Happy Birthday Henry!

January 24th my baby boy turned three years old! How time flies! We didn't have a birthday "party" officially this year b/c the only people besides all seven of us that would drive all this way to party at our house are the grandparents and they were coming separate weekends so we just had a week-long celebration with each set of grandparents and then the seven of us went to Chuck E. Cheese on his birthday for some birthday fun.

Clayton's parents came the weekend before Henry's birthday to babysit for Clayton and I to go on a date for my Christmas present. We went to Pappas Brothers Steakhouse and then to the theatre in Dallas to see Give It Up! which was phenomenal! We had ice cream cake from Baskin Robbins all decked out in Spiderman and Henry loved it! And so did we....it was yummy!

We had a good visit with Meme and Pop (thank you for babysitting)! We did a lot of hanging out and eating some good food and had our first birthday celebration with them.

My parents came midweek and we had a great visit with them as well. The girls turned up sick with RSV while they were here so we did a lot of hanging out at the house. It has been five years since we've had RSV at our house (William at 5 months) and I must say that this go round of it was much easier than five years ago. Five years ago I took a leave of absence from work to be with William....it was that bad.

Here are all three of the boys snuggled up in bed with Pa one morning. My mom called me upstairs to take this pic (she had to have one of all her boys):

The last day Nana and Pa were here we took the kids ice skating at the Galleria. We didn't last too long. Henry made it around the rink once -- good thing we only have to pay for skate rentals for him! And the boys would have stayed longer but the girls and Clayton and I were t.i.r.e.d. so we ate some supper and packed it up. Here are some shots from the ice via Nana who is not a photographer but these actually were some of her best attempts (usually we don't have heads when she's behind the camera).

Charlie has gotten really good for only two times on the ice:

Look in the middle of the rink and that's Clayton and I and the girls:

And William was not as brave this time. He spent lots of time on the rails but he got out in the middle some too when Clayton or I would take him around.

My parents left on Sunday morning (Henry's birthday) and they wanted to have breakfast with the birthday boy before they left. My mom ran to Kroger to pick up fresh sticky buns and some balloons and wrecked her car on the way home. It was pretty bad. Bless her heart! But she wasn't hurt and neither was the other woman she hit. Her car on the other hand is at the body shop here getting repaired b/c it was NOT driveable after the crash. So by the time all of that happened we had sticky buns for a late breakfast.

Sunday night we headed to the capital of birthday fun, Chuck E. Cheese. The kids had a great time. There was a full house and we enjoyed pizza and cake. Actually I think they really only enjoyed playing games b/c they hardly touched any food and were just sitting on pins and needles until we finally said it's time to play!

Here's the three-year-old birthday boy:

The girls LOVED riding this horse:

I think Mary Collins would have ridden it all night long.

Look at this face! I promise he had a great time despite what this picture looks like!

This was the first time the girls really got into riding rides. They had the best time!

All in all we had a great week-long birthday celebration! The kids love spending time with their grandparents, we got to go on the best date ever, and we ate three cakes in a week....what's not fun about that? Happy Birthday to my little three year old Henry man!

18 Month Checkup

This week was the girls' 18 month checkup. Here's how they measured up:



Margaret Ann:

weight: 17 lbs, 5 oz (0%)

height: 30 1/4 in (12 %)



Mary Collins:

weight: 17 lbs (0%)

height: 30 1/4 in (12 %)



And I had their head measurement but Clayton took one of the papers for a grocery list and I haven't seen it since. They were under the 20% mark though, which all of our kids have been. I guess we all have peanut heads, ha! Anyway, the girls are still small but healthy. They are just a growing. In fact, it seems that last night they went to sleep and this morning they woke up and all their clothes are too short.....not too big just too short. Bummer.......I was really hoping all those 6-9 month outfits would last until warm weather......oh, well.....gives me an excuse to go shopping and find some stuff on sale (they may just not match b/c it's H.A.R.D. to find two of things, especially when they go on sale). All I can say is me and my Christmas present are fixing to become real acquainted (my parents got me a sewing machine) b/c kids who need 6 month sizes for their weight and 12 or sometimes 18 month sizes for their heighth.........Lord, have mercy on me and let me just take right to sewing like I've been doing it my whole life (even though I've hardly ever touched a sewing machine and most certainly did NOT take home economics--a decision I am starting to regret the later in my life it gets and my mother can totally say, "I told you so" b/c she really tried to persuade me to do so in high school to which I thought I was way too cool for such and opted out.) Wow, was that like the longest run-on sentence in history?



Anyway, my new prize came equipped with a DVD and I'm planning on opening the baby up this weekend and try my hand at trying to sew a straight seam in some fabric I guess. Wish me luck!



The girls are starting to turn into chatter boxes although you can't really understand them all the time. But every so often they say something real plain just like you and me. They are into everything and right now their favorite pasttime is climbing on the table and making the biggest mess you've ever seen if they happen to find anything on said table to get into. Needless to say my number one priority right now is cleaning the table off IMEDIATELY...sometimes even before everyone is finished eating. What can I say? I'm just trying to save my sanity a little. The girls and I are ready for warm weather for sure. I've started picking them up dresses for spring/summer here and there and they are dying to wear them! They go pick them out of the closet almost everyday, especially Margaret Ann. From the looks of the weather today spring is nowhere near though. What was all this talk about all this global warming business? It's FREEZING here! BRRRRRR......

Sweet Sister Sugar

I'm so proud that my girls have each other! Having a sister is an incredible thing. My girls love each other so much. It just makes my heart swell!



Look at that pucker! I could just eat her up!

Watch out Margaret Ann, that looks like it could be dangerous!

One day I was talking to my mom on the phone and my girls snuck off to play. When I checked on them I found this:

Have I mentioned they love each other?

More shuggies, even though you can't tell from this angle. But I know, I was there.

I hope they'll always be this close!

Playing Around

Here are some pics of the kids just playing around lately. We've definitely been enjoying our trampoline. Santa scored with all five kids! Sorry these pics are here and there and everywhere. You know when you're scrapbooking or something crafty like that and you're just not feeling it but you do it anyway and your page or whatever just is not cute? That's this post for me. That or it could just be that I'm too lazy to go change the picture format or whatever. Either way enjoy some pics!

Tag, You're It!

My friend Candise tagged me and I decided to play along b/c it's always fun to find out useless info on people, huh? Mine promises to be extra boring I'm sure.

Five ThingsInstructions:
Answer 5 questions with 5 answers
Tag 5 other bloggers

Questions:

1. Where were you 10 years ago?
--In my junior year of college at Ole Miss
--Living in the Phi Mu house with my lil sis Megan
--Head over heels in love with a guy three years my junior who I thought hung the moon
--Spending lots of time at the library doing tapes to build my speed (I was a court reporting major)
--Counting down to summer vacation so I could get a tan while lifeguarding at the country club

2. What is on your TO DO list for today?
--Go to Chuck E Cheese for Henry's birthday {check}
--catch up on the blog {check}
--Run by Old Navy, Kohls and Carters
--Write out grocery list
--Lay out William's field trip attire

3. What 5 snacks do you enjoy?
--Chocolate
--Cereal
--Almost any fruit
--Crackers
--Anything sweet

4. Where are 5 places you have lived?
--Dothan, AL....born and raised
--Oxford, MS....5 years of college
--Memphis, TN....in an apartment on Mudd Island all by my lonesome
--Southaven, MS....when we got married through our first two children
--Tupelo, MS....had three kids and then moved to TX

5. Name 5 things you would do if you were a billionaire.
--Tithe more
--Fund all five childrens' college educations
--Buy my parents a new house
--Buy a house in Seaside....my favorite place on earth
--shop, shop, shop

TGIF

Thank God It's Friday!

Do you know what the best part about Friday is? The best part about Friday is that on Friday night when I lay down to sleep I don't have to set an alarm clock! It's glorious! See, I hate that alarm clock. It doesn't matter what time I lay myself down to sleep when that alarm goes off in the a.m. I am always still tired and never got enough sleep. I think it's a mental block thing with me and the alarm clock. Whatever it is it makes me sooooo thankful for Fridays!

Another great thing about this particular Friday is that today we are National Champions! That's right.....my eyes were glued to the tv last night until early this morning watching the big game. Roll Tide! It has been a looooonnnnngggg time a coming in my opinion. You see the last time Alabama went to the National Championship game it was 1992. I was in middle school. I remember exactly where I was watching the game and cheering on the Tide! I was in Gatlinburg, TN on a youth trip with my church sitting right in front of the tv with a bunch of boys b/c all the girls could care less about a football game in middle school. It was an awesome game....much more exciting than last night's. We played Miami and won the title. Do you know that an SEC team has never lost in the National Championship game? It's so true. Every time an SEC team has made it to the big game they have come home with a WIN! That just goes to show that we have the BEST conference in the nation! This was the 13th National Championship for the Tide, ranking them right up there with Notre Dame for the most National Championships since they have been doing polls.

I have been an Alabama fan since I was born. My entire family are Alabama fans....it's in my blood. Even though I went to Ole Miss I still bleed Crimson! I was always the one in the student section that everyone around me thought was going to get KILLED at the game b/c I was cheering for Alabama in the student section, ha! I guess they didn't like me cheering for the winning team, ha! Anyway, I smartened up after I graduated and now I just sit in the Alabama section should we happen to make it to the game in Oxford. Don't worry, I wasn't a complete traitor. I totally cheered on the Rebs wholeheartedly as long as our opponent wasn't the Tide.

And since you all are just dying to know my take on things here's a recap of the game from my perspective: (I know you'll all just LOVE this!)

It started off kinda rocky. See, I was still putting kids in the bed at kickoff and didn't make it to the tv until about 30 minutes into the game (when things started to calm down a little bit). See, they just needed me to come watch so they could get things going in the right direction, ha! You should know that if you ever watch a game with me that I totally talk/scream at the tv the entire game. I even woke the kids up before halftime and had to retuck the boys in at the half.

The first half, except for the beginning of the first quarter, went pretty well I thought. Once Alabama calmed down they got the job done. I felt so bad for that poor little freshman quarterback at Texas after Colt McCoy got injured. He just looked scared to death....poor thing. Of course, if I were staring at Cody at over 300 lbs on the other side I would be pretty scared myself. So at halftime I had pretty high hopes.

Then when we came back on the field after halftime -- let me rephrase that -- I don't think we actually showed up after halftime until the fourth quarter anyway. The third quarter for me wasn't really a game at all. It was sad actually. Clayton slept through the entire game except when I'd wake him up screaming at the tv and I actually told him he wasn't missing anything and I was telling the truth. We'd get the ball, take three snaps and then punt the thing away again. And for a while Texas would do the exact same thing.

Some time in the second half the freshman quarterback at Texas found a little rhythm and made two touchdown passes and with the two-point conversion to go with the second one made it a three-point game. And I was just a screaming at that tv. I mean, here we had a substantial lead and we weren't even playing in the second half. McElroy was not completing passes, overthrowing the few he attempted, and our running game was going nowhere. Of course, Mark Ingram was out with leg cramps which didn't help matters. I will give the Texas defense some credit though. They came to play. They did really good. I was surprised how well they did. They sacked McElroy several times....I lost count after four. But when Ingram came back in they couldn't stop him. That boy, he has some skill. And I'll tell you who else has some skill, Richardson. The two Alabama running backs both rushed for over 100 yards apiece! That's awesome considering Texas' defensive line!

I will have to say that our defense really won the game in the fourth quarter when they forced the fumble from the quarterback of Texas and recovered on Texas' three-yard line. That was Sa-weeet! And after we scored off of that our defense pretty much dominated Texas with either one or two more interceptions, leaving it impossible for them to score. I would have loved to have seen some passes from McElroy to Julio Jones like we saw against Auburn and Florida. it would have been a much more exciting game! All in all I was so proud of our players and I was soooooo glad we came home with the WIN! ROLL TIDE ROLL!

I especially thought the commentators hit the nail right on the head after the game when they said, "Bama is back!" AMEN AND AMEN!

I can't wait until next year. We have a lot of our starters coming back next year, including McElroy, Ingram and Richardson. Maybe we'll make it two years in a row! Of course if we don't I'll still be cheering on the Tide like I have my whole life. I've never known anything else. I can still remember staying with my Grandmother when I was a little girl and it didn't matter what you wanted to do/watch/play....if Alabama was playing football, that was all there was to do....funny thing is, I still feel the exact same way!

I know y'all just loved my rendition of the game. In fact my feelings will not be hurt if you're not even still reading this anymore. And if you are, happy Friday and may you enjoy NOT setting your alarm clock tonight! I know I sure am going to enjoy it! It's one of the best parts of my week!

Christmas Roadtripin' 2009: A Recap

The day after Christmas we loaded up the van and headed to Baldwyn for Christmas with Clayton's family. The kids had such a great time playing with their cousin McCoy. They got lots of gifts and had a big time. Charlie's favorite gift was a bb gun that Aunt Susan brought over from Mamaw's house that used to either be hers or one Papaw used to have. You'd have thought she had brought over a million dollars. McCoy had his bb gun there too so they were hunters. They didn't kill anything but they were so cute sitting out there with their guns. I am so ashamed I didn't even get my camera out of the car. I did snap a few with Amy's camera though but don't have them. But in short there was lots of food, family, and fun. Oh, Susan and I went and saw It's Complicated at the movies one night and it was the funniest movie I've seen in forever. I highly recommend it for adults only. I laughed out loud throughout the entire movie. Meryl Streep was wonderful as usual.

Tuesday afternoon we loaded up and headed down to Dothan. We got there, ate supper, and the kids were wanting to tear into the gifts.....so we did. The kids had another big Christmas at Nana and Pa's house. I got to see both of my grandmothers and spend some time with them. I also got to spend a little time with my cousin Kelly which is always a treat. She has two kids and Harris and my boys are like a bunch of peas in a pod. They LOVE playing together. And Anna Chayse and the girls are only three weeks apart in age. They are going to be good friends I'm sure when they get a little older. I am ashamed again that I did not really take any pictures. These I snapped one afternoon when Clayton told me to come take a picture of them all lined up to play a game of front yard football with a tire/ball toy that Henry picked out at Toys R Us when Nana took them one afternoon b/c they clearly had not gotten enough for Christmas, ha! They just ate it up. That's what Nana's are for she'd say I'm sure. Look at Henry's little butt up in the air!

We had a great time visiting both of our families. We love getting to spend time at our childhood homes. But as much as we love it let me just tell you.........after 12 1/2 hours of riding in the car with five kids and eating out three meals........my bed never felt so good Saturday night!

Sunday I spent the day taking down Christmas. This year I put it all up by myself (even though it took me 2 weeks) and I took it down all by myself too. It was a J-O-B. I'm sure Clayton was thinking, "this is my kind of decorating!" He was busy getting ready for a meeting while I undecorated but I did recruit him to help me put the last big box up in the attic b/c it was too heavy for me to lift by myself. Now I'm trying to tackle the laundry and clean up my pigsty of toys left by the hurricane named Santa that came to our house. I may never finish! We're back in the swing of things though.....kids are back in school and me and the three musketeers are loading up to head to the grocery store so we can have a home-cooked meal for supper tonight......mmmmmmmm

Merry Christmas Rewind

This was our "first" Christmas as just our family of seven. We usually do Christmas at one of our sets of parents' houses but this year Santa's sleigh couldn't fit some big items so we had Christmas at home. And can I just tell you how wonderful it was? I stayed in my pjs all day long. It was heavenly. Now, Santa and I were up until 5 am assembling in the SNOW/wind and wrapping presents. Can I just make a resolution right here and now: I will NEVER, repeat, NEVER wait until Christmas Eve to wrap presents again, NEVER! From now on I will do like most normal people and wrap them as I buy them or something like that even if that means I have to stuff them in the attic beforehand.

The kids had a big Christmas. Santa brought a trampoline to our house. He also brought an enclosure for the trampoline but he left that in the box because he almost froze up assembling the main ingredient. The kids didn't care one way or the other. They jumped their little hearts out, even the girls. We had snow on Christmas, but it was more like a sheet of ice. It was so cold the kids didn't even ask to play in it. Of course, they had a house full of toys so why would they want to? Here are a few pictures from our Christmas Day at home. Oh, on Christmas Eve I made City Grocery's recipe for Shrimp & Grits and they were gooooood. We also did a lot of baking and tasting and that was pretty much it. We intended on going to the Christmas Eve service at church but the snow was coming down really hard so we opted to stay in. Excuse the pictures. I was VERY sleep deprived and didn't capture a whole whole lot.

The girls got some "jewelry" in their stocking and wore it all day long. These were taken right before bathtime:

Among many things Charlie got an army man suit and loved it. He also got several guns to complete the look.

This is playing dead:

And here's the trampoline:

The girls also got new car seats and have now turned around even though they don't weigh 20 lbs yet. But their legs have gotten so long that they push up against the seat so bad they have to be turned around. They have simply outgrown the infant carriers lengthwise. Honestly, I think they kinda miss looking at their brothers and getting constant entertainment from the backseat. Notice the chocolate Santa we're eating. It was a favorite for sure. Nothing like chocolate for breakfast!

And we didn't get out much b/c it was 20 something degrees and looked like this:

See all that shiny stuff? That's ice. Talk about busting your tail......I did. It was sooooo slick!