/pick-up tickets for free games, drinks, fries, etc. Pretty cool!


Good times!

Sew happy together!

One thing I vividly remember from my childhood was my Granny teaching me to sew a button. Sew, I mean so, while Grandmother was here visiting (and assisting me with my sewing skills) I asked if she would show Ella Grace.

I am REALLY glad she did. Made Ella Grace's day, and she has even reminded me about it a couple of times already!

You know, got to get a picture with lil' brother and his tongue out first!





So much in the moment. Happy little girl!

A quick beach trip

I love Florida...well, I love being able to go to the beach so often and on a whim when we feel like it! Last Sunday (3/18) was one of those times. While Grandmother & Granddaddy were here visiting, we went to church, came home and changed and headed out for the beach. First, we stopped for ice cream then made our way to the beach. Even though we didn't have our suits on, didn't even bother taking toys or chairs, the kids just had the best time. That's what I love. The simplicity of it all. Enjoying the sand, who cares if its gets in your clothes or your legs are covered in sand. Yes, we had sand in Little Boy Blue's eyes, but it was the best time.

And can anyone look at that perfect color of blue in the background and believe there is no God? I don't think so!

I am in love with the color of my baby's hair! Just B-E-A-utiful!

My CrAzY-talkin' kids!

My kids have just been hilarious lately. I find myself laughing at the silliest things they have said. And lately, it has been quite often!

On 3/15, I fed the kids powdered doughnuts for breakfast. This was a BIG treat for breakfast. As I gave Major his, he said "I adore anything white!" I asked where he had heard that from and he said "Olivia."

Then, on the way to school he began singing "Welcome home, Dad!" Again, Olivia.

Jeremy left for Alaska Friday morning. He kissed the kids before he left (around 5:00 am) and Ella Grace came to my bed. She said "Mom, while we are going to sleep can I tell you something?" Sure, I said. Then she began "The sun is here and the moon is over here and the Earth is in the middle. The Earth, it spins around like this. While it is day in Florida over here, it is night in Australia. The Earth is also moving around the sun." Of course I asked where she learned this and much to my disbelief she answered "Music class. My teacher's son lives there in college."

Oh.

This morning I overheard Major ask Ella Grace if she wanted to play Mary and Joseph. This was definitely a first!

Snakes and Snails & what kind of tails?

Lately, my little boy has been in to catching frogs. One night he caught one while we were talking to our neighbor in her drive way. When he decided to chase me with it, Momma ran home. Yuck!

Just this week he caught another frog and I even got his sister to pose in a picture with him!



This morning, Jeremy did some manual labor outside while I ran an errand. When I came home we worked on planting some flowers in a couple of pots I have. I was pulling the hose off the hanger and a darn lizard jumped off the hose! Scared me to death! This set Major off to hunting for it in the grass. He finally found it and got a hold of it by the tail - and it broke off! What? Creepy! This didn't stop Major, though. He kept looking, so patiently. Of course, he came up with it and I said "Ooh, go show that to your daddy and Ella Grace." (Or I should have just said "Get that thing away from me!") He took it over and was showing off this prize, and the lizard bit my sweet Major! This just broke his heart.

He cried, and cried, went inside to wash his hands and came back out STILL crying! The bite actually drew blood, from a lizard. And I didn't know that lizards had "break-away" tails. Anyone else really know that?

To finish up our February activities, the kids & I went to drop our tax information off on the 18th. Ella Grace's school was hosting a carnival that day to end their spring book fair. So, we hurried back to our side of town in time for a few hours of outdoor fun. There were bouncy slides/houses, a cake walk, train ride, rock climbing wall - lots of fun things to do. First we hit the bouncy things - sock-footed in the straw and sand, love it!






The kids tried to participate in the cake walk, but we came away empty-handed. We moved on to the longest and slowest moving line - rock climbing wall. Ella Grace was determined to climb. Major wandered off a couple of times to do a few other games to win tickets or play on the playground. Ella Grace's time finally came and I thought she would just back out...but she didn't!



This girl can definitely climb!







I think her hands were getting a little too sweaty to continue up. I finally asked her to come on down to give someone else a turn.

President's Day the kids were both out of school, so we rode over to Sea World for the day. We watched the pregnant dolphins in the dolphin nursery tank,

saw friends we didn't know were going,


and played in the sand - and met some of our friends we thought might go,
rode the carousel,
even posed by Shamu on our way out!
And the last weekend of the month we made a family camping trip near Ocala. We picked Ella Grace up from school Friday afternoon and headed out. We pitched our tent, grilled supper, got some firewood and enjoyed the night. We explored the campground and walked the trails,

shoveled and used our tools best we could,
climbed some trees,

(all of us!)
and Cubbie Bear was with us!
While we spent time together, we celebrated Jeremy's birthday. A Tastykake and a candle is all we needed! Happy birthday, Jeremy!

We even went on a canoe ride. We saw an alligator on the bank, about 40 yards away. He was just sun-bathing.
(I promise he is in this picture!)

Paddled around a little more, letting the wind carry us some and about 5 feet in front of us I spotted a darn alligator staring at me. Oh. my. GOSH! I panicked and told Jeremy, but the alligator disappeared. We waited and watched for just a minute or two before he came up again. Thankfully, it was facing the other direction and we saw much, much more of him! YIKES! I just wanted to click my heels and get out of there. Too close for comfort!

And our last night with Cubbie was just last Wednesday. Thanks for staying with us, Cubbie!

February...well, I guess I didn't get too many (or any) of our events up from February. My apologies! I guess we were too busy having a good time.

Friday Feb. 4, we took Ella Grace and her friend Megan, and Major to a movie a church. They played a short Veggie Tale movie along with another movie, an OLD movie! We all had a fun time, ate our share of popcorn and experienced our first of many times with an "odd man out". Not fun, but something we will have to learn eventually.

When we got home, it wasn't long before our first Feb company arrived. David, Laura, Austin and Caroline were in town and made it over for a night. We had fun catching up, the kids just relished in the time they had to play with each other. These kids never miss a beat!



On February 6, Ella Grace lost tooth #2! Daddy pulled it for her, but she begged and begged for him to do it! She was really excited about it since she knew what to expect this time.
Ella Grace even wrote Tooth Fairy a note to ask for a playdate. Unfortunately, Tooth Fairy said she would have to decline because she is so busy collecting teeth. Bummer!
The next weekend, Aunt D (Donna), my friend from college, was in town for work. She was able to spend a few extra days with us and another friend from high school. The big girls ate out Friday night and she stayed with us Friday night. We all (minus the big guys) went to the zoo Saturday morning, despite it being a little chilly.


We moved our cars and had a little picnic lunch in the back of the parking lot, and were able to catch up a little.
Donna left with Mrs. Beth and stayed with them Saturday night. So we said our good-byes...


Major needed a guys picture, too. ha!
I was able to help with Ella Grace's Valentine party at school. She did not want me to take her picture at all!



More later!