You Need To Check This One Out

If you haven't checked on the 4 Reluctant Entertainers link in my side bar, do so now! Sandy is have a sweet little give-away! And for those of us who like to entertain, she is chock full of ideas on simplicity, conversation, recipes, and all sorts of fun ideas!

More Funny Sayings

Before I had children, I loved reading the little emails that went around touting the finny things that children said. When I started teaching pre-school, I struggled not to laugh out loud at the hilarious comments that spewed forth in my class everyday. Since having children of my very own, to love and hug and call them George, I have simply learned to turn my back and hope they don't see my shoulders shaking!

Recently from Thomas:

'Mommy, can we go to Eye Balls to eat?'

'What, honey?' I asked.

'Eye Balls. Can we eat at Eye Balls? I am hungry.'

As I wonder desperately what he is talking about, I look around at the scenery that surrounds us. (We were in the car) I spotted IHOP.

'Thomas, do you mean IHOP?'

'Yes! They have good pancakes!'


And from Sarah Grace:

'Wook! Dere's Star Bones, Mommy!'

'What, honey?'

'Star Bones!'

Again, I look around me and note Lone Star on her side of the car. Note, I have only eaten in this restaurant two or three times in my life, and my kids NEVER have! Yet, Sarah Grace is excited about seeing Star Bones!

My Little Cheese Balls

In case you have forgotten what they look like, you can now see them at their cheesiest!

Sarah Grace showing off her castle!

Lizzy loves the camera...loves to taste it! Watch out, here she comes!

Thomas attended his first wedding. He really liked the beautiful church and the food!

From The Depths...

I really need to get a grip on this blogging thing. I know I overwhelm you all with my many posts. Things just get busy. I remain amazed at how little 'time' I really have. Aren't stay at home mom's supposed to be kicked back watching soaps and eating yummy chocolates, working on their tans, and have all the time in the world to fix their hair, make-up, and select just the perfect outfit? Shouldn't I have time to go to the library and check out a handful of books and read through them before they are due back in two weeks? Fabulous meals should appear on the table each and every night, with balanced meals and snacks for the children in between. Laundry is supposed to be clean, pressed, and put away. Toys are supposed to always be repaired. Dust should never have a chance to accumulate. And the house should always have the cozy smell of just baked goodies. Right? Isn't that what June Cleaver was all about? She was so together they even showed her toilet on television! (Or so I have heard. I didn't bother to check that out.)

Let me just say that I can't remember the last time I picked up a book before 8 PM, and I am not sure I ever see any daytime television...unless you count Word World. The laundry is in a constant state of flurry, and generally not pressed. Reading and television? Ha. Right. And since when do jeans and a clean t-shirt not count as a perfect outfit? Ponytails are a way of life. And cookies are one of the major food groups.

I will state that I have managed to start getting showers in before nap time recently. Because at nap time, I need to sleep. You see, when I am growing a baby in my belly, sleep is no longer something to wish for but a necessary survival technique.

Elizabeth's 1st Birthday Celebration

Now that I have found the camera...
This past Saturday we celebrated Elizabeth's first birthday! Our joyful little girl is a whole year old. We trekked off to Scottsboro and while the girls napped, we got the cake ready.

It was my first attempt at anything other than a sheet cake, and I must say, I was quite pleased. The kids had been talking about Elizabeth's Bumble Bee cake for several days are were excited to finally get to see it. And eat it. Here, you see the Bee Hive cake and the Bumble Bee cookies/cupcakes.

Elizabeth didn't quite know what to make of that cake and it's burning candle, so she contented herself by poking at the marshmallow wings on the Bee cookies. Then smiled hugely as we all finished singing the Birthday song and applauded her, the Birthday Girl!

We made quick work of stripping her down to her diaper and letting her have a go at her cupcake. As you see, she was a bit bothered by the sticky wings when she had a real go at them.

For those of you who remember, Thomas likes to blow out candles. This day was no exception. He promptly blew out Elizabeth's little candle before the last strains of the birthday song even drifted away. Elizabeth stared at that smoking candle, wondering, perhaps, what had happened. Thomas was all smiles.

Once we had all had our fill of cake, Elizabeth was whisked off to the bathtub for clean up. When she emerged all de-caked and fresh smelling, we plopped her down in the floor so she could eat the paper from her presents. Thomas and Sarah Grace were very sacrificial and volunteered to open her gifts for her. Seems she was a tad to little in their minds. Elizabeth didn't seem to mind. She happily sucked on tissue paper and wrapping paper and gnawed on ribbon asa Thomas and Sarah Grace did the honors of discovering her new things.
And then, the sugar buzz wore off and the Birthday Girl crashed. Sleep well, Sunshine!


**Sorry folks, the video is giving me fits, so it will just have to wait. Check back later!

Odd Thing...

In recent months, I have posted more with words and less with pictures. Now, as I want to post about our littlest one's 1st birthday celebration, I can't find my camera. And there are no words that will do justice to the cake cramming that children that age are famous for. So come back later. When I find the camera and download some pictures and video.

I would find something to tell you all about so that your cyber-trip wasn't wasted, but I am tired, and now that I don't have visual images, my bloggy-energy has dissipated. So if you are just needing something to do, let me leave you with this shameful plea for comments. And just to satiate my curiosity. If you are reading this blog, comment. Let me know who you are! It never fails to throw me off balance when someone says, "I read such-and-such on your blog..." Quit lurking! Say hi!

Lyrically Speaking

We are driving down the road. We have heard ABCD (otherwise known as the Alphabet Song) exactly 486 times. During that specific car trip alone. Finally Sarah Grace decides to take us up on the suggestion to sing us another beautiful song. This is what we hear:

"Old AckDonald had a farm
wif a sheep sheep here
and a sheep sheep dare and dare."

*pause*

"My cow barked at the horse."

I am seeing a trip to a farm in our future. You know, the normal kind. Where sheep don't dare and the horses don't have to have psychological treatment to help them recover from barking cows.

100 Things About Me...

A bloggy meme.  Thanks, Laura!!

1. I was born in Yokosuka, Japan (military brat) on September 8, 1978
2. The Japanese people considered it good luck to touch me, with my fair skin and red hair.
3. We moved to Exmouth, Australia and I don't know how old I was.
4. I remember going shopping for a lunch box one night and seeing kangaroos on the way there.
5. Then we moved to Mississippi and I don't know how old I was.
6. I have two sisters: Amy (25) and Kimberly (20)
7. I still maintain that I would have made a great only child. Yes??
8. I used to tell my sister Amy that the concoctions I made up in the bath tub from soapy water and shampoo were really yummy to drink. She fell for it every time.
9. I eventually was caught by my mom, and it wasn't pretty. Those drinks were not very good. I know, she made me drink the one I had prepped for Amy.
10. I haven't mixed drinks since.
11. Although I was never much good at it, I played softball from about age 6 until 15 and loved it
12. My friend Bobbie tried to teach me to water ski when we were in about 8th grade.
13. I still don't water ski.
14. I managed to befriend a girl who was a bigger tomboy than I was when we were in 6th grade, and because of Melissa, I learned to play football, roll yards,make chocolate chip cookies, and take rides on impossible rope swings. Which she will tell you I always failed at. And she would be right.
15. We moved to Scottsboro when I was in 3rd grade. It was a very memorable year. Ask me about it in person. It's a good story. But not one for public domain.
16. I received my first paddling that year.
17. It was not to be my last. That one came in 5th grade. After that I don't think it was considered Kosher to paddle children in the public school system any longer.
18. I am not a risk taker or a real trouble maker (despite what you may now think)
19. As a Senior, I opened a box that had been left at my friend Caleb's house. It was a party, and late at night. The box was suspicious. It had a dead skunk in it.
20. I no longer open boxes arbitrarily.
21. I was in band in high school, and I loved it. And yes, we had band camp.
22. I do not tan. I freckle. In fact, after band camp, when all my friends had tans to their sock lines, I had freckle lines.
23. My first job was at Burger King. I loved it. Except for the smell of grease. But the crew was fun and the work was so easy.
24. I worked at Wal Mart for about two years. I loved working that kind of retail. Never a dull moment.
25. I worked at Shoney's as a waitress. I hate waitressing. Never a dull moment.
26. I graduated from Scottsboro High School in May of 1996.
27.In April of that year, it snowed so much that there were rumors that we might not get to graduate on time. The class had already ordered invitations!
28. When I was 17, I totaled my Mazda before I ever made the first payment on it.
29. My favorite color is blue.
30. I sang in the choir in college.
31. I hated college.
32. So I quit.
33. I started attending West Huntsville Baptist Church in November of 1997.
34. I accepted Christ in March of 1998 and was baptized on Mothers Day.
35. I started dating the man who became my husband on April 13, 1998.
36. I worked at my church as a youth intern that summer.
37. The walls of that youth room may never recover.
38. I am no longer asked to help paint things at church.
39. I was very active with the Baptist Campus Ministries, despite the fact that I was only a student for three of the seven semesters I hung out there.
40. In 2000, I started school in Chattanooga, TN
41. In January of 2001, I became an officially licensed massage therapist.
42. I worked at a college bookstore for about a year. I loved it.
43. In September of 2001, I started teaching preschool. I loved it.
44. Just a few days later, the world as I knew it erupted and the US is still dealing with the aftermath of 9.11.2001
45. In October of 2001, one of my four year old students was killed in an apartment fire.
46. I taught at Covenant for nearly 5 years. I still love the classroom.
47. I was there when George W. Bush was sworn in the first time around.
48. My best friend and her husband managed to wrangle tickets for the four of us to attend the Christian Coalition's Inaugural Ball.
49. Charlie Daniels was one of the entertainers. Classy, eh?
50. Joshua and I were married October 25, 2003.
51. Mine was the most beautiful wedding ever. Duh.
52. I got impatient and wanted to go visit with all the guests so I told the photographer to cut it short.
53. I now have no good pictures of just the two of us on our wedding day.
54. We served peanut butter and jelly sandwiches at our wedding. Oh, and chicken salad and ham salad. There were tons of left overs on the chicken and ham salads, but all the PB&J were gone.
55. At 6 am the morning after the wedding, my maid of honor, Lora, who was pregnant with twins at the time, had to bring my driver's license to the hotel so we could board our flight. She was very gracious.
56. We discovered we were pregnant at Christmas.
57. I get strep throat at the drop of a hat. Thomas should have been born a penicillin pill with all the penicillin I took while pregnant with him.
58. We didn't find out if we were having a boy or a girl. It drove people batty. I loved it!
59. I traveled nine hours to the beach in a motor home when I was seven months pregnant with Thomas.
60. I swore to never do it again.
61. Joshua Thomas Freeman was born on August 15, 2004
62. Just after Thomas was born, my car became infested with ants. We still don't know what caused this. Mine was never a food-trashed car.
63. I finally had to park the car in a garage with all the windows down while three foggers sprayed full force and did their thing.
64. I hate ants.
65. By Christmas of 2004, we knew we were expecting another baby.
66. This time, we opted to find out what we were having. A girl!
67. I quit working at the preschool in March of 2005.
68. In May, we took Thomas to the beach. I was pregnant, but not as big and the trip was much easier.
69. I agreed to substitute for the pre-K class that entire summer.
70. I was very pregnant and the air conditioner at the school was iffy at best. It was a long nine weeks.
71. Sarah Grace Freeman was born on August 5, 2005.
72. The third Christmas of our marriage was the first one I was not pregnant!
73. We bought our first house in April of 2006.
74. We discovered we were pregnant with our third child in September of 2006.
75. We again opted not to find out the gender. It's so much more fun that way!
76. Elizabeth Hope Freeman was born on April 6, 2007.
77. I like duck soup. Can you believe that?
78. I am awful at remembering people's names.
79. I didn't get to see Dirty Dancing until I was almost 20 years old.
80. My mom still doesn't believe this.
81. I love 70's and 80's music.
82. Cats are my pet of choice. I have a sixteen year old cat who lives with my Grandmother. Who managed to train the cat to sleep on a towel at the foot of her bed.
83. In the 14 years the cat lived with me, I trained her to, um... well, um... Fine. Nothing. unless you count litter training.
84. I love to be in the kitchen. Baking is an extreme favorite. Following a new recipe rates pretty high too.
85. I do not enjoy creating recipes. But I have upon occasion.
87. I love my mini-van. I always wanted a lot of kids and a mini van to tote them around in. Check!
88. I started my own business in March of 2007. I do ceramic impressions of children's hands and feet and I love it!
89. Sometimes when I am wearing my glasses, I forget that they aren't sun glasses. So when I am people watching, folks stare back.
90. That makes me feel stupid. But I just switch to sunglasses and keep people watching.
91. I love to play in the water, but am a wretched swimmer.
92. Summer, in all it's sweltering heat, is my favorite season. I suspect this will change as I continue to age, but for now, Summer rules!
93. I skipped number 86.
94. I am looking forward to turning 30 this year!
95. I don't' have much interest in traveling the world. There are places I think I would like to go, but I like home just as much as anything.
96. I have wanted to take a course in sign language for years. I think signing is a beautiful language.
97. I am still scared of the dark.
98. I hope to have more children.
99. I am really tossing out random facts now. Because the children I have are all running around behind me being silly and I can't concentrate for laughing.
100. I am happy with my life and don't think I would change anything. Each day has ups and downs, but I am learning to praise the Lord for each of them.

Days Of Our Lives

Lately I find myself feeling guilty for not updating the blog. I read other blogs where the author updates sometimes more than once a day. And I find myself wondering if I just don't see the funnies and the sweetness in my children, or if I am to lazy, or possibly to busy, to sit and write it all down. I think it is some of all of the above. Our lives are passing by in a succession of days, each with it's own highlights and it's own lowlights. Each with some new something that one of the children have discovered or succeeded in doing. We aren't in a stand still, as no family ever is. I just don't get around to sharing as much as I used to.

Elizabeth will be turning one this weekend. Time has simply flown by! She is such a bundle of sunshine! She is dabbling in the art of walking, but not overly interested. Thomas and Sarah Grace cheer her on, and she will just get excited and drop down and crawl to them, laughing all the way. She has mastered the sippee cup and when she has had all she wants, tosses it over the side of her chair, looking quite pleased with herself.

Sarah Grace is maturing as well. Her speech is becoming clearer and clearer. I almost cried the other night at bedtime prayers when she referred to herself as 'Saruh Grace' rather than 'Say-wuh Gace'. She is my little lady! She recently decided that she wanted her toenails painted red like Mommy's, and she now shows them off to everybody. She also wore a necklace of mine for Easter. As I was getting ready that morning, she noticed my jewelry and asked to wear some too. I found a strand of pearls my grandfather had given me when I was seven that seemed to please both of us.

The picture of Sarah Grace was snapped by Thomas. He really does a great job with the camera. We asked him one night recently if he wanted to be a photographer and take pictures a lot like our friend Miss Heather when he grew up. He scrunched up his face and informed us that he couldn't because he was going to grow up to be a boy and Miss Heather was a girl. I can't remember if we even pursued the photography bit after that statement.

Thomas is getting more reckless with each passing day. I am holding my breath at some of the daily predicaments he finds himself in. Yesterday he discovered what happens when you swing and choose not to hold on to the ropes correctly. In his words, 'I got rocks in my mouth but I didn't eat them.' His face, however, tells me he ate it. Just not the way he was thinking. He is somewhat proud of his marked up little face.

Evenings are still a pile on Daddy event around here. Last night, he wound up being a horse. When he collapsed on the floor telling the children that they had worn the horse out and it was dead, Thomas giggling-ly replied 'But I am not done riding yet!' No rest for the weary, ya'll. None.

Over the weekend, I attempted to get all three kids to sit in quasi-state of stillness so that I could snap a picture or two of them. Here is what we wound up with. Several others were deleted due to unforeseen blurriness.

Ha.

Unforeseen.


After having filled your brains with images of the adorable offspring, I will leave you with just one more kid story. Joshua has been teaching a song to Sarah Grace having to do with Jesus knocking on the door to your heart. After singing for a while the other night, Joshua asked her what she would do if Jesus knocked on her door. She considered this for a moment or two, then answered decidedly 'Well, he can sweep wif Thomas if he comes, but not wif me.'