Picture Day

Claire had dance pictures today, so that means wearing recital costumes for the first time after admiring them in the closet for weeks. I took a few shots in between quickly dressing and undressing and redressing our little dancer.

Twirling while looking in the mirror...
Sugarplum Fairy Princess

Pedi

Claire's first pedicure...Okay, I was getting my own pedicure, so I couldn't get any great shots from where I was sitting. But, she seemed to enjoy it. She even got little flowers on her toes!

Resting Her Eyes

We have had a busy weekend. Claire is completely crashed next to me as I type. She is just "resting her eyes" until Larry and Sam get home. Yeah, okay. The boys went to Talladega, AL to the Nascar race while Claire, Kate, and I had girls weekend. We started it on Friday by meeting some friends for pedicures. Claire and her friend Lauren got their first pedi while Lauren's mom and I got ours and chatted. Then it was on to lunch at BK and play time at our house with her friend. That night we had to go shopping with the money Claire was given by her grandparents. Saturday I got a sitter for a couple of hours so that Claire and I could go to the movies. We also did girly things that evening such as having a fashion show while I clicked away in the role of the photographer. Photos to come tomorrow. I'm tired. The boys are close to home by now, and Larry will have to put Claire in her bed because she is very soundly "resting her eyes."

Orange For Stellan

Updated Below:

The baby we have been praying for is in a very risky surgery today. His mom's favorite color is orange, so people are wearing orange for him today and sending pictures to her blog. This is what I took in front of our super-orange walls!

Update: Stellan came through the surgery, and they called it 65% successful for various reasons. But it was the best they could do with the particular situation. We will keep praying for this little guy! Link is at the bottom of my blog if you would like to follow his progress. Oh, and this is what happens when you try to make breakfast while praying and posting on your blog....

Just Because They Are Cute

No other reason to post....I just have cute kids! :-)

Did You Know....

That there is a baseball league for 3 and 4 year old boys? Well, there is. And if you are looking for some cheap fun (it cost a $1 to get in..) you should really go check this out. The kids and I went to my nephews' ballgame last night, and it was so cute and fun...for the adults that is. I'm not so sure the kids were having much fun or were even quite sure why they were there. God bless those coaches, one of whom is my brother-in-law. When we got there Presttyn was in the dugout, so I went over to say hi. He is totally into the game. The conversation went like this: "Jennifer, I can snap, see?!" I said, "Yeah, cool, are you playing ball?" He said, "Take my picture!" Then he proceeded to make lots of faces through the fence. A few minutes later he was playing 1st base, and socializing with the opposing team members that happened to make it on base. It was highly reminiscent of watching his mom play ball several years ago. Dylan was on 3rd base, so I couldn't get a good shot of him, but I focused on Presttyn and got a great shot of him with his mitt over his face. He was SO into the action. A moment later he is hollering from his position on the field, "Daddy?? Daddy! I WUV you!"

So, the game goes like this...a kid hits the ball, 5 kids tackle the ball, as they fight over it the kid that hit the ball runs past them and scores. It was totally hysterical and adorable. We will be going back! When my sisters were little and playing ball my dad wrote a great story about their adventures. It pretty much sums up the experience. I may have to find it and post it here. Oh, the story he could write if he could see his grandsons play!

Presttyn showing me his ball skills, um, I mean snapping abilities.

The mitt over the face shot

Dylan didn't want me to take his picture, so I had to settle for him socializing with my kids. Oh yeah, the game is still going on at this point in case you were wondering.

Easter 09

We had a really nice Easter (Kate's 1st!) Saturday night we went to our church's praise service. On Sunday the kids were up super early to hunt for their baskets. However, we kept sending them back to bed until 7:00 when I finally got up and hid them. Larry made pancakes for us, and Claire and I colored eggs. Then we headed to Larry's Grandmother's for dinner with his family. There was an egg-hunt for the kids, and Claire in usual lucky fashion found the prize egg. She is such a lucky duck! We then headed to Center Hill Lake for dinner with my side of the family. It was a beautiful day and the drive to the lake was nice. Kate even cooperated by napping most of the drive. Most of all it was a wonderful weekend to celebrate our risen Saviour with family and friends.

Stormy Good Friday

We are thanking Jesus that we are safe! As the kids and I headed to the bathroom to cover our heads the hail began to hit...a sure sign there are tornadoes near. There wasn't a lot of wind, but it was dark as night outside, the hail was beating down , and we were hunkered down in the tub praying for safety. I don't think we have ever had to take cover like we did today. Kate did not appreciate our adventure, and she told us about it as we sat crowded in the tub! After about 10-15 minutes I was brave enough to retrieve this piece of hail. It was melting when I picked it up, so I don't know how much bigger it had been. It sure sounded awful on the roof.

Clapping Kate

Kate was sorta clapping at Granny's yesterday...we'll call it her milestone day for clapping anyway. I'm not crazy. Wait til the end of the video and you will see!

Dancing With Cinderella

Claire has been singing the Steven Curtis Chapman song "I'll Dance With Cinderella" lately. If you don't know the song, it is about a little girl who asks her dad to dance with her, and he takes the time to do it because he knows that she will grow up quickly and will leave home soon. The song took on a new (or maybe more intense) meaning when his 5 year old daughter died last year.

A few weeks ago Claire decided that she was going to dance with her Daddy when he got home from work. We all know how dirty Larry gets, so when he came in she told him that they are going to dance but he's going to have to get out of those yucky clothes. She proceeded to go and pick out some black dress pants (that didn't fit anymore.) Larry sent her back to the closet and they finally agreed on the tropical ensemble for him. She got herself dressed and the dancing began. The cd that was in the player had her recital music in it..."Sugar Plum Fairies" from "The Nutcracker." It was sweet, and a bit entertaining.

A Conversation With Claire

Claire: (excited, frantic) "I saw a spider run under Kate's thing!" (playpen)

Me: (yelling) "Daa-ddy, kill a spider in here!"

Claire: (a few minutes later) "Did he kill it?"

Me: "Yes, spiders just seem to be in the house more this time of year. Don't worry about it."

Claire: "Why?"

Me: "Well, because they are on the move in the Spring, and they go inside houses out of the rain. But don't worry they are just as afraid of you as you are of them. They will try to get away from you."

Short pause.

Claire: (indignant tone) "If they are so afraid of me why do they come in my house??"

I have no answer sometimes.

Speaking of School Pictures...

They are the worst, right? But, if we didn't buy them then we wouldn't have so much fun years later laughing at them. So, my advice to my dear friend Courtney is to purchase the little mug shot, and here is proof of my theory.......my favorite school picture of Larry...

I just love the KISS shirt, classic!!

So, since my kids don't go to school I'm thinking that I should take them somewhere cheesy for some school pictures today. You know, I think I'm missing out on some memories here.

Update

I guess since I have had two calls concerning the rest of Claire's pranks, I better update here. She was successful in all her efforts. Larry was surprised to pull out itty bitty panties from his drawer, and said, "I don't believe these will fit me!" Then this morning he went to pour his cereal and realized the box was lighter than normal so he looked to see how much was left in the box...only to discover that it was Hannah Montana cereal. Hee hee. Way to go Claire! Keep Daddy on his toes.

April Fool's Day

Claire has been all into pulling pranks today. Most of them are still waiting for Larry to discover, so I'll let you know how those turn out later! But, we found this idea for meatloaf "cupcakes" with mashed potato "frosting." She and I made them to "fool" Larry. She was very excited for him to discover the trick. They actually tasted good, but for anyone that knows Sam; he couldn't eat much of them because it sorta grossed him out. The other things yet undiscovered are: Claire switched Larry's underwear drawer for hers, so when he goes to take a shower tonight he will have a little surprise. She also swapped her Hannah Montana cereal into his cereal box (that will have to wait until morning...we weren't thinking about it all last night.) She also did something to our bed where it is supposed to be hard to get into. I'm thinking we probably won't notice, but I could be wrong because I didn't watch what she was doing. If she remembers she is going to put a Hannah Montana/Jonas Brothers CD in his truck CD player. She has, obviously, enjoyed the day!