The Berteau Family Blog

Holiday Events

2012-01-04T07:07:00.011-06:00

What a busy holiday season!!! We kicked off the events with the Berteau clan. We had a wonderful dinner at the in-laws house. They were taking one of their many Gatlinburg trips over the holidays so we did our family gift giving a little early. Ben and I showed up dressed and ready for the occasion....

I have to take every opportunity to wear this shirt, since there is a chance I won't be able to next week.
Conner got a real bow and arrow set that he obviously was excited about!

Sidney got a scooter that everyone "helped" put together.

Linlee and I both got a Kindle each. One of the best gifts ever!!

We had the unfortunate experience of saying goodbye to my grandfather during this season. He had a long hard battle with health issues and in a way, it was a relief not to see him suffer anymore. I am glad that family had time to visit with him and really talk before he was gone. He will be missed!

The Giles Christmas Eve Extravaganza kicked off at my grandmother's house. We always have lots of food to eat! The kids provide the spontaneous entertainment as you can see. I think Eric topped us all in the gift giving department with a new car for his wife Michelle. She was suprised!

We finished the day off with a candelight service at First Baptist Church. Bittersweet.

Christmas morning we had our family gift giving

Then on to the Smith family craziness:

Lucy - Our Firstborn

2011-11-26T07:23:00.007-06:00

As many of you know, we lost our dog of 11 years earlier this week. I am not one to get all crazy about pets, but I did think that Lucy deserved more than just a facebook post and so I thought I would write a little tribute here to help me remember some of the more memorable moments. We adopted Lucy in July of 2000 from the Memphis animal shelter. Ben picked her out. Our intent was to save the several hundred dollars that we would have spent on an English bulldog and rescue a dog in need. Little did we know that Lucy was sick and scheduled to be put down the next day. We quickly discovered this after we brought her home, took her to the vet and she was diagnosed with distemper. About half the dogs with this don't make it, but we were already emotionally attached to her so we spent the money ($1000 total) to nurse her back to health. Maybe her name should have been Lucky instead. So from that day on, she was living on borrowed time. I think we did the right thing. She was the best dog we have ever known. Very well behaved, not yappy, house trained, obedient, SMART, good climber (the day she scaled 2 stacked baby gates was the day we knew we couldn't keep her locked in the bathroom) and loving. We taught her to sit, stay, turn around, crawl, roll over, speak and sing (she loved who let the dogs out). She hated baths and always went nuts running around and rubbing her hears on the carpet when they were over. I will never forget the time she was sleeping on top of the covers and I flung her off the bed in the middle of the night when I pulled the covers up closer. Probably scared the mess out of her. She got me back though. One morning I got out of bed and stepped right in a pile of dog doo. Not the best wake up call.... I will also never forget the time she paid my brother back for all the markings left in our new house by Harry. She never pottied in the house except the one time he kept her in his. I told you she was smart! She loved to be with her people and took change well. She adapted with the addition of each child, another psycho dog that briefly graced our house and most recently Cali-co. Those 2 animals loved each other and it really made the last few months of Lucy's life more enjoyable. I have never seen a dog and cat chase each other and tussle like they did.

I am constantly reminded of her absence when she isn't following me into every room just to be there, chasing and biting the vacuum and scrounging for table scraps that may happen to fall during meals. She loved to bite fish when we caught some and to chase and bite waves. She was a constant companion to the children and helped a few of them make it through the scared of the dark phases in life. We will always remember her fondly. We love you Lucy. Thanks for choosing us.

Outdoor fun, Haloween and a quick visit.

2011-11-23T06:46:00.008-06:00

Our first official camp out in the back yard. The weather finally cooperated even though Ben sneaked a heater in during the night. The kids were super excited. We all actually got a little sleep out of it. Definitely something we will be doing more often. Such great memories!

Styling while working, that's how we roll

Linlee's class took a field trip to Mitchell Farms that I got to attend as well. I just love that place and watching the kids have fun is part of the fun for me. We have a great group of kids and for the most part, were well behaved. The highlights for me were the funniest chicken I have ever seen and the huge pipe swing.

I also went the the Laurel fair grounds with Conner's class. He said this was one of his favorite things to do ever, even though the rides weren't open. I was amused by the animal feeding area (especially the long tounge of that calf!!). My most favorite part was by far the dog show!!

We attended the Pumpkin Party at church for Halloween. We have never really done trick or treating so I am trhilled that these options are out there so the kids can still have fun. they loved the pony rides and all the little games. I thought it was very well done. We even got to bring a few inflatables so good for our business as well! The kids all looked great in there costumes. My favorite was the Jedi though, I thought he looked pretty authentic!

We love suprises and so when the Fish family told us they were planning a stop in Petal on their way back from Disney, we were thrilled. If only for 1 night, it was soo good to see our friends. I think they fit a weeks worth of fun into 24 hrs! (we skipped school that day, it was worth it!)

Fall catch up.

2011-11-03T21:34:00.004-05:00

We had the Marlars come down for a weekend visit around Ben and Alecia's birthdays, thus the birthday cake picture. We took the girls fishing and just kind of hung out. It was so good to see them again. I really hope we can make the effort to keep up with our close friends. Distance and life gets in the way but I intend to make the effort.

On our way to the first home PCS game. They all had to make their best bobcat face. All I see is braces in the future...

This little guy really seemed to like us. I mean he just wouldn't fly away. after a while the kids got over the coolness of carrying around a butterfly and he just wouldn't leave. We finally got him to get on a flower. Really strange.

Whirlwind catchup attempt.

2011-09-05T20:52:00.009-05:00

Somehow I just can't keep us with this blogging thing for like the last year. Anyway, A few things that happened before we went back to school. I realized that I hadn't had Sidney's 3 year portrait made like I had the other 2 children so, I made 2 attempts. The first attempt was in Waynesboro and we had a few good ones come out of that photo shoot, but not really what I felt was the "one". I then decided to have my very talented cousin Tyler come to our house one morning and give it a shot. It was quick and painless and we got some really good shots as well. I decided to go with one of hers as my big portrait.

haha, just kidding, I went with this one.

WE also added a new member to our family. Miss Cali-Co Berteau compliments of Nana and my hard for her daddy to resist oldest daughter.

As much as he resisted, He is very glad that we have her. Lucy and Cali have a ball together when Lucy is in the mood to play. I think she has been good for all of us.

We had a house full of Fish for a few days right before school started. It was fun for all involved!! Glad they could make that drive! We had fun just hanging out, swimming and we even took them to Gulfport to the children's museum. Really cool!!

Just some random fun for your enjoyment on our last day of freedom before the routine starts again.

Goodbye lazy days of swimming and relaxing and not having to be anywhere at the crack of dawn. We will look forward to you again next year!!

Day trip to the beach with Nana

2011-08-02T09:20:00.002-05:00

I have to admit that one of my favorite things about moving farther south is getting to go the beach more often, or so I thought. We have actually only been 1 time all summer and it was only for the night. Very disappointing!! Must change that!

Anyway, Nana took off work and we took the kids to Gulf Shores for the night. One night is definitely not long enough, but we had a great time. I took Linlee and Conner for a sand dollar hunt very early but we had very little luck. We all played on the beach that morning and in the pool until it was time to check out. Sidney had been to the beach when she was around 1 but didn't really remember it obviously. She was amazed and loved standing in the water and letting the waves bury her feet. That is one of my favorite things too. We left our hotel and stopped for lunch at Lamberts before heading back home. Love that place. I really want to go back soon!!!!

Back "Home".

2011-07-05T07:40:00.011-05:00

Memorial day weekend we decided to take a trip back to Memphis. We had not been back since we moved in August. The strangest feeling was driving on 240 getting off on Nonconnah pkwy and having this overwhelming feeling that we were going home. We had driven that way for 10 years and never from the opposite perspective. Really tough. We stayed with the Fish which live .10 miles from our last house. As we passed "our" house, it just seemed natural to pull right into the driveway. Wierd feeling to pass on by knowing that someone else was inside. I guess with time that feeling will pass. Lots of great memories in that place.

The kids were ecstatic to see each other! They played endlessly the whole time we were there. The adults also stayed up late every night just catching up. So great to have close friends that you know will be with you no matter where life takes you.

The first day we broke out the sprinkler and let them get good and wet. We also set up the new trampoline which was a big hit for all ages!! It was so good to see them all together again.

Sunday we got to go to GBC and see all our church friends and then we met the Marlars for lunch. Those beautiful girls have really grown! We went back to their house and spent the afternoon just playing. Alecia had a great idea to make kids in a bubble and they loved it. So great to see our extended family again!

Monday I took the kids to the spray park to meet on of Linlee's Kindergarten friends. They had so much fun together!!

Tuesday we packed a lunch and Angie and I took the kids to the new playground at Shelby farms. That place is great!!! It was sooo hot though and thus a little miserable but we had fun exploring and also making edible art with our picnic lunches.

We topped off our trip with a visit to YOLO's with the Fish and Marlars, followed by pictures in the square. Lots of people when we all get together!!

Angie and I snuck away after this to go shopping for a little while. We had such a great time and after that outing, I will never hear "Baby got back" and not smile! :)

We tried to squeeze in a visit with everyone but it was just impossible. If we missed you, we will try very hard to catch up with you next time!!!

And this is how we all felt once the trip was over. Happily exhausted on our way back "home"

Our New Adventure.

2011-06-08T14:05:00.005-05:00

Ben and I talked at length about the possibility of getting into the inflatable rental business. We decided to go for it and ordered them with hopes of getting them in time for Conner's birthday party. Well, his party was on a Saturday and they didn't arrive until Monday. Oh well. The kids had no idea we had actually ordered them, but they did know we were talking about it. Linlee even came up with the name of the company. Spring-dingy Rentals. Catchy I would say.

Siblings and Graduation

2011-06-08T13:59:00.004-05:00

They love each other...(most of the time :))

Conner participated in Kindergarten graduation the day after his birthday so he had a busy and exciting week. He looked so big up there!!

High five to Dad when he was all done. Sweet.

Conner's 6th Birthday.

2011-06-08T13:24:00.004-05:00

For starters, I ordered Conner's birthday invitations from snapfish. Wanted to do some cute, not your fill in the blank ones. Well, I put that he was turning 7 instead of 6 and didn't put the date.....not a smart move. Luckily they were somewhat fixable and we went with it.

We decided to host a swimming party since this is our first year with a pool and we thought it would be lots of fun. Once I made out the guest list and realized there could possibly be over 50 people here, I was a little concerned. Turned out fine though. Only about half showed up so it was manageable.

There is a lot to be said about hosting a home party vs having it on location (chuck-e-cheese, gatti town..). It is probably worth the money to do it on location but I really think he felt special and had a blast. Guess it was worth all the planning and work.

He requested a monster truck cake and pinata. I made the cake myself since it wasn't very difficult and I thought I turned out decent.

Conner's 2 closest buddies from K did come and they had such a great time together. We swam, had water balloon war, ate 3 ft pizzas and opened gifts. One of the biggest hits was the $5.00 buckets that I bought to put the water balloons in. The pool was a tad chilly (at least for adults) and so they used the buckets as hot tubs.

I just loved seeing the look on my little buddy's face all morning. Good times!

Easter and Mother's Day pics.

2011-05-25T05:58:00.004-05:00

First of all, it is really sad that I have gotten this far behind, but that is just how it is...

For Easter, we had the West family over to dye eggs the Friday night before. My family has never dyed egs before so it was quite a treat. they turned out pretty.

Traditional Easter before church shots.

We went to Nana and Papa's house after church and ate with the family. The kids all hunted eggs and then went on a ride in the Gator with Papa.

For Mother's Day, Ben took it upon himself to make homeade polenta pancakes. Can we say DELICIOUS! So good in fact, that he won the make breakfast every Sunday morning award! He didn't know what he was getting himself into...

I am one lucky Mommy!!

Speedy Update

2011-05-03T13:07:00.013-05:00

PCS had a fun run to raise money for their new elementary school campus. It was so fun to watch them run. They did a great job!

One of the best parts about living in a new place is all the suprises found in a yard that has been landscaped. The previous owner told me that there is always something blooming and he has been right so far. The azaleas (all 100+ of them) were gorgeous!!

We have had the best time enjoying the yard. The kids have flown kites, climbed trees, found trails and of course swimming in the pool has been great!

This is the first year we have tried our hand at a real vegetable garden. I have done tomatoes and peppers before but in pots. We started it from seeds and here is the just transplanted plants...

And here it is a few weeks later...

I am completely thrilled that nothing has died yet!
Linlee and Conner just completed their first season of Upward Soccer. As much as I am glad to have my saturday mornings back, we will definitely do it again. They loved it!

Random pics of our sidewalk chalk masterpieces.

I had the pleasure of going to the Children's Museum in Jackson with Linlee's class. Very fun place. I want to go back without a school group so I can really look at everything.

Ben's parents asked to take the kids on an RV outing to Percy Quinn State Park. We went along and then stayed in a hotel that night to hopefully get sleep. Well, it was prom night so no sleep for us! Despite this fact, we had a great time at the park fishing and exploring!

I haven't forgotten

2011-04-20T20:26:00.001-05:00

I have a blog written from our spring break trip but am waiting to get all the pics taken before posting. Things are always so busy so some things have to fall behind. I will catch up eventually.....

Spring Break 2011

2011-03-22T12:33:00.017-05:00

One night in February, Ben and I were talking about his upcoming trips. He mentioned that he had one coming up in Salt Lake City and I noticed that it just happened to be during spring break. That kind of bummed me out until....I got the bright idea that we could just join him! I mean there are lots of things to do in SLC, skiing being one of the many. It took a little arm twisting to get him to agree, but once he was in there was no looking back. This was our first trip flying with all 3 kids since Sidney was 9 months old.

They were fabulous the whole way there despite getting up at 4:30 am on Thursday and making 2 connections!!! Sidney loved the airplanes.
We met Ben's parents at the Homewood Suites in SLC that night. Great hotel. The best parts were the free breakfast every morning, free dinner most nights and the indoor pool which we used quite a bit.
Friday morning I had scheduled the kids for all day ski lessons at Solitude.
It was GREAT. They got comfortable on their skis and Ben and I got to get some time in on the slopes as well while we got to peek in on them quite often. Sidney wasn't too thrilled that first day on the skis so she spent alot of it inside playing.

I took a few good tumbles that day as the green slopes were a little more aggressive than i was accustomed to. I hurt my knee pretty good on the last fall. Luckily it wasn't serious and got better in a few days.

Saturday morning, Linlee and Conner woke up with horrible looking red eyes.

We had not put goggles on them the day before and they apparently already had eye infections which were made worse by the glaring sun. Ben took Conner to the Dr and we got drops. All was better by the next morning. Needless to say, I invested in goggles for them that day!

We went back to Solitude for half a day on Saturday afternoon. Since my knee was bummed, I didn't rent skis but did take Sidney out on skis. By then end of the afternoon, she was skiing down the bunny slope all by herself. She was so pleased!!!

Ben took her on the ski lift and skied down with her on the little green. She loved it. Linlee and Conner were absolutely amazing at how well they were doing on their own. They both went down the green slope that I fell on the day before!

On Sunday, we took a break from skiing and went swimming and to the tubing park. Tubing wasn't so great that day so we just let the kids play at the Fort Frosty and the older kids rode the mini snowmobiles.

This was by far Conner's favorite part.

He loved racing Linlee around the track. they also had a blast just playing in the snow playground.

The next day, Ben's parents kept the kids so Ben and I could have a day to ski. they took them to Jungle Jim's Playland. I don't have to mention how much they loved this do I?

While all that fun was going on, Ben and I tried out Park City. WOW!!!!

At first it was a little overwhelming, but they had some great slopes. They also offered night skiing which is just beautiful! We accidentally got caught on a blue slope (I am not a blue slope skier....). After crawling down the first drop, I gradually made my way down in one piece. It was scarey but fun. I didn't do it again...
I took the kids swimming and back to the tubing park the last day since Ben had to work.

On our way back we had a layover in Memphis. David Fish just happened to be there on his way home and so we briefly got to see our old friend. The picture is blurry but the kids were super excited!

Great way to end the trip!
We will most definitely go back to Utah~!!

Sidney's Birthday

2011-02-01T20:33:00.004-06:00

The love affair with Chuck-e-Cheese began around Christmas time. Ever since, she would quite often speak of him and mention that she missed him. It was a given that her birthday party should be there after all that!
She was so thrilled!!

Linlee and Ben missed the party due to Linlee having the flu.

They were missed, but may have gotten the best end of the deal because Chuck-e-cheese is CROWDED on Saturday night.

Sidney and Ava had a blast in the slide area, Conner loved the monster truck game and they all enjoyed dancing with Chuck-e. I think the most hilarious part was watching Conner in the Tickeblaster machine.

WEll, inevitably Conner and Sidney both came down with the flu a day or so later. Poor Sidney was sick on her actual birthday. We made cake and everything and she didn't feel like eating more than 1 bite.
I guess we will do a special dinner later when everyone else feels better.

Her favorite gifts have been the Rapunzel doll, pack of gum, cash register, drawing easel, Tinker bell dolls and Birthday Barbie. Pretty much everything she got, she loves. Thank you all for making this a great birthday for her despite the illness.

Fish in Petal!

2011-01-26T12:50:00.007-06:00

One of the hardest things about moving away from somewhere that you have lived for 10 years is leaving people you have become great friends with behind. Luckily, some of our closest friends chose to come visit us around New Year's. I think we were more excited about their visit than we were about Christmas itself. Our kids and theirs have literally grown up together so seeing them see each other for the first time in months was so sweet. I had lots of things planned for their visit, but unfortunately it decided to rain practically the whole time they were here. We did find a few patches of non-raining weather and enjoyed one of Petal's coolest playgrounds (I think the adults had just as much fun as the kids),

showed them our lake and play area,

and tried to get a fire going in our new firepit. Some of that was successful and some weren't.
We did all go to Gatti-Town and had a blast! The kids loved the bumper cars!!!

I borrowed my mom's jumping house for a little indoor distraction while Angie and I had some girl shopping time. So FUN!!

Linlee wanted to save the pinata from her family party and crack it open while the Fish were here. This was a hoot to watch! Linlee was the one to finally get it open! One of many highlights of the visit!

I hope we will get to visit with them all again very soon!

Linlee's 7th Birthday

2011-01-25T19:11:00.003-06:00

I gave Linlee the choice of what kind of party she wanted (big party little gifts or little party bigger gifts). She chose to have a family party at home and take the fish to Gatti town when they visited a week later as part of her birthday. She chose the menu of steak, sweet potatoes, fruit salad, green bean bundles, roll and cake. her favorites!
Nana and Papa were the only ones to make it to the party since Grandpa and Grandma were iced in on their RV trip to Gatlinburg and didn't make it back in time.
I make the cake. It didn't really turn out as planned in my head but I think it acidentally turned out pretty cute.

My girl is growing so big!!!
She got an MP3 player with and I-dog, clothes, easy bake stuff and a robe from us. Hello Kitty birthstone necklace from Nana and Papa, clothes and puzzle book from Grandpa and Grandma, Bible from Papa John, Tangled book from Grandma Giles and Bath and Body works hand sanitizer lotions from Annelise. Great Birthday~

Christmas Eve and Christmas Day

2011-01-18T17:36:00.005-06:00

I am totally taking the lazy way out of this in order to get caught up.

Because Conner got his big gift early, it was only fair to let the girls open one of theirs on Christmas Eve morning. Sidney opened a new stroller and Linlee opened the Wii Party game (which is by far the most played game we ever got. It is sooo fun!) That evening we spent with the great grands and all the Giles family. Lots of food, lots of gifts and lots of memories. Ava and Sidney had a blast together and were so cute to watch.

This Christmas is the first one that we haven't had to drive 5 hours to attend all the festivities. It was so nice to wake up in our own home and have a normal Christmas morning opening gifts with just us. The kids have enjoyed everything they received. The highlight for me was seeing what the kids had put in my stocking. Ben had taken Linlee and Conner seperately to buy gifts for each family member with their own money. They felt so grown up. Linlee got me a new scrub brush which I needed actually. Conner had caught my oven mit on fire a few week before Christmas and so his gift was a new set. Loved the thoughtfulness and I use them daily.

We then headed to my parent's house for the annual Smith family gathering. It is always a mad house when they all get together in one space. We got there a little early to open gifts with Nana, Papa, Unlce Todd, Aunt April and Ava. The Pillow pets were a hit that morning and the robes that Granny made for all the great grands were well loved also. We got to see pretty much everyone this year except Amanda's family. We weren't supposed to see Justin and his family but Uncle Mickey was stranded without car keys and Justin had to drive the extra set down. Nice treat. I love Christmas time and am always depressed for a few days after it is all over. It is soo much more fun with kids of your own as well.

Beginning to look like Christmas.

2010-12-20T14:14:00.006-06:00

Ben's parents are going to be out of town over the holidays so we opened presents with them Sat night before Christmas. They came over to our house and we did gifts,

Sid is obsessed with polish. She got some from Grandma so here they are trying it out. Such a little girl!

went to eat at one of our favorite local places, The Wagon Wheel, and then came back home to decorate Christmas cookies.

We all had a great time.

Earlier that morning, we went ahead and let Conner have his Bike that he accidently discovered hidden in the garage. I forgot to let Ben know it was hiding in there....oops!

Sidney inherited Linlee's old Dora bike last week as well so they are both having a blast! She thinks she is soooo big.

I tried really hard to get a good pic of all of them Sunday morning. In every single one, someone is doing something cooky. Oh well, can't win them all. I told Sid that she looked sooo pretty that morning. She replied, "I need a crown."

Traditions

2010-12-15T09:05:00.010-06:00

This year for Thanksgiving I really wanted to have it at my new house, so I invited both sets of parents to eat here. I am extremely lucky that everyone actually enjoys being together and gets along. Some in-laws would not and could not do that. As an added treat, Granny came along. We had such a great meal and fellowship. I only got one picture but it is a great one. Nana was reading a thanksgiving story to the kids who dressed up for the occasion.

I haven't done much as far as decorations for Christmas but will add to the list next year.

This time of year always brings out the treat making chef in all of us. We tried an awesome recipe in Parent's magazine for Peppermint Suprise cookies. This is how they were supposed to look:

This is how ours looked.
no matter....they were DELICIOUS and will definitely make the yearly must make list.

We also tried our hand at reindeer cookies. The kids had lots of fun with this and they turned out really cute.

The next night I set up a make your own pizza and salad station. It was a big hit. We will definitely be doing this again!!

Our annual gingerbread house session went great. I left it out on the counter for display only to find that every ant in Petal had heard about it by the next morning so we had to put it outside. Oh well, live and learn. You can't leave ANY food out in this house. They even found a sucker in an old purse in my closet. Not a good situation.

My wonderful husband bought me a new camera for Christmas since my old one stopped taking pictures that required flash. Guess it had been through a rough 3 years. I love my new one though. Thanks Ben!!

Last weekend Ben and Conner did a boy project and built a firepit in our backyard. It is AWESOME.

We still have a few things to do around the outside of it but have already enjoyed a few fires. Love sitting around the fire with family. Peaceful! Hope Flip and Flop aren't scared away by this invasion. I haven't seen them since it was built.

Tyler Photo Shoot

2010-12-14T21:12:00.002-06:00

Conner and the Monster Trucks

2010-12-14T20:39:00.004-06:00

Conner is a BIG fan of monster trucks. He is always talking about them. Ben has had it in the back of his mind that he was going to take Conner to see real ones one day. It just so happened that we got a flyer from McDonalds one morning for a show going on in Purvis. Ben didn't tell Conner about it, just said that the boys needed to go run an errand. On the way, Conner fell asleep so he didn't see what they pulled up on. When they got out of the truck, Conner saw a little boy with a toy monster truck. He made a comment to Ben that the little boy had a monster truck and he wondered if they would ever get to see a REAL one. Ben said maybe one day. About that time they rounded the corner and bam, there were 5 monster trucks sitting there. Conner (as only he can do)
opened his eyes really wide and with conner excitement said:"DAD.....MONSTER TRUCKS!!!" Perfect! They even got to ride in the back of one before the show. I think it ranks up there in his top greatest days ever!

Flip and Flop

2010-12-13T19:10:00.004-06:00

We have loved watching our deer twins meander in the yard. We typically see them at least once a day. It is so cool! WE have named them Flip (the reddish one) and Flop (the brown one).

One night all the kids slept in Linlee's room. Conner and/or Sidney was supposed to be sleeping in sleeping bags on the floor. This is how we found them when we went in the check on them...cute. They were OUT!

Class Trip and Thanksgiving Program

2010-12-13T18:55:00.004-06:00

the 1st grade classes had a field trip to Landrum's Country Village. They boarded the train in Hattiesburg and rode it to Laurel where we picked them up. I have never ridden a train so Linlee has one up on me.

The village is very quaint and super fun.

They had a blast in the crooked house, gem mining (Linlee's favorite), hayride and scavenger hunt. It was so much fun that we took Granny back the day after Thanksgiving to see the Christmas lights.

The three muskateers: Linlee, Heather and Olivia

The Kindergarten class performed a Thanksgiving program. They were all dressed so cute in their handmade Indian outfits. Conner did great as long as he was singing. Otherwise, he was in his own world as usual. I have noticed in public performances, his teacher stays real close to where he is. Probably just a coincidence...

The Game

2010-12-07T13:12:00.004-06:00

I got really lucky and at the last minute, scored on 6 tickets for the LSU homecoming game. Ben and I had been talking about how he needed to take Conner to a game. I had been wanting to go to a football game (alabama mind you) for a while too and so this worked out perfectly. IT WAS GREAT!!!(if you forget about how a UFO suddenly crashed into our sunroof on the way there forcing us to tarp it for the next 2 days for fear of rain.)

It was a perfect weather day, we got to eat at Walk-on's (delicious)and see the campus. The kids loved seeing Mike the Tiger and looking for the mascot during the game. I think doing the wave was a big highlight too.

We stayed in the RV that night which was also a hit. Aunt Sandy made an appearance for lunch and then we made a stop by the orange tree on our way back home. 62 oranges were picked (and eaten).
Great spur of the moment weekend

Part 2

2010-11-30T21:38:00.004-06:00

My mom, our family, April and Ava all went to Mitchell Farms in mid October. That place is awesome. Other than the fact that they pre-pick the pumpkins, I was very impressed with the amount of activities they had for the kids to do. Lots of play equipment, rope swings, tire swings etc. The kids had a blast and so did we!

Linlee was picked to be fantastic reader in her class. She decided to read "If You Give a Pig a Party". They are to bring some sort of illustration related to the story and a snack. I remembered that we had a pig mask I had picked up a few years ago and so we paired that with a party hat and walla. She read the story in character and it was a hit!!

Part 3 coming soon.

Petal catch up

2010-11-28T19:07:00.005-06:00

Here goes my catch up blog....

One thing I love about Petal is its awesome playgrounds. I mean these things have 3 story tall tunnel slides that make ME scream when I go down them. Love it!!

We had the pleasure of attending Ben's cousin "Little Tom's" wedding a few weeks ago. He is the nicest guy you will ever want to meet. I am thrilled for him and Mindy. I was a little nervous about sitting in the ceremony with all 3 kids. I did wind up walking out with Sidney once, but overall they did great. Sidney tells me the story every night about the beautiful princess (aka Mindy) who had on a beautiful dress and then they played a song and then she got some cake and then we could have some cake. Love that story. We also got to spend some time with Uncle Bobby and Aunt Angie. My kids love them. I don't think Linlee would hesitate to go live with Aunt Angie.

One of the perks of moving closer to home is that I can participate in hometown things like WA homecoming. It was a special one and they were commemerating past homecoming queens so I actually got to walk out on that field that I drug my feet leaving on the last game of my senior year. I had a great time seeing some old friends.

I got to take Sidney on a field trip to the Hattiesburg zoo with Conner's kindergarten class. It was very fun! He has a great class.

catch up part II coming soon....

Life at the Berteau House

2010-09-01T19:18:00.006-05:00

We are so thrilled to be getting a house with a swimming pool!!! Until then, we will enjoy our time in the kiddie pool at Grandma's house. This is Sidney "floating". We also invented a new sport.....extreme slip n sliding.

These rest are just random pics.
Sidney and Grandma played in the makeup.

Sidney playing Wii bowling.

Linlee at her 1st gymnastic lesson.

Conner standing out in the crowd...

Wearing out the Tooth Fairy

2010-09-01T13:55:00.003-05:00

Over the course of the last month, Linlee has lost 3 teeth. Two of them are the all important front teeth. The first one came out pre-move.

Because she was missing one of her front top teeth, the other one "stretched its legs" a little and moved over toward the center. It was driving me nuts the way it was hanging crooked in the center of her grin.

I was VERY glad when Ben decided to pay Linlee to let him pull it. She sports the snaggle look as well as you can when you have no teeth in the front.
Hopefully they will grow in nice, pretty, straight and quickly!!

Major Lifechange

2010-08-31T13:22:00.003-05:00

We had gone all summer with no offers on our house. I had resolved that we weren't moving and was getting ready to start school in Memphis, buying school supplies and uniforms for both situations during the summer just in case. Thursday afternoon Aug 5th we get an offer! WHAT?!?
Friday August 6th my parents came up to take the kids back with them to have a few days of play time before school started since we really didn't think things would work out.
Saturday August 7th the kids get packed and head out with my parents not knowing if they would be coming back or staying in MS. I didn't really mention that possibility to them when they left because Conner is a bit sentimental and would have probably gotten upset. By that afternoon, we had a contract on our house!!!! We immediately go into "pack the essentials" mode. By Sunday afternoon we were on our way to Hattiesburg. The kids get to Hattiesburg on Monday afternoon and got up to go to school on Tuesday morning!!!!! By Saturday we put in an offer and signed a contract on a house in Petal, MS. A LOT changed in a few days!!! I never thought it would. Needless to say, that week was the MOST STRESSFUL of my whole life.
Grandma and Grandpa are gracious enough to let us bunk with them until we can close on our new home. 5+ weeks in someone elses home is quite a test for all involved. We are only 3 weeks into it, but I have to say it has gone extremely well!

Now back to starting school:

The kids were very excited! Poor Conner didn't know he was going to Kindergarten until practially the day before he started. He took it like a champ though. They are going to the school that Ben went to as a kid. Some of the same teachers are there as well as the headmaster. Very strange feeling for Ben and the teachers I am sure. Linlee and Conner looked so cute in their school uniforms.

So far everything is going great for them. They have both made friends quickly. Neither one got upset when se left that first day. I was very proud.

Siblings, Friends and Family

2010-07-15T10:38:00.007-05:00

After this post I will finally be caught up with blogging. I have been 2 months behind for a while. So, this summer we have spent ALOT of time swimming next door. One morning I decided to take Madeline with us to the spray park. Sidney is not a big fan of actually getting in the spray water (she loves the pool though!). The older kids loved it!

We spent the days around the 4th with friends. We had a wonderful cookout with the Marlars. Avery and Leyton are getting so big! I just love their white blonde hair. Sidney loves playing with them.

A few days later we took our slip-n-slide over to the Fish house and let the kids, joined by the Sumner girls, have a blast getting wet.
Look at all those kids!!!

The Sumners will be adding a new member in just a few more weeks!!

This past Friday we took a trip down to Alabama to visit my parents for a few days before heading to Hattiesburg for some school meetings. We had fun swimming nearly all day Saturday, eating watermelon, playing in the jumping house with Ava and Maleigh and riding the 4 wheeler with Papa.

We then drove to Hattiesburg to visit Grandma and Grandpa. I helped take the kids bowling for the 1st time. They all loved it, but Linlee and Sidney got tired of it before the rest of us. Conner could have bowled all day. In fact, he scored second highest out of all of us with a 96. He really got into it.

We also went fishing a good bit.

Ben and I came back last night and left the kids to spend a few more days down there. I think getting out in the boat and slip-n-sliding down the hill are in the plans for the rest of the week. It is weekends/weeks like this that help reinforce our decision to move. If it is not in God's timing to happen this summer, maybe next summer we can get back home. We shall see.

Living in Quarantine

2010-07-15T10:12:00.004-05:00

A few months ago we had a leak in our refrigerator that got under the floor. We thought we had it taken care of until we noticed that our wood floor started showing signs of water damage. Late June we decided to get it taken care of.

Because the whole dining room and den area is wood, it all had to be sanded and restained. We lived 10 days with the house in disarray. It was sooooo much fun having to crawl throuh zippered plastic each morning from our room, which by the way held 3 rooms worth of furniture.

It is finally done and looks great. We also had our backyard (which was basicallly a dirt farm) beautifully sodded.

I think this will really help in the sale of the house (hopefully).

Berteau Fashion Show

2010-07-15T09:59:00.002-05:00

Poor Conner. He is always the odd man out in just about any group we get together with. So, what other choice does he have when it comes to his sisters playing dress up?? He tries to join in. I encourage him not to put on the fairy dresses so he pulls them off an invents his own character....Captain Underpants. It was hilarious, especially when the other 2 joined him. I don't think I will post those pics for privacy purposes, but I will keep them for future use.....:)

Conner's 5th birthday

2010-07-15T09:44:00.003-05:00

I made the promise to Linlee that when she turned 5 that she didn't have to take naps anymore. Since then, Conner has been counting down the days until he could enjoy that same luxury. Needless to say, he has enjoyed the extra playtime.

I knew that this would likely be the last birthday party we would celebrate in Memphis so I decided to do it a little bigger than our normal at home thing. We booked a party at Incredible Pizza which the kids love.

I let Conner choose the guest list. He invited the Fish and Marlar crew as well as his friend Kate which is the usual guest list. This year he also wanted our neighbor girls as well as Kara, Declan and Will Skinner from is school class.

I think once we finally got to go play games, the kids (and parents) all had a blast.

WDP Spring Musical, Nana and Papa visit.

2010-06-23T11:21:00.003-05:00

I got to go to Field Day at Conner's preschool this year. It was hot but we had lots of fun. Sidney joined us too. Conner waas so proud to have his little sister with him He would hold her hand in line and try to get her to participate. It was very sweet.

The musical was great as well. Conner really enjoys music and singing and it really showed. He was so cute.

Nana and Papa came up to visit shortly after school was out and we just had fun hanging out. We took a trip over to Mud Island. Why haven't we gone there before? It was sooo much fun and free!

The Fish family joined us. We had a picnic and then rode the trolley before heading home and crashing.

I treated Linlee and Nana to a pedicure while the others napped after we got home. That was fun too!!

Linlee's last days of Kindergarten

2010-06-22T09:07:00.005-05:00

The last days of K were bittersweet. Kindergarten put on a production of "The Boy who Cried Wolf". Linlee had a speaking part as one of the villagers. She did great.

They have such a terrific class and group of kids. We loved it!

The last day of school was the bye-bye breakfast

followed by games

a movie and the farawell assembly. It was great to be able to participate. I was just fine until we were leaving. As I was walking down the hall it occurred to me that this would likely be the last time we were there and I just lost it. Parents and kids were just staring and wondering what in the world was wrong with me. I can't help it, I have always been sentimental and I love that school. I hate that we can't take it with us.

The Great Flood

2010-06-11T21:43:00.002-05:00

Ok so when did a tornado warning mean that conditions are favorable for a tornado and not that one had actually been sighted? We had multiple tornado "warning" sirens over the course of this particular weekend. Annelise had slept over and at one point, all the kids ended up on the floor in our room. By the time the day was over, we had our emergency plan down pat. It was actually kind of fun for the kids to hang out in the bathroom.

What wasn't fun was seeing the new white water rafting exhibit that resulted in our back yard. Thank goodness for our new drainage system or we may have needed a raft to get out of the house.

Linlee and the Chocolate Factory

2010-06-09T21:13:00.002-05:00

Linlee's class had a field trip to Dinstul's Chocolate factory. It was quite funny to see how many mom's volunteered to chaperone....

Here are the kids waiting to go in the candy store.

She's not excited at all..

They had some amazing truffles that somehow found there way to my house.

It was a great experience. There was a video on the history of chocolate and then a tour of the facility where we watched them making turtle candy and different treats. Of course there were samples.
Can we say 5 lb bar of chocolate!!

We had a great time!!

Just random events

2010-05-06T21:16:00.005-05:00

Random pictures so here we go.
Linlee had literary character day at school. We had limited costume options so we chose Tinker Bell

Just a cute shot of Sidney while playing outside one morning.

My parents came up one weekend so that Ben and I could got the a marriage retreat in Moscow TN. It was GREAT and we really enjoyed getting away if only for a night.

Another silly Sidney pic.

Ben took a half day and we took the kids to the Botanic Gardens. It was AWESOME!! I wish we had discovered it sooner. The kids had a blast and so did we.

Ben gave Conner and Linlee a hammering lesson. They felt so grown up. It was cute.

Here is a pic of Ben and his dad working on the infamous drainage project. It is finally completed.

Easter Activities

2010-05-06T20:56:00.004-05:00

I can never resist the chance to dress the kids alike (at least the girls as long as they will let me).

After a great morning at church, we headed over to the Fish's house for dinner. The kids had a great time playing as always. Mrs. Angie went throught he resurrection eggs with the kids that would sit still and listen.
The dads kept their attention with an Easter bunny movie.
I have never seen that many of the kids sit that still for that long.

House Hunting and Hiking

2010-04-03T14:44:00.004-05:00

We spent spring break in Hattiesburg doing a little preliminary house hunting. It was fun looking at all the options out there. We also got to spend some time with Ben's family and even got to go out to dinner with some friends. The kids had a blast as always. They took Grandpa on endless "hikes", discovered the art of bodx sledding and went fishing a few times.

Linlee and Conner both caught fish all by themselves. Ben, Linlee and I came back home at the end of the week and Sidney stayed with Ben's parents while Conner went to Alabama to spend some time with Nana and Papa. The break was much needed and I think we all benefited from a change of scenery. Not to mention my house stayed much cleaner....
Sidney came back grown up for sure. So amazing how much difference a few days can make at that age!!
Conner came back telling us all about the difference in hardwood and softwood. Nanaa and Papa had bought a low up slide which they put in their den for the week. How fun!!

Ben and I took Linlee on a few outings while we had her at home. We went to incredible pizza and I took her out for a girls day with lunch at Crepemaker and a pedicure. She loved being an only child for a while, but missed her siblings after a day or 2.

Getting the house ready

2010-04-03T14:32:00.004-05:00

We spent the middle part of February getting the house ready to put on the market. We replaced lighting and put tile in the master bathroom. That was fun!! WE picked the wrong grout color but happily discovered the magic of grout paint. Lots and lots of cleaning out and the house was ready....then the stager came in and rearranged pretty much everything and removed some furniture. I was a bit overwhelmed but after I finished doing all of her suggestions, it looked great. She really knew what she was doing. We have had lots of showings and are just waiting on God's timing.

We also got the pleasure of getting a new roof. All these things we are finally getting around to doing, only to leave it for someone else to enjoy. Why did we wait?? Oh well, we can enjoy for a month or 2.

Snow day with Grandma and Grandpa

2010-04-03T14:23:00.004-05:00

Grandma and Grandpa stayed for a few more days after Sidney's party to go to Grandparent's day at Conner's school. Well, it got snowed out!! We had a really good snowfall!

So instead, we took them to our sledding hill and had a blast. They helped build a snowman and entertain the non sledders.

It was GREAT!!! Sidney loved the snow.

Sidney's Birthday Party

2010-04-03T14:11:00.004-05:00

We had Sidney's party on Feb 6th (which is another very important birthday too... :)) My girl looked so grown up!

WE harnessed our new found love for watercolors and had a paint-a-thon on the garage wall. It was a little chilly but they had fun.

The Fish and Marlars as well as Ben's parents were all here. Because it was my birthday as well, I picked the cake. Delicious strawberry cake from Miss Muffins. YUM!

Sidney got lots of cute dress up clothes, baby dolls, doll accessories, puzzle, and a robot we named Toby. What a great party!

Still Here

2010-03-22T14:56:00.002-05:00

Yes we are still alive and kicking, just BUSY!!! Something had to give and so I am way behind on blogging. I do plan to catch up soon so please bear with me. Our house is currently on the market as we are planning to move to Hattiesburg this summer. Lots of activity on it recently so who knows!!! That is all for now. I will update asap.

Happy Birthday Sidney!

2010-02-01T21:37:00.002-06:00

1st of all, I absolutely loved how the icy trees looked on Sunday morning! The camera does not do it justice at all. Ashleigh Peak, I hope you got some good shots....

We let Sidney have a few presents to open today. I am a big supporter of having birthday parties on actual birthdays, but it is rare that it works that way, so you have to adjust. She LOVED her play pen and swing for her babies. She got other stuff too but didn't notice. She sooo wanted to sleep with the babies as you can tell. Such a girlie girl!

Ok, so here is a list of some of my favorite Sidneyisms:

1. Anytime Linlee or Conner shows her something (aka: artwork, shirt, whatever) she responds by saying, "cool".
2. She is constantly aggravated by her brother (on purpose most of the time) whom she absolutely adores. This leads to yelling by Sidney at Conner to which I say, "Sidney, we don't speak that way, ask him to stop nicely." She then looks at me and with the same tone which she was just yelling at her brother with, yells "Yes Maam." to me. I think she may be missing the point here....:)
3. Linlee was telling her as they were coming down the stairs today that she had some presents to open, to which she responded,"SWEET!"
4. When she is tired, she says "I towered"
5. She calls chick-fil-a "chicalay"
6. About a week ago, I was laying her down for bed and she kept repeating something over and over that I had not heard her say before. I finally figured out that she was saying "thank you God" meaning she wanted to say her prayers. TOO SWEET!!

Happy Birthday to my little entertainer! You are truley a blessing!

Just a few catchup pics

2010-01-29T13:18:00.006-06:00

Not much real excitment going on here. We are officially over the flu so things are getting back to normal.

The youngest 2 thought it would be a great idea to camp out in Lucy's beds. Wonderful, I don't know when I washed those things last...oh well, building immunity right?

I don't really know why I haven't gotten out the paint stuff since Sidney has been born. We used to do this all the time with the other 2. I will be doing it more for sure. They had a BLAST for like 45 minutes. Picture after picture of endless fun.

This is a classic, breathe in real big before you say, "hey mom, i just had the greatest idea!" Conner look.

I am certainly glad I did not get rid of our baby swing a week or so ago. Sidney is obssessed with swinging her babies. This time, she decided to join them. Cute!

I can't believe that my youngest will be 2 on Monday!! I plan to do a my favorites list for her on that day so stay tuned, there are some good ones!

Linlee's 6th Birthday Party

2010-01-21T19:52:00.005-06:00

The fact that I am a few weeks behind on blogging should tell you how busy life has been lately. My mom is here this week though, so I have aa few minutes to start catching up.

We had Linlee's birthday party on Jan 8th so that all her friends that she wanted to invite could come. Her friend Molly came home with us from school and they had a blast playing. We then left and picked up Annelise on our way. We had a car full of silliness let me tell you!!

Another friend from school(Ella) met us there. All these girls have birthdays withing a few weeks of each other which I thought was coincidental. Anyway, no one but Ella had been to build a bear so we were in for a treat. It was awesome and the girls (and Conner) had a great time!

We then took the party next door (in the snow) to The Great American Cookie Co. for gifts and cookie cake. Delicious!!

We had red drinks, can you tell?
It was a great day!! Love you Linlee!

THE Big Night

2010-01-13T22:32:00.002-06:00

Well the night started out perfect. We got all ready with our football game gear.

Put Sid to bed, got settled in the watch the 1st quarter and wham, Conner's head found the coffee table. He went into panic mode while we scrambled to get him cleaned up. In the midst of the crisis, Conner is hysterical and then says "are my brians coming out?" I lost it. That boy is something else.
Ben graciously took him to get stitches so that I could watch the rest of the game.
And what a game it was!!!! National Champions!!!!

Enjoying the snow with friends

2010-01-13T22:06:00.003-06:00

We got to spend some time with the Marlar girls last week and they all had a blast. They happened to be with us when the snow came. The kids were all excited.

We got all bundled up (no easy task!!) and went out to enjoy the little bit of snow that we got.

Then we enjoyed some after snow hot chocolate.

New Year's Day

2010-01-13T21:47:00.004-06:00

Ben has kind of started a New Year's Day tradition of pulling out the turkey fryer. This year he invited people to come in shifts and we made a day of it. I think he wound up frying about 4. They turned out delicious!

The kids loved having all the people in and out to talk with. They really jumped on Mr Al.

December

2009-12-31T15:19:00.009-06:00

Sidney:

Sidney went home with my parents on Dec 13th. She got to play with Ava at the office and "help" Nana work. I am really glad she got to spend this time with them even though she came back with a few habits that I am still debating on. One is that she will not only roll her eyes like a pro (she had mastered this already) but will cross her arms and say "good grief" along with it. Cute but I predict it will come back to haunt me later.... She also has this fascination with Charlie Brown the great pumpkin. She asks to watch it about 4 times a day. Everyone loves Charlie Brown, however this one in particular uses a few words (aka stupid, fool, block head) many times and I have heard it repeated in the house already by a few members of the family. He may have to disappear until we are older. Her favorite phrase right now is "I not scared." which usually means that she is. Cute.

Linlee and Conner:

We all had a fabulous time in West Virginia once we finally got there. The road conditions got worse and worse the closer we got to Snowshoe.

We saw many a car buried in snow in the ditch. Luckily, we did not wind up joining them. The picture of half the road with a mound of snow is a good representative of the snow buried car. Kind of dangerous. The snow plows just went right around them.

The Inn where we stayed was in a beautiful location. Many mornings we would see deer outside. I think one evening we counted 14 on our 5 minute drive back from the slopes. The first day we signed the kids up for ski lessons. Ben also got to ski a little with his cousin Jimmy. I, however opted not to try it that day due to the fact that you couldn't seed 3 feet in front of you clearly. I would have hit every person on the slopes. It was miserable!!

To make up for the blizzard like conditions the day before, the next day was absolutely perfect!!

Ben and I took Linlee out skiing that morning which was a blast.
She went with Ben down the green slope and loved it.
That afternoon, the whole clan went tubing.

My camera died right before this so I got no pics but will get copies from aunt Sandy. Ben and I went back skiing that night and it was cold but fabulous!!! I hated to be leaving the next day! Uncle Bobby and Aunt Angie arrived that evening and we had presents round 1 with them. I hate that we didn't get to see them more!

All the kids got along so great! The ages were perfect however, Robbie and Linlee seemed inseperable at times.
We also inherited another little 4 year old named Colton whom Conner related well to so that was great to.:)

We drove from 11:00 am until 2:40 am the next day to get back to Aquilla for Christmas Eve. That is a LONG time to be in the car (we put 2100 miles on our rented minivan this trip) but the kids did GREAT! We were sooo glad to be there.

On the 24th, we went to Papa John's for early appetizers and gifts followed by service at First Baptist.
We then finished with dinner at Grandma Giles house with more gifts.
Delicious. The kids had a blast.

On Christmas morning we opened gifts with the kids and then got ready for the whole Smith clan to arrive.
I am not sure how many showed up this year but we are going to have to start renting out a bigger building for this crew. We were even missing about 8 or 9 people this year and it was still crazy! I don't see how Nana keeps her sanity having all those people in her house. She does it like a pro though.

We stayed a few more days with Nana and Papa. My best friend from high school came and brought her girls for a visit. It was good to see them.

We then made our way back to Collierville.
We had a very full van and still didn't make it back with everything. We were very blessed this year. Man it is good to be home!

We celebrated Linlee's 6th birthday at home with birthday doughnuts that morning, and then she helped design her cake for that afternoon. She also requested bbq nachos as her birthday dinner. That is a true memphis girl!

Her actual party will be at build-a-bear this year on Jan 8th so more pics from that to come. I just can't believe that she is now 6!!!
She is pretty proud of her split so here is a pic! I sure can't do that anymore....ouch!

Still Here

2009-12-19T14:42:00.003-06:00

Yes, we are still on the planet. Haven't really had much time to post things lately (imagine that!). Sidney went home with my parents last Sunday so we have been a family of 4 this week. I have missed her to death, but it was a busy week so it was for the best. She has definitely had fun. WE have been planning and packing for our trip to Snowshoe West Virginia. Of course the night before we leave, the snowstorm of the century is moving through that area. WE are on the road right now and are just going to see how it goes. As of 1 hr ago, Snowshoe has had 24 inches of snow since last night!!!! If all else fails, we will detour to Gatlinburg for a few days. More to come. (I don't have my cord to transfer pics so that will have to come later.)

Ashleigh Peak photos

2009-11-25T21:42:00.005-06:00

I have had access to these for a while but got my cd today so I can post some for the rest of you to see! I absolutely love these portraits! Ashleigh Peak is a genious! If you ever need professional pics made, contact her at www.ashleighpeak.com.

There is something perfect about how this picture represents the photo shoot. Linlee was happy and cooperative, Conner was wild but cute and happy, Sidney just wasn't either of those things. Seriously, for Ashleigh to be able to get any decent ones of Sid is a miracle!

There is also a really great family shot that I am using for the Christmas card so you will just have to wait for that one...

Preschool and super cool Party

2009-11-16T20:19:00.004-06:00

Conner's preschool had their annual Fall Program last week. He sang really LOUD during some parts, participated well in most parts and sat out on a few parts. All in all it was very enjoyable.

Linlee had her first classmate birthday party on Friday. It was at a really cool place where they got to jump into a pit of foam blocks, jump really high with cables on a trampoline and zipline across the room. I have to admit, I was jealous!!!

Fate

2009-11-06T13:58:00.004-06:00

Well, let's see. It has been a few weeks so I need to catch up.

Linlee's class had a field trip to a real live farm and the kids and I got to join in on the fun. I felt horrible due to the fact that I had a horrendus cold and didn't really feel like being around 20ish kids, but all in all it was fun. They got to examine and pick many crops, see cows and horses and goats, ride in a hayride, see giant pumpkins, etc. Very cool.

We then took a much needed trip down to Alabama to visit my parents and family. Sidney and Ava got to see a little bit of each other. They are about 2 months apart in age so in a few years, watch out! They look like they are thinking, "Wow, we made a mess. Do you think they see it? Maybe if we just keep looking down, they won't notice."

We had lots of fun spending time outside, roasting hotdogs and marshmellows. Sidney learned the meaning of the word hot first hand when she touched the grill. OUCH! She was fine after a while though. The trip was way too short!

For as long as she has been doing it, I have loved Ashleigh Peak Photography and have really wanted to have her take pictures of our family. I also wanted to wait until Sid was old enough to somewhat cooperate and smile on command. Well, Ashleigh is doing holiday mini session this weekend and we are doing it! Yay. (if you have never seen her work, check it out here: http://www.ashleighpeak.com/
Anyway, I have been obsessing over these pics, picking the right outfits, nervous that we won't all perform well, etc. Well this week has been full of life lessons and I learned yet another one last night. Sidney fell out of a chair and whacked her cheek on the wooden part of our futon.

Oh yeah, nice big shiner on her cheek just in time for pics. I am assured that photoshop can take car of it. Don't worry about small things in life, there are much bigger problems out there that people deal with than worrying that my pics won't turn out well...:)

Annual Fall Square pics (and catch up)

2009-10-19T21:59:00.002-05:00

I am a little behind on things but was way too excited about how these pics turned out to wait and share them later. I will come back and make updates as I have time about:
1. Sidney potty training. So all on her own, Sidney mentioned going potty while we were upstairs in the playroom. I grabbed her up and ran downstairs to her potty which has been sitting in the bathroom just to peak her interest. I in no way have been even attempting this because I learned my lesson about starting too early with Linlee. So just for fun, I sat Sid down on it and started talking to her about it. In mid conversation, she began to go in the potty! I think it suprised her as much as it did me! I chalked it up to being a fluke and went on after we made a super huge deal about it of course! Well, since then, she has gone at least once a day sometimes twice (without any coaching or pushing from me). We by no means have it mastered, but I am beginning to think it is more than a fluke and may actually start trying to get this thing done. I am sooo looking forward to that last diaper purchase (just didn't expect it this soon!)

2. D&D 3rd birthday bash. Our friend's twins turned 3 this past week and had an awesome trian party at their house. They rented a "train" for the kids to ride around the block in. All the kids thought this was the greatest thing ever (it really was!). Crazy madness but loads of fun as always!

3. Tom's farm part 2. We had so much fun the last time we went that we decided to take our Sunday School class back to Tom's farm. The number of people that decided to brave the very cold weather was few but we had a great time!!

4. Fall break activities. Linlee and Conner were on fall break this past week. Ben decided to take off work too so we could all spend time together. Friday night we "camped" out in the playroom (since it was too cold outside) after a quick run to DQ (yum). We played card games and slept on pallets on the floor (never do that the day before a very busy day..). The next day was birthday party, college football, and tom's farm. On Monday we had the below photo shoot and just played outside. Not many outings but great family time.

Random Pics

2009-10-14T15:46:00.002-05:00

Sidney still loves to swing. This is a daily request and lately it has been raining so once the sun comes back out, we have some catching up to do.
Sid creating fun on the kitchen floor...

Linlee got to bring home the class "pet" this past weekend. His name is Brownie and he is a webkin. She had to document activities, write a report with pictures and present it to her class on Monday. I think this is great!! We didn't realize that we have had a webkin for over 2 years now and so when we discovered it on Tues, we have played alot! It is really cool.

We are probably going to miss out on dressing up this halloween so Sid decided to try out her costume. This is a costume that Annelise wore when she was 2. It fits Sid's personality to a T! She loves it.

Sid and Conner being sweet.

Sidney said "I love."

Tom's Farm

2009-10-05T08:42:00.002-05:00

We took a trip to a pumkin patch/farm this past Sat with our neighbors. So much fun~~~ Here are a few pics from our outing.

stitches and teeth

2009-09-28T21:02:00.000-05:00

Conner got his stitches out on Friday and it looks great. Our neighbor is a nurse and removed them for us.

Linlee finally lost her first tooth tonight. She was so excited and Ben and I are happy for her but a little sad...

Playground and Funis Runis

2009-09-25T20:32:00.005-05:00

How cute am I???

I took Sid and Conner to the playground this morning and snapped a few pics. there was absolutely no one else there (probably because it was drizzling) so we had a blast.

Linlee's school held their annual Funis Runis which is a fundraiser for tuition assistance. the kids get sponsers for running 20 laps. These were not just any laps though. They really made it fun by making them limbo, do dances, run in slow motion etc. It was so stinkin cute!! I didn't really get any great shots of Linlee due to the fact that she was pretty much running the whole time and there were lots of people.

Dress up and Stitches?

2009-09-19T20:22:00.004-05:00

Sidney is definitely going to be my girly girl. Linlee never really loved dolls or dress up for that matter. Sidney on the other hand loves both. We can't walk through the toy isle without her wanting every doll in sight.

She has just recently discovered Linlee's dress up box. Notice that Conner is about to grab the train that Sid is playing with. Get ready for the reaction...

This is her "I don't like what he just did." face. This is usually followed by the soon to be patented stick out the bottom lip move. I didn't catch it this time...

Later in the day, Conner was doing something in the kitchen and I was in the den with Sid when I heard a loud thump followed by a scream. I run to the kitchen and meet Conner with blood all over his face. He looked like he had been in a horror movie!. He had a pretty good gash on his forehead from where he banged into the cabinet. At this moment he is at the minor med getting stitches, but here he is after I bandaged him up for the trip.

What a pitiful face. Poor little buddy.

Here is the first sighting of Conner's stitches since he got them. I was really suprised that they do not look bad at all!! Great job Dr!

Labor Day Weekend/ College Football, and Fishing

2009-09-08T11:19:00.007-05:00

We took a trip to Hattiesburg for the weekend. Sid and I were upstairs playing and took a "ride" on the total gym. She loved it!

This was opening weekend for college football. We all LOVE to watch football (maybe not all for the same team) but we love it just the same. Here is Sid ready for the Alabama game...

the LSU game came on before the Alabama game was over. I don't know how I scored getting to keep the nice big TV in the den while they all went to the bedroom, but I did. I felt sorry for them and was going to go offer to trade with them since I was the lone Bama fan. After I saw this I didn't feel very sorry anymore. Looks like I might have gotten jipped...

The kids love going to Grandma and Grandpa's house to fish. Conner actually caught this one all by himself from start to finish! He was SOOOOO proud of himself!

We left Sidney with my parents for the week and came back on Sunday. Monday we all enjoyed lots of fun activities. Ben and I did yard work and the kids played outside. They actually made pb&j for all of us for lunch, by themselves!!! Later we went swimming and for supper we went to Incredible Pizza. We had never been there before. It was a bit overwhelming (and LOUD), but we all had a blast!!!

1st day of preschool

2009-09-02T15:11:00.005-05:00

Conner has been so excited to go to preschool...that is until the morning it was time to go. I knew when he got up saying "no school" that it was not going to be a smooth transition. He was trying to hide his smile the whole way there...

I did happen to catch one on the way in the door. and then..

He just would not go in. The teacher tried everything to make it as easy as possible but he did tear up before I left. Oh well, it will get better.

I actually got pig tails in her hair last week!!

This was her sneaking out to the tomato bush to pick tomatos while I was folding clothes in the laundry room. That little stinker. Red or green, didn't matter to her.
I also caught her on attempting the 2nd step on the ladder of Conner's bunk beds today. I stood behind her just in case she were to fall, just to see if she could make it all the way. She did!!! Without assistance. oh man! The ladder will be out of reach when we are not around from now on. Little monkey girl!

Zoo pictures

2009-08-28T14:33:00.001-05:00

I took Conner and Sidney to the zoo this morning. It was as this picture appears, we were practically the only ones there at 9:00!! Perfect timing!

Conner loved taking care of his sister. She adores her big brother!

My attempts at professional photog....

Misc from the weekend

2009-08-25T14:36:00.003-05:00

This is an example of a Dora trance....

Grandma and Grandpa visited this past weekend and brought the convertable. The older kids got to joy ride to get ice cream on Sunday. They loved it!

The kids discovered new Croc accessories!! Tinker toys.

1st day of Kindergarten

2009-08-21T14:58:00.005-05:00

Well, it is official, I have a Kindergartener!!! Can you believe it? I can't! Linlee had her 1st day yesterday with just the girls. Today was the 1st official day with everyone. They kicked off the morning with a Boo Hoo Breakfast for the parents and children. Very cute. We then took pictures, read a story and said our goodbyes. I was just fine and did not shed a tear until the ride home while reading a poem from the teacher. Thanks Mrs. Barclay...
Linlee loves school and is so excited!!!

The whole class! (all 9 of them!)

Conner's excitement for the day!

Children Updates

2009-08-18T12:40:00.003-05:00

LINLEE
Linlee took an Iron Chef Jr class at church and just finished last week. They had lots of fun and made very yummy treats. Here she is in all her gear.

Life is starting to get a lot busier these days with school starting to gear up. Linlee has her first day on the 20th this week. She is soooo excited!! We had meet the teacher yesterday. She will have Mrs Barclay this year. She seems very nice and organized. We can't wait! We also have decided to start letting Linlee earn commission for chores (aka allowance) this week. We spent yesterday making out her chore chart and she will earn 5 cents per chore per day. I bought her this piggy bank that is divided into 3 categories, bank, store, church. We thought now that she is a new Christian and is old enough to understand, it would be a good time to start teaching her about money. She seems excited. I will of course post pics on the 1st day of school...

CONNER

Oh Conner, he is as much fun/trouble as ever. On Monday I was busy cooking supper and he walked in per usual asking for a snack. I told him no because he had already had one after nap and because I was working on supper. He left and I thought went back into the office with the other 2. A few minutes later, I caught a blur running past the dining room door. I called out Conner's name and he slowly walked in with a big box of Whoppers in his hand!! His cheeks were filled to the max and he looked like a chipmunk. OH BOY!! I made him spit them out and sent him to his room. Later that night, he was caught in a lie and got the usual punishment ( a good dose of Tabasco..) Only, Ben gave him a lot more than I usually do and he drank so much water that he threw up. Tough day for that little boy.

SIDNEY

Little miss Sidney has worked on tooth numbers 3,4,5, and 6 for the last few weeks. I caught sight of number 7 and 8 this morning. 6 teeth in 4 weeks has been relatively tough, but no baby dentures in our future!! hooray!
Earlier this week, we went on our post dinner walk and Ben and I were swining her between us. On one particular swing, her arm popped. She came unglued!! After about 20 minutes of hard crying, I finally got her calmed down and in bed. I did notice that she wasn't moving her arm and thought I would see if she slept ok. I just knew it was broken with our track record... anyway. She slept well and woke up fine. Still not moving her arm though. I decided to take her to see the Dr and he said it was Nursemaid's Elbow (dislocated). He popped it back in and all was well. DRAMA!
She is very much a busy body these days. Between her and Conner, I have lots of "how did that get in here?" and "where did that come from?" moments... My house will never be the same.

We had a great playdate last week with the Kirby and Fish children. We met them at the mall and rode the train, carousel and played in the play area. Crazy with 8 kids 5 and under!!! Enjoyable though!

WEll that's it for now...

Sidney's 18 month stats

2009-08-10T15:44:00.002-05:00

At 18 months old, Sid weighs 21 lb 12 oz (25%) and is 31.5 inches tall (50%). She is cutting 2 more top teeth and 1 bottom tooth right now. She fell and scraped her left knee on the way into the dr office so we had crying pretty much from start to finish. However, we now have matching knee scrapes, bandaids on both legs from shots and a hand bobo. She looks rough right now. All comes with age.

Todd, April and Ava visit.

2009-08-09T14:46:00.002-05:00

My brother and his family came up to visit this past weekend. The kids were so excited to have them! My niece Ava is 2 months older than Sidney. Sidney battled an issue with personal space invasion all weekend, but as these pics show, they did have a few ok moments together. Ava was a doll and had a great time. She was very well behaved and soo sweet. Linlee and Conner just adored playing with her. We spent Sat morning at the spray park, then attempted to have pictures made at Portrait Innovations that afternoon. This didn't happen because they were soooo crowded. We had an appointment, but it really didn't seem to matter, so we decided it wasn't worth it. We did try to take some on our own, but not everyone wanted to cooporate. I will have to get those pics from Todd...

We got a sitter to watch the kids that night and the adults went out to dinner. Such a great idea because we really haven't had a chance to do that with Todd and April without kids involved. After dinner at Molly's (yum yum) we went bowling until about 11:30!!! So much fun (especially since I had the highest score of the night....:)) We were sad to see them go this am!!

The park and Belated 18 month birthday

2009-08-04T15:01:00.005-05:00

Today I took the kids to the playground and we had a picnic. It is a great shaded place to play. Alecia and her gang joined us for a little while. Got a few pretty good pics.

I totally forgot on the 1st that my "baby" was officially 1 1/2 years old. I didn't even think about it until the 3rd!!! BAD MOMMY!! Lots on my mind apparently. We go to the Dr on the 10th for our updated stats. She is well on her way to a full set of teeth with 2 more cutting through this week. Fun....

F.A.R.T. class social

2009-07-30T20:39:00.004-05:00

Tonight our Connect Group (aka Sunday school class) had a class social scheduled. We were to meet at the Pettet's house, eat and load up to go to the concert on the square. Well, as we were loading up to go eat, the weather sirens go off. After much debate, we decided that we would rather be with our group than home alone, so we went. The weather wasn't really that bad where we were. Just lots and lots of rain! We partied to the sound of the siren for about an hour. LOTS of fun, and needless to say, the concert was canceled. Here are just a few pics of the kiddos at the party.

What we did all summer

2009-07-30T15:27:00.000-05:00

We have become pretty good friends with the neighbors next door (and no it is not just for their pool, although that is a great perk!) We are over there swimming almost every sunny day that we can. She sent me these pics from a few weeks ago and I thought they were good so here you go.

Water balloon fight

2009-07-30T15:23:00.001-05:00

Yesterday we decided to have a water balloon fight with the neighbors. Poor Ben got the brundt of the ammo.... the moms had the cameras so they couldn't get us....:)

Sidney's Haircut

2009-07-28T14:28:00.004-05:00

Here is the before picture. I like her little slight curls but the uneveness was bugging me for a while. I figured, hair grows so why not.

Cute I think. She was watching Dora so she didn't even realize that I was messing with her. Gotta love Dora...

No I don't let my kids drink coke but it was empty and she was interested.

Conner's new sleeping position

2009-07-26T07:26:00.003-05:00

In typical Conner fashion, he fell asleep about 10 minutes before he was allowed to get up. Atypical however, was the position in which he fell asleep. He is actually standing on his left leg with his right leg curled under him, resting on the bed. I thought he was pretending when I came in, but after poking and prodding him, I was convinced he was sound asleep!!! I took the picture, left his door open and went downstairs. He slept for about another 15 minutes like that.

A few Sidney videos.

2009-07-21T15:40:00.001-05:00

Not much going on this week. Last week however, we had a time with Sidney and her teeth cutting. Yes, you read right, she is FINALLY cutting more teeth after cutting her first 2 SIX months ago. She is 1 1/2 (practically) and only had 2 teeth! I was genuinely getting worried. Anyway, she has cut 1 on top and I am sure there are more to come. I have never been so happy to have a cranky girl... They had lots of fun playing with this box.

Conner is listening better to some extent. He is still trying to "be the boss" at times, but his daily spanking tally is down dramatically right now. He even let me camp out in his room last night on his bunk bed! fun!

The kids had a blast 2 weeks ago at Nana and Papa's house. I just realized that I hadn't posted anything about that. I took the week off from everything that week. ALL 3 went. Ben and I were back to DINK days (double income no kids). It was great. What freedom. I did miss them, but I didn't miss having to wipe down counters 3-4 times daily or having massive amounts of laundry to do. I even allowed myself to sleep in one morning!!

anyway, here is another video for Ava to enjoy!

Linlee's Big Day

2009-07-06T13:39:00.004-05:00

On May 20th (my 9th wedding anniversary), I was putting the kids to bed. We read a story about a little boy who decided to ask Jesus into his heart. I had talked with Linlee about this a few time and had told her that if she ever felt like she was ready to do that, just let me know. I was putting Conner in his room and Linlee had gone out into the hallway. When I came out to put her to bed, she said she had something to tell me. I said ok and she said that she had just prayed to ask Jesus into her heart. I was so excited for her but also a little hesitant due to the fact that she is only 5. How much could she really understand right? Even though we had discussed it at length. We talked for a while, but she seemed sort of embarrased. That is one thing that I never want her to be is embarrased to talk to me so I just dropped it for the night, not wanting to push her. We talked briefly about her decision over the next few days. One night I decided to just push for the reason why she was embarrased. She told me that she thought that she might be too young to make such a decision. "that is something that older people usually do..." I was thinking to myself, "that answer tells me that she understands and is more mature than I thought." I reassured her that she was ready and that it is the most exciting and important decision she could ever make. She shouldn't be embarrased, but excited and anxious to tell others. The next day she told me that she had prayed the prayer again and wasn't as bashful this time!! We rejoiced!

She attended a backyard Bible club a few days later at a friends house. After the Bible lesson, Linlee raised her hand and said that she had something to tell everyone. She proceeded to share her exciting news with a few friends that she knew, some she didn't and some of their mom's. I wasn't there, she did it all on her own. I was touched that she felt that joy and wanted to share it. Since then I have observed her confessing a sin after I got on to her for not listening (which is rare.). She did it very discreetly, but I noticed. That really did my heart good. My doubts about her age are gone and my heart rejoices.

We met with the children's ministry leader and she went through all the in's and out's with Linlee, after that we set a date for baptism. She was baptized July 5th and both sets of grandparents were able to attend. I was able to help her get ready and it was a really special time. I was in awe of her bravery and excitement. I would have never been able to do that in front of that many people when I was her age or even older. Thank goodness she is not shy like I was!!

Here are a few pics from her special day!

Afterward, we went to eat at Jason's Deli (her new favorite place) and the next morning, I sadly and happily sent all three home to Nana and Papa's house for the week. Oh what to do with myself!!!

Waterslide Fun

2009-06-27T14:55:00.005-05:00

Our Connect Group (aka ss class) had a social this Saturday. The host was brave enough to make it a family affair. I didn't get a head count but there were 35 + people there and at least half were children. Linlee was the oldest (she is 5). Ponder that one for a few minutes.....brave people!! They all did great though and no major catastrophies. Here are a few pics

There were kids literally climbing the walls. :)

Pretty girls

Sid got in touch with her rapper side...

For Ava

2009-06-26T13:35:00.003-05:00

Ava loves watching sidney videos on here so I have to put new ones one occasionally. enjoy!!

Avery came over to "swim" yesterday. Look at those curls!! love it!

Just pictures

2009-06-24T09:08:00.001-05:00

Fun in the Sun

2009-06-18T14:27:00.005-05:00

I have been really busy lately so no blog time. We had a full week of VBS last week and I am just recovering. WOW!! A room full of very active (23 to be exact)4-year olds really made me appreciate the fact that I only have 3 kids!!

After catching up on house stuff all week, I took the kids to the playground and waterpark this morning. We got there at 8:30 hoping to beat the heat, but it was still very hot. They really enjoyed the water this time!!

Avery was able to come for a little while as well and had a blast!

Sidney had her 1st juice box (actually fruit and veggie)today and was fascinated by it. She loved it!

She has some of the funniest faces....

Getting Sid's new pool ready for this afternoon.

Just odds and ends

2009-06-02T14:31:00.000-05:00

Sidney is getting very comfortable with her walking skills. She will take off all over the house on her own. As soon as anyone else besides our family is around, she gets really shy and won't walk on her own. She takes the "I will ignore them and not look at them and maybe they will disappear" approach. It takes her a few minutes to warm up to people these days. She is still a very happy girl, but has become a major mama's girl.

We are enjoying the summer. Our neighbors have a pool which we have visited a few times already. Their girls are 7 and 9. Linlee and Conner just adore them so it has been a great distraction for all of them to get to play together. It should be a great summer. Already very HOT!! I pulled out our kiddie pool today and am getting it ready.

The day after Conner's party where we had a turtle visit, I spotted another one on our front porch. Don't know what the draw is, but we seem to be a magnet for critters.

School, Zoo, 4th Birthday Party

2009-05-26T08:39:00.002-05:00

Last Thurs. was our last day of pre-school. Sad to think L will be in Kindergarten in a few months!! The end of an era..

I was feeling brave on Friday and took my 3 to the zoo all by myself. It was so much fun!!! They loved it, all 3 of them!! Sid would make all the appropriate animal noises which was so cute. WE will definitely make good use of our membership!

Here is Sidney thinking that I am hilarious...

Conner's 4th birthday party was great! Daddy took them to get doughnuts for breakfast which they loved. We had a Handy Manny party. I made toolbelts for everyone and we set up various construction stations. One was making structures out of toothpicks and gumdrops. We had no eye injuries!! We also set up a game in the garage where 2 teams competed to build a pre-made structure the fastest using tinker-toys and magnetix. Ben got some large boxes and cut out holes in them to make a tunnel maze. So fun!! I then let the kids paint the boxes. Very entertaining!! Some even ended up with blue highlights...Conner got some great gifts!! During the gift openeing process we nocticed a turtle on the back porch so that was exciting!
We had gotten Conner a set of bunkbeds a few weeks ago as an early gift and he absolutely loves them. He was still sleeping on a toddler bed so it was time. I can't believe that I have a 4 yr old!! Love you Conner!

Beach Vacation 2009

2009-05-18T09:27:00.007-05:00

Wow what a great time we had!!! On Monday we drove to my parent's house to stay the night. Tues Morning we got up and were loading the car to leave for FT Walton, FL. Around 8:45, Nana came running into the house with a panic on her face. She had cut her arm on some glass in the trash and I wound up rushing her to the dr to get stitches. Twelve to be exact. WARNING HERE IS A PICTURE OF THE STITCHES!

After all that excitement, we were off. Our condo was amazing!!! Brand new and gorgeous. It was predicted to rain all week but we never even got 1 drop! We went directly to the beach and pool as soon as we got there. The beach was great and Sidney loved the sand. She didn't care much for the water though. The other two (expecially Linlee) were like fish. I think Linlee stayed in the water 4-5 hours a day. Thankfully we didn't come back with any sunburn!! (only my shoulders got a little red). It was the perfect time to go! Not too hot and not crowded at all!!!

The best thing was definitely the pool areas. They had 2 kiddie pool areas with spray park like things and an awesome water slide that they loved!! We all had a great time watching them play and make friends.

We ate great food too. The first night we went to Staffs and it was delicious. We also went to the Crap Trap, and Acme Oyster house. The Donut Hole was great for breakfast also! Thanks to everyone for all the restaurant suggestions. Great job! Ok, I am going to bombard you with pictures now! I had all the clothes packed to do the typical white shirt family photos on the beach but we never got around to it. Oh well, there will be other trips.

Happy 15 Months!

2009-05-02T06:47:00.000-05:00

My baby is 15 months old! She is hilarious and knows it. I just love her personality.

We really haven't had all that much going on (or at least I haven't taken many pictures of it). Conner got a big boy bunk bed a few weeks ago and just love it! Both kids are having a blast sleeping on that. Linlee has learned to ride her bike without training wheels. She is so proud of herself and so am I. Ben helped her while I was at work last weekend, so I missed the inaugural ride, but saw her the next morning. They both had their spring musical at church last night. Ben's parents were able to be here for it this year. It was soo cute! Sidney just danced and laughed and clapped the whole time. Conner and Linlee did all their moves just right. Loved it! Of course, I didn't have my camera (bad mommy) but maybe I can scrounge up pictures from somewhere!
that's about it!!

The long awaited accomplishment!

2009-04-20T07:58:00.001-05:00

Now, she is by no means ready to use this as her exclusive means of transportation, but we are taking steps on our own when prompted! Finally! One step at a time...

this one is for Ava's entertainment :)

Day at the Park

2009-04-18T06:49:00.001-05:00

The weather was sooo nice yesterday, so we decided to go have a picnic and play at the park. The kids (and adults) had a blast!!! The playground was awesome, we saw ducks and even found a caterpillar. Linlee brought him home of course. I think they found 5 of them once the day was over. I hope they all make it.....

Out like a light.

2009-04-14T14:05:00.000-05:00

Sidney was really out when I went to get her up from her morning nap. Yes, she takes one but is really wanting not to. I usually put her down at 9 but she rarely falls asleep until 10. I make sure to get her up around 10:30 because I really want her to nap at 1 when Conner does. Manipulation.... I am trying to decide if I should take it down to 1 nap but I am not quite ready I think. She is.....

Sidney is really talking alot now and it is great! I have tried to get it on film but have yet to do it. She loves to say "gotta gooooooooooo!" and yesterday she started counting!! I said "1" and she came out with "2, 3". Amazing. She know lots of signs for things to like more, please, thank you, milk, happy and stop. It is really nice to be able to comminicate a little!

Easter Morning Pics

2009-04-13T09:28:00.002-05:00

We were in a rush as usual on Easter morning so we only got a few pics and none of all of us. Sorry Dad, you didn't make the cut did you? I have given up trying to fix Sidney's hair because as soon as she is sitting still long enough, out comes the hair accessories and off comes the sock and shoes. Every time.

Egg Hunt and Fishing

2009-04-10T13:00:00.005-05:00

Linlee and Conner had their Easter egg hunt at preschool yesterday. I luckily got to be there for both of the egg hunts this year! It was great. Linlee's class hunted eggs by which sticker they had on their card. Very fun and cute idea!

Conner's class had their names on all their eggs. He found 7 out of 8 of his. There was another class hunting near where Conncer's class was. His eggs were very distiguishable and I saw someone from the other class pick up on of Conner's eggs. Conner saw this too but we thought maybe the other boy had eggs like Conner's. Well, after a few minutes, Conner decided he was not ok with this. When his class went back inside, I went over to the other kids basket and retrieved the egg in question. Hope he didn't notice....it was an honest mistake, his name was Connor and the teacher helping must have just quickly read the name and thought yay (even though they were using the sticker method...)

We took the Fish family fishing yesterday as they had never been...ironic huh??
We had a great time!!! Sidney loved going down the hill of the bridge in her jeep. She will now say "cheese" when I take a picture.

While Annelise was borrowing Linlee's fishing rod, Linlee found a dandelion. She was sooooo excited. "I have wanted to blow on one of these my whole life!!!" she said. cute!

We have never taken a picture of the moms with all the kids so we took advantage of the oportunity. Our lives are so intertwined and these kids are a very large part of each of us. I kind of dread the fall when we sort of go our seperate paths once school starts. What a lot of kids!!! We had to take about 12 shots before all of them were at least looking forward at one time!
ps, Daniel had a mishap in the water and had to strip halfway. he usually is wearing pants....

Fun Weekend

2009-04-06T10:18:00.001-05:00

We went to visit Grandma and Grandpa this weekend. Always a great time! The kids loved fishing and even had some luck. Conner actually cast, hooked , reeled and brought in a bass all by himself from the boat! He was soooo proud. I caught the largest bass and Ben caught lots of fish and a turtle!! Linlee caught several but they all got off the hook before we could get them in.
We went to a birthday party for one of Ben's best friends little boy. It was great to see old friends and the kids had a blast!!!

Sidney's favorite pastime was standing in this chair and turning the lights on and off. She loved it and Grandma was good to stand there and let her do it to her hearts content.