Surprise For Claire

Claire and her friend, Lauren, went on a scavenger hunt to find out a surprise.

Lauren's mom and I hid puzzle pieces with each clue.

When they put the puzzle together they discovered it was a picture of Disney princesses. Then after some questioning they figured out that we were going to Disney...this week!

Happy girls!

The clues arranged around the puzzle.

We purposefully waited until Sunday to tell them about the trip planned for Thursday. We didn't want to count down for a month, and have the girls make us crazy asking when we were going. It was a fun surprise!

Kate Can Walk!

Sorry, I couldn't figure out how to rotate it in blogger, so just flip your heads! Our world is not the same now that she is loose. Of course, her world is not the same either! Lots of new discoveries to be made, things to explore, and heights to reach. Believe me, she is reaching them because she also likes to climb!

Heard Around Here

I was reading a funny post the other day by my favorite blogger, MckMama, about the humorous things that mothers hear themselves saying to their kids. Things we never would have believed would come out of our mouths. I have been paying better attention to the things coming out of my mouth lately and here are few that rank up at the top:

"Why is the dog wearing my bra?!"

"What are you singing?!! Oh, "Shake Your Peanuts from Mickey Mouse Clubhouse where they feed the elephant. Okay, yes, you can sing that. But not what I thought you were singing. Nevermind what I thought you were singing."

"Is that a turd on the floor?"

"Because, if you marry your sister/brother you will have pig children."

"Stop eating the dog's food!"

"No, that is not President Obama on the cover of that magazine with lipstick on. No, it isn't him! Let me see. Hmm, that does look like him but it's an elderly lady. Yes, it is. Okay, fine, whatever."

That's all that comes to mind over the past couple of days. Pretty interesting around here most of the time.

And, for those of you not on Facebook, I will leave this little conversation I had the other day with Sam.

Sam: I want the biggest cinnamon roll with the most icing!"
Me: I think we need to read the verse about putting others before ourself."
Sam in his sweetest voice: But I was going to give it to you.
Me thinking to myself: Yeah, right, but that was quick thinking!!

Kate in the Crate

Kate loves Daisy's crate. It's probably because everytime she crawls in it we all laugh and make a big deal out of it. She thinks she is doing something wonderful, apparently. Daisy just looks at her like, "You have no idea what you are doing, but hey, if they lock you up I won't complain."

Brave Birthday Flight

Sam getting strapped into the helipcopter to tour the Atlanta NASCAR track..on his birthday!

A view of the track from the sky

And a view of the trailers. Larry said it was kinda hard to take pictures at such angles, but he got a few.

New Blue

I am loving my new blue kitchen and hall!

Aquarium 2

This fish apparently wanted it's picture taken

Claire and Lauren try to touch a sturgeon.

Relaxing by the aquarium

We decided we would like to have this in our bedroom to sleep by. That is, until a shark swam past.

This penguin loved Sam. He kept looking at him and swimming up to him. Sam was dressed all in black with a bit of white writing on his shirt, so we figured he thought Sam was a penguin. A really big penguin!

Butterfly Fly Away

Caterpillar in the tree

How you wonder who you'll be

Can't go far but you can always dream

Wish you may and wish you might
Don't you worry hold on tight

I promise you there will come a day
Butterfly fly away

Flap your wings now you can't stay

Take those dreams and make them all come true

Butterfly, Butterfly, Butterfly fly away

We spent yesterday at the TN Aquarium where they have a nice butterfly house. The kids loved it and we had to finally make them move on to the next exhibit. The lyrics above are from a song Claire and I like to sing :-)

The Definition of Bird's Nest

Oh, my little Kate. Your hair can be so, what's the word...unruly!

A Little Cheer From Claire

Looking Cute

Kate did what she does best at Sam's party: look cute.

Sam is 9!

Sam celebrated his birthday on Friday with his teammates after football practice. We brought pizza, cupcakes, and drinks to share...and share we did! There were kids swarming the table that we have never seen before and probably won't ever again. Siblings of teammates, kids with mouths full of pizza hollering for another slice, or a drink for their uncle (who was sitting in a car somewhere) or kids wanting a second cupcake. So we shared until the bounty ran out. And then they were gone. The quickest party on the planet started at 6:27 and was done by 6:38. Now, that's my kind of kid party! After they ate the boys ran around and played for awhile, so we called it a success. Sam's birthday weekend is in full swing as I post this because he is sitting at the NASCAR race in Atlanta. More pics to come when they return!