Day 2.....and 3 and 4.

Yep- I already got way behind. But we are BUSY, dangit. Cut me some slack. Besides, based on my last post (Day 1...), nobody cares much anyway! ;)

Saturday night, we headed over to my parents' house and went to church with them on Sunday morning. Then we spent pretty much the next two days doing this...




That's right. Read my "Rockband face" and weep. I am becoming a professional. This was the first time I had every played, and I was a.d.d.i.c.t.e.d. to it. I forced the family to play constantly so I could improve my skillllzzz. My dad had the latest Beatles version, and we completely conquered the entire game (if that tells you how much we played). So fun. Owen became quite a pro on the drums, too.

G-Mommy spoiled the kids while we were there- taking them to Toys R Us to buy early bday presents, and taking them to see Princess and the Frog.

Hazel fell in love with Aunt Paige on this trip. I'm pretty sure all it took was Paige buying her a princess coloring book and then coloring in it with her. On the way to bed that night, Hazel whispered in my ear "I love Paige...she's my best friend."




Here's a random sequence of pictures that Hazel asked me to take so she could make a bunch of different faces.

She even let Paige cut her hair. It's been getting quite scraggly because she refuses to let anyone cut it. She was juuuuust tired enough this night to not be able to protest.

My mom made my favorite meal (her chicken tetrazini) and one of her delicious cakes with homemade fudge frosting for an early celebration of my birthday. I didn't want the production of 31 candles, so I stuck a knife in the middle and called it a day. This picture just cracked me up. I don't know why my dad appears to be reprimanding me, or why both of my children look demonic, OR why Paige and I are making such tardo faces.

She even let me lick the fudge pan (a first).

Then on Tuesday, we jumped in the car with Sarah and Jen and drove 3 1/2 hours to Thomasville where Nathan's dad and grandma live. We drove straight to Nana's house and spent a lovely afternoon on her porch. The weather was beautiful, and her yard was just the epitome of Spring in the South. Moss hanging from the oaks, pear and plum trees in bloom, bees buzzing around our heads. We (I) just couldn't pass up the picture opportunities.

Across from Nana's house, there is a little farm with a mule, a horse, and a donkey. We took over some apples to coax them in our general direction.

This one was the mule....I think it was the biggest mule in the world. Huge. He was in love with Owen.

From Nana's house, we drove over to Nathan's aunt's house. Teresa has a beautiful home- I wish I had taken pictures (that's NOT it in the background). But we spent most of our time outside in the beautiful weather. They had a trampoline that the kids couldn't tear themselves away from.

We even had a family jumping session. This was my favorite picture. Hazel did lots of face plants, and I was happy to capture one in progress.

Then we sat on Teresa's beautiful porch and reminisced until dinner. Here are the kids with Nana.

At some point, Sarah made a comment to insinuate that she could run faster than Nathan. When he scoffed at the idea, she started asking people who they would "put money on" in a race. Of course I picked Nathan. It was quite an event- we all went out ot the yard to record and time and watch this race. As you will see, Nathan easily won. He even slows down at one point to let her catch up and still wins.

Excuse Hazel's screaming. She somehow thought she was a part of this race and was a little discouraged by how quickly her components left her in their dust.

We drove home from Thomasville at 8:30 and got back to Ghee's house at about midnight. Went to bed at 1:30 and spent the entire next day (day 5) laying in bed and lounging around the house while it rained and rained and rained. That evening we spent some time at my friend Summer's house playing with her kids and then got a delicious potato pizza from Partner's Pizza. MAN I miss that pizza.....I think I will go have some for breakfast right now.

Day 1

It's Spring Break again and we are back in Georgia. We didn't fly standby this time, so the trip here was much more enjoyable. I will try to document our trip as we go so nobody (including me) will be overwhelmed with a huge post.


Some of the kids' quotes thus far:


-I was showing Owen where to throw away his paper towel in the airplane bathroom and he peered down into the little trash receptacle and asked "Does that make it go overboard?"


-About 2 hours into the flight, when his nerves had settled a bit, Owen said "I think this is going to be a lucky day for flying. You know, not like one of those unlucky ones where people, like, crash into the ocean or something."


-As we started to land, Hazel said "I'm so excited! We're about to be in Georgia!!!" and then looked out the window and saw the runway. She turned to Nathan and said in disgust. "Dad! This is the airport! We've been here already!"


-At Ghee's house, Owen found a bunch of Mardi Gras coins and said "Wow, Mom! Look at all these medals! Ghee must be really good at something."




We stayed the first night with Ghee. I love her house. I posted about it last time we visited, so I will spare you details, but it is just such a perfect grandma house on a little pond in the woods. And she had everything so clean and warm and welcoming. She even had her friend, Richard, MAKE a coffe table just for the kids. He carved some legs for this huge table and Ghee had it piled up with tons of Polly Pockets, a car and garage for Owen's miniature cars, and paper and markers. It was all on their level right when they walked in and they have been totally entertained since then!


It was tough to tear them away and convince them to go to bed. But Ghee's beds are sooo comfy they fell right asleep when their heads hit the pillow. They went straight to the table in the morning, giving us a couple of hours to "sleep in" before dragging ourselves from bed. We had just settled in for a day of being lazy when Richard invited us to come over to his house and ride four wheelers! YES! Nothing like some redneck activity our first day in GA. I don't think much else could have gotten me out of my pajamas today. I was thrilled. I haven't been on a four wheeler for......well- since I was 17.

This is Richard- he was so lovely and friendly and helped us have an awesome day.

I even convinced Hazel to get on the four wheeler with me. She liked it for a while, but was getting hit in the face with rain the whole time and it was also pretty chilly, so her joy was short lived.
Owen, however just had to get one little taste of power and freedom and he was unstoppable.

Then he had his first wreck. I was behind him, so to me it looked like the thing flipped over on top of Owen. Needless to say, I pretty much threw up in my mouth as I was running across the field to rescue him. When I reached him, he was on the ground giggling, so I quickly switched my attention to the four wheeler. Everyone/thing was okay and he hopped back on and kept riding. And fyi- he took off his helmet for this picture, but was absolutely wearing one while riding.

After that adventure, we hopped on the swing in the front yard. This swing was hung about 30 feet up a tree, so it was more of a gliding motion than swinging. The kids loved it. Owen took a turn, Hazel took a turn,

Even Daddy did it!

So of course I had to give it a try. I hoisted my overweight body into the swing (which is about 3 feet off the ground) and plopped my butt down, only to lean all the way back and fall out of the air, slamming the back of my head into the ground. Richard chuckled and said "You are officially the first person to ever do that." I really wish someone had taken a video, because I'm sure it looked hilarious, but it hurt like a mother. I couldn't get up for a while. My eyes wouldn't focus and my ears were ringing. I have never hit my head that hard. A few minutes later, my tongue got numb and tingly and I felt light-headed. Needless to say, I refused to take a nap because I'm a little worried, but I think I will survive. :)

Stay tuned for more action-packed fun.

It's all I got right now...

I'm sure many of you have experienced this.... at least any of you who have had your children attending any kind of Christian school.

Hazel goes to a preschool in a little baptist church in our neighborhood. Once a week, they have Bible time with Pastor Bob to hear Bible stories and learn little songs. I remember the first "song" she learned when she started there. She came home one day and started chanting....yelling, really:

"Oh NO, Never let GO! Through the storm and through the rain!"

That was the only line she "knew" (incorrectly) for a whole week. And she screamed it out constantly. It was literally the most annoying thing I had ever heard. It took me a while to figure out that this was actually something they had purposely taught our children.

Anyway- since then she has actually learned some pretty cute songs, but inevitably she comes home singing something a little interesting right after learning a new song. Trying to interpret her versions of these songs never ceases to entertain us. Here's one for you to figure out:

"Jump, jump, jump out of the dark, dark, dark. Jump on Jesus and give Him your heart."

I mean, I can kind of understand where they were going with this, but I'm not sure a sneak attack it the best method for giving your heart to Jesus.

Then there is this other song she sings that says lots of totally understandable and precious things about Jesus, and then there's this one random line that says (at least in Hazel's mind):

"Raise your hand for lovers passing by"

Makes no sense whatsoever, but it sure is cute in her high-pitched nasally voice.

isms

"Hazel...how did your face get so cute?"

"Cause I smile so much all the time"

__________________


I found some weird, pink, thick, dirty, rubbery stuff on Hazel's dresser and asked her "What IS this?" (in disgust)
"It's some stuff from the rug"
"What rug?"
"The rug on the playground." (I guess some kind of foam pad on their playground at school)
"Why is it on your dresser?"
"Cause I love it- it's my favorite thing in the world!"
(thoughtful pause)
"Just kidding. It's not my favorite thing in the world...ice cream is."

Fresh, new snow for a new year.

I just can't say it enough. I love Flagstaff. When our kids are out of school, I totally want to move there. But for now, I'm just glad this beauty is so close to home.

We took a little overnight trip for New Year's Eve with a couple of Nathan's work buddies and their wives. Nathan got to see the pinecone drop at midnight for the second year, and I got to lay in a bed in a hotel room next to my two sleeping babies. I watched A Lot Like Love and cuddled up with Hazel and fell asleep at 10:30. It was nice.....until Hazel started kicking me. Even with pillows in between us, she managed to kick me about 40 times throughout the night, and sat up and started talking about 5 times.

We started the New year with breakfast at Ihop and then immediately went back to the hotel room for an attempted nap. After that failure, we packed up the car and headed out to the snow park.


To pass the time while we packed the car, Owen threw snowballs at this shed while Hazel slipped around on the icy parking lot.


When we finally got to the snow park, it was CLOSED! The parking lot was so full that everyone was stuck in the park and nobody else could get in. We had no choice but to just drive down the street and find somewhere else to play. So much for all the sleds we have bought over the years. I guess we will just have to go back in another month and use them then! Even without the huge hills to sled down, we managed to create a little bit of fun.

Hazel made her own little miniature snowman


Owen literally rolled around in the snow until he was soaked through all his layers

I'm not positive how deep the snow actually was, but Hazel sank down to her waist in a couple of spots.

Look at all that untouched snow. It makes my heart happy.

Hazel and I found a little igloo that someone had made JUST FOR HER! Or at least it seemed that way...

I built a beautiful little snowwoman....put so much love and tenderness into her formation. But apparently all Juan saw was a picture op and a chance for destruction. You can imagine what she looked like after this picture.

We sat down to pose for a family picture, and it started to snow! Okay...not really. I thought if I threw some of the powder into the air, we might be able to fake you out. But it just turned out looking like I threw a bunch of snow in the air.

And then I couldn't stop.

But Nathan definitely got me back by filling the sled and then throwing it at me.

We did manage to find one tiny little hill. Once the grown-up boys had smoothed it out for us a bit, we were able to catch a tiny bit of speed. Especially with a good, strong push.

Despite its disappointments (no hills, cold feet, lack of sleep, etc.), I think it was worth it to see the beautiful snow and take out our aggresions by throwing it at each other.

And my favorite kid quotes from this trip (notice how they both involve hate):

Owen: "My feet are freezing cold! I hate frostbites!"

Hazel: "I hate the sun. It's too shady."

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!

Disappointment eve

It's been a tradition in our family that on Christmas Eve, the children open one gift. For the past few years, we have made this gift a new set of pajamas (sometimes Christmas pjs, sometimes not). Owen caught on a couple of years ago and knew what to expect, but Hazel was NOT pleased. I even explained to her beforehand that she would not be opening a toy, but instead it would be something to wear. I guess she thought I was kidding.

She has become quite ungrateful lately....and rude...and sassy. It really isn't funny (most of the time), but I have to say that I laughed out loud at her reaction to the pajamas. I also reprimanded her later and gave her the "be grateful" lecture, but I just had to share. I also think it's especially cute that Owen tried to make her feel better about the whole thing.

After this video, I tried to convince her to put the pajamas on for a picture in front of the tree, but she ran off to her room with another mean grunt. Owen, however, was perfectly cooperative and posed for me...

And then he had the genius idea that he would just hold Hazel's pjs up beside him and maybe it would look like she had posed for the picture.

Then Hazel came out happy as can be in LAST YEAR'S pajamas and posed for a picture. I just took what I could get and thanked them both.

But I guess my guilt trip about her hurting my feelings when I picked those pajamas out for her kinda worked. She finally conceded and I happily claimed victory!!!!

Merry Christmas...and HAPPY BIRTHDAY G-MOMMY!!!!