The Lamps Family

Christmas and some other stuff......

2011-12-26T22:16:00.004-06:00

Oh, December! I do believe that this is probably the most busiest month of the year. Now, don't get me wrong. It is also one of the best feeling times of the year as well, but it does get busy. Most know that I have been subbing. Sometimes I sub a ton. Other times, not so much. December I think I subbed everyday that school was in. Now, I'm not complaining. I really do love being in the classroom, but when it comes to getting things ready for Christmas, it really can be more hectic then usual. Even with that, we made it, and it was a great Christmas time as well. Before we celebrate Christmas, I must first talk about the day that came a few days before. Our anniversary.

On the 20th of December, Jeremy and I have been married for 14 years now. I know, right?? It seems like just yesterday. It's crazy how time has gone by so fast. Well, we have had some ups and some downs. I will say that I believe we have had more ups then downs. I hear people say all the time that marriage is hard. I myself don't think so. I have been blessed with a fantastic husband (and Jeremy, when you read this, remember that you have been blessed with an even more fantastic wife.) We get along so well. He is my best friend and even though I tease him a ton, I really wouldn't trade him in for Robert Pattinson. We had a wonderful anniversary. I wish I could say I got him something. Nope, remember that busy month I told you about earlier......but he not only got me a little something, but he brought me home a beautiful bouquet of Roses (which are pictured above). I think I will keep him....for now.

Before all the madness began, my dad had come to visit for Thanksgiving. He stayed for about 3 weeks. He helped us with some things around the house, we took him up to Nashville, he did some fishing with Jeremy and we were able to take him to the Christmas Festival at the church and listen to the choir. It was great and can I just tell you how much I loved listening to the choir. It literally brings tears to me. What a great way to start out the season before all the madness begins. We had a good time with dad and we can't wait to see him in May.

.....and of course, we had to visit Santa and tell him what was on the list.

Christmas Eve. I was still shopping! So was everybody else! I finally got everything done and even had time to make our annual sugar cookies for Santa. He must have like them, 'cause they were all gone the next morning and the egg nog was gone as well.

I'm not sure how it works at your house, but every year, we get a visit from some sneaky Pajama Elves. I'm not sure where these elves came from. Every year the kids think they are going to catch them. Well, maybe next year. We went out to dinner Christmas Eve and then off to see the Galaxy of Lights at the Botanical Gardens and when we got home, those sneaky elves had made their delivery. I sometimes think the kids are more excited each year for the Pajama Elves then they are for Santa himself.

....not a creature was stirring, not even a mouse.

That Santa made it and filled up the house.

Since Christmas was on Sunday this year, the kids had to wait until they got home from church. Not long though. Our church was at 9 am and we were home before 10:30. I do believe that might have been one of the longest hours of their lives. In the meantime, they did look good in their new Sunday clothes.

The kids had to make sure that Odie had a stocking. If you ask me, I think Odie should have been on the bad list, but no. Santa must have a very big heart. Odie's stocking was filled with some treats, a toy, and this very cool looking sweater. Odie does not like the sweater. As soon as the kids put it on him he went a sulked in his crate. For awhile we thought that maybe he didn't feel good, but after the sweater came off he was bouncing off the walls again. I think I might have found my tool to calm his behavior. (hehehe)

As soon as we got home from church, off came the Sunday clothes and the pajamas back on. Don't they look cute in their hats. Megan already had one, but Santa gave Emilee and Hunter one in their stocking.

Above is just a quick overview of Christmas. The kids all liked what Santa gave them. I think they were even surprised that they got many things on their list. How 'bout that?? We had a wonderful day. We played some games, had a great dinner, and played with some fun new things. Most of all, we remembered our Savior. We hope you all had a wonderful Christmas and that the new year brings you much happiness.

Taekwondo and testing up.

2011-12-03T20:39:00.003-06:00

The kids have been taking Taekwondo for the last couple of months. Some of it is hard for them, some of it is quite fun. They especially like the parts when they get to kick and punch each other. Go figure. Today they tested for their yellow belt. All three got it. Whew! Even though I explained that if they didn't get it, it would be OK, they would for sure get it next time, you never want to see them crushed. Well, they all did get it. One step at a time. Here are some pics from today's events.

Hunter and Megan working it during their test, before they were yellow belts. They tested a couple of weeks ago for a yellow stripe, but this one was for the yellow belt itself.

Megan receives her yellow belt.

Hunter receives his yellow belt.

Emilee receives her yellow belt.

Here they are, strutting their stuff, yellow belt and all. Woo-Hoo kiddos, you all look great!

The next belt is a green one. Most likely they will get a green stripe first, maybe even two. The belts do get harder to get the more you learn. I am proud of them though. They look good out there and as I watch them do their stuff, I think, " Man, I don't think I could do half of that stuff." Keep up the good work!

Before and After

2011-12-01T20:58:00.000-06:00

Isn't furniture just so much fun. I love looking at various furniture pieces and thinking, Ah, if only......I think furniture shopping can be tons of fun, though Jeremy would strongly disagree. The problem with furniture shopping though is lack of funds. Oh, the nerve, right!? Well that leads me to our computer desk. We have had our desk only for four years. It has been through so much in that four years and considering it was a little on the cheap side and not entirely what I was looking for, it has provided itself useful. I have been hating it though for sometime thinking that it really had to go. So, I started looking again at desks and you remember that lack of funds I was talking about before,...Well let me tell you. A nice desk is not cheap. So, I have been thinking just re-do it and let's just try and get another four years out of this sucker. So my dad is visiting for a while and I decided to put him to work. A great project for the two of us. (OK, so he did do most of it, but that is besides the point. I did help strip the desk down though, which is quite the job.) Well, we finished and I say not bad for a cheap desk to have. Here are my before and after pictures.

I think it looks pretty good. Not bad dad!

Gone Fishing....

2011-11-27T18:16:00.001-06:00

My dad came to stay with us for the Thanksgiving holiday. While I was shopping on Black Friday and trying to find the deal of the century (which I didn't), Jeremy took my dad and Hunter fishing. They had a beautiful day for it and probably had a more relaxing day then me.

Here is Hunter with his fish. Now I believe he didn't hook it, but he did reel it in and did a good job at it.

Now, when Jeremy goes fishing he usually just catches and releases. This time he brought them home. He decided that he was going to clean, fillet, and eat them up. YUCK! I like them when I get them from the store already packaged up for the oven myself., but if he is willing.......

Here are those two big fish all filleted.

And here they are all grilled up. Seems like a lot of work. I did try them. They weren't bad, but I think I will just get mine from the store all packaged up nicely for me to cook. They had fun doing it though.

Veteran's Day Parade

2011-11-11T14:54:00.000-06:00

My kids have been taking Taekwondo for the last month or so on Redstone Arsenal (the army base, for those that don't know). They have really enjoyed it, but they also say it is a lot of hard work. Every year, the Taekwondo group particiaptes in the Veteran's Day parade in Downtown Huntsville. Megan wasn't quite sure if she wanted to participate but Emilee and Hunter were very excited. In the end, Megan participated and she had a blast. I thought I would share some of the pics I took.

These are pre parade pictures. They are getting ready and getting in position and order to start in the parade.

And here they come. If you look close, you can see Emilee

And there is Megan

They passed out candy to the kids along the way. This is Megan coming to give Jeremy a piece. I know it is a little blurry, but I think it is a totally cute picture. She is smiling and seems to be having so much fun.

And then there is Hunter next to Mrs. Hernandez. She was Megan's fourth grade teacher and now she is Emilee's. If I have my way, she will probably be Hunter's as well. They all are in the same Taekwondo group on the base. I think they all had a good time. It was a great experience for them and very fun to watch them in it.

Halloween Night 2011

2011-10-31T22:19:00.000-05:00

Ahhh! Halloween! This is probably my kids favorite time of year. I think they like it even more then Christmas. They begin talking about it the day after Halloween. For a whole year I hear what they will be next year. Well, this year Megan was a black cat, Emilee was a witch, and Hunter was a ninja.

I am not sure if Megan is trying to be scary or vampire like. Whatever it is, at least she is having fun.

Emilee for the longest time wanted to be a police officer, but we were at the store and they had this costume and she had to have it. Notice we sprayed her hair green. For the last few years we are either putting her hair in a wig or spraying it a different color. She loves it.

Hunter was suppose to be Green Lantern, but about 2 weeks before he changed his mind. That's my little Ninja.

I guess Megan is getting to big for us. She is turning into a tween for sure. She wanted to go with her friends instead of with us. They had a good time though.

The rest of us went trick-or-treating with some friends in their neighborhood.

The kids carved their pumpkins on Friday.

Home at last. Let me tell ya.....with the trunk or treat and Halloween night, I would say they have enough candy to last them years. Ya right! You know what though?...they are already planning for next year.

Happy Halloween!

Fall Pictures 2011

2011-10-29T16:10:00.000-05:00

It has been a long time since we have had family pictures taken. I believe the last time we did, Hunter was just a baby. Seven years later, here we are. I have this friend here in Madison who takes beautiful pictures. She took the kids' pictures in the spring and I loved them so much and so she said she would take our family pictures in the fall. The funny thing about her is she thinks we are doing her the favor, when of course, we are the lucky ones. We decided to have them taken at Green Mountain Lake. These are some of my favorites. Thanks again Karen! You are so wonderful!

Changes

2011-10-24T18:53:00.000-05:00

Change. This word can make you feel so many emotions. When I begin to see the leaves change colors I feel so much excitement of my favorite season coming. I love the fall time. I love the weather, I love the holidays in the fall, I love the fall scents of apples, spice, cinnamon, pumpkin, and just the way it smells outside. Yes, when I think of fall, I think of change, and I think Hmm, it doesn't sound like such a bad word.

Sometimes though change is hard, and that is what I feel now. Even though in retrospect, it is really a good thing, but it still is hard. Not long ago, our ward was split. Only a few families were taken from us and though we miss them, it seemed OK. Then we found out that our stake was splitting. Now, that actually was very exciting news. There has been one stake here in Huntsville and at last there are now going to be two. This bring us to the hard part. Our ward was then on Sunday split for the second time. 147 people are leaving and are now in Madison 2nd. OHHH! What a shock! Our family is part of that 147. Now, I have been in a few different wards and each holds dear to me. The friendships I have made through them have been wonderful. This ward has been fantastic! I have grown to love so many! They have been fun to serve around and I will truly miss continuing to serve with them. Yes, friendships can't change, but with all of our busy lives, it sometimes can be hard to keep those friendships alive. Gosh, I do sound sappy, don't I.

Of course change is exciting. The Lord's work is going forth here in the South and here in our area, we can see it grow everyday. It is truly exciting. We will miss Madison 1st ward very much. You have all been wonderful to serve around. What an awesome thing to happen and Madison 2nd ward will be an exciting new adventure. I can't wait to serve with those families again that split before us and to meet a whole new group of people. Those that stay back in Madison 1st, remember, I love to go to lunch, the movies are fun, and ice cream taste good. I am up for anything. Don't forget!!

Lyon Family Farm, TN -- 2011

2011-10-11T23:51:00.000-05:00

Yesterday we decided to take the kids to Lyon Family Farms. Most people around here go to Tate Farm. I actually have never been to Tate Farm. Both Hunter and Emilee have been through school field trips, but the rest of us have not. Last year was the first time we went to Lyon Farm and we liked it so much, we went back this year. Now if you ask Emilee, she will say she likes Lyon farms so much better, Hunter on the other hand says he likes Tate. I really don't know which is better, but we sure did have a good time at Lyons and really that is all that matters.

They didn't have this last year, but it was seriously funny. Emilee could get herself going and then flop right in the middle. They all had a race with Jeremy as well and the winner, EMILEE!!

So much to see and do. I always am a sucker for a corn maze. Hunter is hilarious 'cause he doesn't have the desire to get out of the maze, but to try and get lost as best as he can. I would say, Hunter this way and he knew that it was, but he would say, "no mommy, this way, 'cause that is the way out over there". Silly boy. It was very difficult to get him out, and in the end, we came out of the entrance the way we came in.

Ah, the animal area. Megan loves animals. She could have stayed in here all day. There was a kitten you could take home. She tried hard to persuade me, but no, like that will happen. She is lucky to have the dog we have. I did like the pigs and for the three little pigs, there were three little houses. One made out of straw, one made out of sticks, and one made out of bricks. Totally cute, I just hope the big bad wolf doesn't need a cup of sugar.

And of course to end our time at the farm was a hayride to the pumpkin patch to find the perfect pumpkin. Hunter wanted a green one. He went and found the biggest green one he could find. He says he wants it to be the Green Goblin. Emilee wanted a fat orange one and Megan was trying to find the perfect small round one.

What a fun day!

Camping in the Smokies of North Carolina

2011-10-10T22:44:00.002-05:00

Now, don't get me wrong. I loved my children as babies and toddlers. They were always so cute and very fun to be around, but I love it even more now that they are a little older. We are able to do so many fun things like camping. We decided for fall break that we would take the kids camping to the Smokies in North Carolina (for you Hunger Games fans, we were very close to where they were filming the movie) We were so lucky to go when the leaves were changing colors. The weather was amazing, the colors beautiful, and the time was fantastic.

After we got the tent set up and settled in a bit we were ready to start the camp fire so we could cook the food. Now I have decided that this is the best part of camping. For some reason it tastes so much better cooked over a fire.

Funny thing about these smores. Megan likes them without the marshmellows. Emilee likes them without the graham crackers, Hunter likes them with the marshmellows, chocolate, and the graham crackers. My kids are for sure their own person.

Hot dogs and Smores. That is what was on the menu. Of course, what would be better on a camp out, right?? Now, remember when I said the weather was great. Well, that is true, except when the sun went down. It got real cold. Megan not only wore her flannel pajamas, but her sweats over that and I think she might have had a fleece jacket on as well. We weren't freezing, but it did get down to about 38 degrees at night. Brrr, Chill, Cold, Freezing!

Before we went to bed, we even told a few ghost stories. Megan told this one that made me laugh. There were these boys and they went into this spooky old house and what did they see, but a floating coffin chasing them. One of the boys decided to throw some cough drops at the coffin and sure enough, the coffin went away. The other boy asked, "how did you know that would work?" and the boy said, "because cough drops always stop the coffin" HA! I love it!

It was time for bed after that and boy was I tired, but we did get real cold in the night, but we all survived. I did find out that my kids talk a lot in their sleep and the second night I woke up with the feeling that someone was looking at me. When I looked up, it was Hunter standing above me. I asked him if he had to go to the bathroom and all he did was get back in his sleeping bag and fell back to sleep. OK, that might be just a little bit freaky and could be the plot to a scary movie. He didn't remember a thing the next morning. Crazy kids I tell ya, but I suppose I will keep them.

The next day we walked around town, shopped in some of the cute touristy shops. The kids got to ride a Mechanical Bull, which was totally fun for them. They rode Go Carts, Bumper Cars, played Laser Tag, and when we got back to the camp site they went swimming and after we cooked and ate our dinner they watched a movie they were playing in the middle of the camp grounds. When we got back to our site the kids put on a puppet show for us with the puppets that they bought that afternoon.

Megan really wanted to get this picture. I don't blame her. When I was a kid, I always thought it looked like so much fun, so we decided to let Megan and Emilee dress up for this photo. Hunter didn't want to. They actually took some pretty good ones and some that I thought were totally funny.

But in the end, we chose this one.

After a good night's sleep, we woke up to a beautiful morning. We decided to go on a small hike up to the falls before coming home.

It was a good trip. It is so much fun to do these fun fun activities with the kids. I hope that they will always remember them. We don't have plans for another camping trip for awhile. We were thinking maybe for Spring Break. There is a camp site in Kentucky that Jeremy wants to try out.

New York City

2011-09-25T16:32:00.005-05:00

Jeremy had some training for work in New York City. Just like when he had to go to Hawaii for work, I couldn't possibly let him go alone. So, of course I had to go with him. I know, awful, right. Ya right! I have always wanted to go to NYC so I had to go with him. I love cities that you can just walk around and don't need to have a car. That is why I love San Francisco and London so much which are my two favorite cities in the world. Like most places though, there are great things about this city and not so great things.

What I love about NYC:

--I love the fact that you don't need a car. Public transportation is the best here and very convenient.

--I love the big buildings and architecture. It is fabulous and wonderful to look at. Most amazing.

--It is full of history. It is all around you. I love it!

--So much food. There are thousands of restaurants. Food is very easy to get, anytime, anywhere.

--Despite the reputation of NYC, I found the people there very pleasant. Most liked hearing where you were from and wanted to know what you thought of their city. They were very eager to give advice of where to go and what to do.

--I love the famous buildings and landmarks to see. I love the history that accompanies these landmarks.

--Culture. So much culture. It is amazing to see how much culture. I must have heard walking down the street many different languages of residents that live there and tourists who come far to see this city.

What I did not like so much about NYC:

--It really is a very liberal place to be. Almost too liberal. They really do see things very differently in the world. It made me feel very grateful for my small area of Madison Alabama to live where many have much in common with my values. (That is to include many who are not members of my church) We truly do have some wonderful people living here. I have to laugh. Being from Las Vegas, I get so many comments about living in sin city and the slogan what happens in Vegas stays in Vegas. Well, Vegas is tame compared to NYC as far as I am concerned. In Vegas, all the "sinful" things are pretty much in one area of town or close to it. People that live there, never associate things with the strip unless they work down there. In NYC, it is everywhere. How Vegas got the reputation instead of New York, I will never know.

--It is very expensive and can be quite annoying as such. Most will say, "Well, welcome to NYC and inflation" I don't think they should make that an excuse. It should infuriate them as well.

--Pizza. I love pizza. I expected so much more of the pizza there. Coming from the west, many who were from NYC would brag and brag about their pizza from NYC. Now, I am not saying it was bad, but it is highly overrated. Let me tell ya, I have had pizza from all over, including Italy itself, so I have lots to compare it with. It was nothing special and those who are from the west, really are not missing much. I am sure that would anger many from NYC, but oh well, that is just my opinion.

--Comedy. Not good. Let me give ya some advice. If you ever go to NYC and you are walking around Time Square, don't buy comedy tickets from the people walking around. They will tell you whatever you want to know to get you there. I had asked about bad language and vulgar jokes and they assured us that though they might say a few swear words, but nothing that would be awful. They also said there would be a two drink minimum. No big deal, right? Well, that would be about $15 for one person and since we don't drink that meant Jeremy and I paid $30 for our soda. By the way, the show was full of swearing and vulgarity with many of the comics. I don't find that funny in the least and shows me just how untalented they really are. I would assume many of the other clubs are similar. If you want comedy in NYC, make sure you see someone you already know.

--Because the city is so big and so many people and so much to see, it can be a little overwhelming. Most are just trying to get from A to B as quickly as they can. I found that a little intimidating, but it takes getting use to, I suppose. If I ever get back there again, I know exactly what to expect.

For the most part, I really did enjoy the city. It truly is an amazing place to be. I don't think I would ever want to live there, but visiting is truly an adventure.

Up first, was the Empire State Building. This was a great place to start and I highly recommend getting the audio tour. I was able to see the whole city and all its burrows. It was very informative and a great view. By the way, I was so sad to not be able to see Mt. Olympus at the top. HEHEHE

Now, as far as I am concerned, how can you go to NYC and not see the Statue of Liberty. She is an American symbol and I think an amazing thing to see. The subway, takes you right there to the ferry that takes you over there. Some just take the Statton Island Ferry (which is free, but it doesn't stop at the island), but I thought it was nice to walk around the Island and get up nice and close. I thought she was an amazing site to see.

I know Time Square is truly the touristy place to walk around, but I have to say, I really liked being down there. Especially at night. There is so much to see and so many people. I loved the crowds. Jeremy, not his thing, but I was in my element there.

Now if you saw The Night of the Museum and think you know the Natural History Museum, you would be wrong. There really are not very many similarities. I did find Dumb Dumb though. I asked one of the museum guards if they give him any gum and he very annoyingly replied, "ya, one minute after midnight" I might expect they get that question a lot, but I don't really feel bad for him. When you work around tourists, guess what, ya gotta answer the tourist's silly questions.

I liked Washington Square. It was probably one of the more laid back places to sit and veg. People are reading, painting, playing music. And this is also one of the places where all the people are playing chess. It was a great place to sit and relax. This was the first time we got hot dogs from a New York vendor. Some who live there think that's gross to get a hot dog from them, but I think it is very New York and you know what? It was a pretty good hot dog. So much, that I got another one the next day as well. Oh ya, I also got roasted cashews from vendors more then once. Mmm, not only do they smell so good, but they taste wonderful.

I found this fascinating. I knew that the Manhattan temple was in the middle of the city, but to actually see it in the midst of the New York craziness was fascinating. You would see all these businesses surrounding it and then there it was all in its glory. Truly amazing!

You could spend days here and still not see everything. Of course we all know this is where Percy Jackson began to find out who he was. I saw some wonderful things here and I saw some weird things as well. Below is a painting I bought from an artist on the street in front of the Metropolitan Museum. She had some pretty pictures that she had painted, but in the end I decided on the Rainbow Bridge that is in Central Park. Pretty, isn't it and I feel a very New York thing to get. I saw lots of artists there either painting or trying to sell what they have painted. I thought it was totally fun.

So, I really wanted to see the new 9/11 memorial. Problem is even though tickets are free, they are reserved clear until the end of November. When I went to the small museum next to Ground Zero, they said that they do give out 150 tickets every day that aren't reserved, but you have to get there pretty early. Perhaps if I was staying longer, I could of tried harder, but I knew it would be too hard to get down there with the time I had to get those tickets. I did walk around the area where the towers were though and looked through the small museum. It was very humbling. I saw many who were still affected by what happened as they put flowers, cards, and pictures to the fence of where they are building the new towers. This is Freedom tower. It is

1,776 ft tall. That is not a coincidence. I was told though, when everything is finished, it will not be called Freedom tower, but the new World Trade Center, just as it always should be.

Here we have pictures of one of the biggest churches in the city, the "Dakota", where John Lennon was shot for you Beatles fans, the Guggenheim for those who want to see those weird Picassos and other out there works of art, the Brooklyn Bridge which if I had the time would have walked across to Brooklyn and some other city sites.

I took this picture of Central Park. I thought it was a beautiful picture and you can already see some of those beautiful fall colors coming out.

So I have been to Madam Tussauds in London and also in Vegas. I just finished reading a book by Michelle Moran about Madam Tussauds, which was a very good book. I highly recommend it. So of course, I had to go to Madam Tussauds in New York. I know, you thought I really did see those famous people. HA! Ya right, like Abraham Lincoln is still alive. (I took a picture of him 'cause I just finished the book, Abraham Lincoln, Vampire Slayer. As I was looking at him, I thought, he doesn't look like a vampire slayer at all. It made me laugh. By the way, that is a good book as well) I had to get a picture with Robert Pattinson cause he is Edward ya know, and we do love Daniel Craig, and how could we ever forget Bono. Some of the others here are Helen Keller. ( I took one of her cause I live about 70 miles away from her childhood home) Madam Tussaud herself, which is the last wax figure she did of herself, Bill Gates for you Microsoft fans, Miley Cyrus for you teeny bopper fans, and of course how could we forget SpiderMan and the Incredible Hulk. Funny story about this place. As I was going through the pop cultural part I saw the band "BackStreet Boys". Well, there was someone taking a picture of them and I was waiting so I wouldn't go in front of her picture. She seemed to be taking a long time so I proceeded to go behind her. As I looked back at her I started to laugh, 'cause that person taking a picture was a wax person herself. She was set up as a papparazzi person taking pictures of the band. I felt really stupid. So, I waited to see if others did the same and without fail, the next three or four people did the exact same thing as me. We all just started laughing.

The last night we were in New York, Jeremy and I were able to see a broadway show. We decided to see SpiderMan, After the Dark. Crazy I know, here we are in NYC and what do we see for a show, but SpiderMan. Well, it was a compromise. Jeremy really isn't into broadway so we had to see something he might like as well. Actually, it was pretty good. Kind of cool to see SpiderMan and the Green Goblin flying around the theater. The music is written by Bono from U2 so if you are a U2 fan, you would like it. Music was great. Overall, not a bad choice.

We had a good time. So much to see and so much still to see. I would love to go back sometime.

Family and Friends Fun Night

2011-08-21T00:28:00.003-05:00

It is always fun to have a fun family night, but it is even more fun to have a family and friends fun night. We have many good friends here that we enjoy hanging out with. Tonight we spent some time with some good friends and went bowling on the Aresonal (the army base for those that don't live here). It was one of those turn the lights off and watch the neon lights and spotlights come on to bowl. We had a good time. The kids laughed a lot, the adults had some good conversations, and it was just fun to get together.

Emilee was in the groove with her bowling expertise. She is shouting for joy after one of her many spares.

This is my beautiful friend Christine and her kids are up above. We usually have a ton to talk about, whether it is about books we have read, losing weight, school politics, kids, annoyances, and just about anything else you can think of. Her kids and my kids get along great. Even though my girls have a bit of an age difference from her little girl they still have tons of fun playing together.

I love my kids a ton. They make me laugh all of the time. Even when I am not suppose to laugh because they have done something not acceptable. I still find myself having to turn my head so they won't see the little chuckle that came out of my mouth. They have so much energy and they say some of the funniest things. I love it.

I am here to say that I am a terrible bowler. Tonight was one of my worst. One would think if one grows up with a bowling ally in the basement they might be good. They would be wrong.(That is not as glamorous as it sounds. It really is no big deal. Some people just get a pool in the backyard. My dad must have decided a bowling alley was more practical. I probably could have put a pool to better use.)

Father and son. They make a cute couple.

The night was ended with a treat from dad. Ice cream. Well, I think it is actually custard, but really what's the difference, right? It's all good.

I love it when friends can get together. Of course we have fun with just our family, but good friends make it even better.

Back to the routine of things

2011-08-09T12:41:00.001-05:00

The time has come again. School Time! The anticipation is over and we are back to our old routines. I have many friends who dread this day. They say that the summer is too short and are sad to see their kids go back to school. I myself do not feel that way. I never have. Does that mean I love my kids less?? I don't think so. I just love to get back to the routine of things. Let's face it. I do enjoy my time. It is nice to get the house in order again and to finish projects that I have put off for awhile. Some how it is always easier to get them done while the kids are at school. Besides, the kids will never admit it, but I think they enjoy going to school as well.

They woke up refreshed and excited to go. Outfits picked out for the last 2 weeks, hair done, breakfast eaten, teeth brushed, lunches packed, and backpacks packed. They were off. What did I do you say on the first day of school? Exercised, laundry, finished some projects for the Young Women, ran a few errands, and before I knew it, the kids were back home on a most stormy day.

Megan is in sixth grade this year. It blows my mind. I remember her first day of kindergarten and it feels like we just had it. This year they are doing something a little different. She is now at the top of the school in ranks. Big sixth graders who have the rule, right?? They have a schedule, start out in homeroom and switch classes, but not as a class, but individually, just like middle school. She came home and said she liked it that way much better. She is also a little worried. She knows they are more strict and worries if she is ready for all this. I assured her she will do just fine as long as she always does what is expected of her.

Emilee is in fourth grade this year. WOW! She has the same teacher Megan had, which I am so pleased. Megan grew so much in that class and I know Emilee will do the same. She had a fantastic day her first day. She came home all excited as she told me all the things that she gets to do.

Then there is Hunter. My baby. He is a big second grader now! I still can't believe it. I tell Jeremy all the time I don't think it is possible that he is in second grade. He seems so much like my baby. I suppose he is and he always will be. I was also so excited to find out who his teacher was. She will be awesome with him and I know I will see such great strengths out of him this year.

So another school year started. It is exciting. I am so blessed to live where the kids go to such a great school. They love it. They love their friends and they love their teachers.

Digging for Diamonds

2011-07-29T19:16:00.001-05:00

Earlier this year, we decided that we would take the kids to a diamond mine in Arkansas and go dig for diamonds. Now, let me be the first one to say, this did not excite me. Think about it.....driving 7 hours with the kids to go dig in the dirt in the hot sun. Not my dream vacation. Well, I have to admit. It wasn't too bad and it was an experience I think the kids will always remember. Did we find anything you ask? Well, it depends what you think is a treasure I guess. I found a lot of fools gold, Megan found some cool rocks that she took home, and Jeremy found a shady spot to sit down in.

Emilee of course was her happy excited self, Megan found the mud. She always finds the mud. Hunter thought he would find the diamond that would fund his dream playground set. I guess he will have to keep dream'in.

We got to this mine about 8:30 in the morning, thinking that it would be cool enough and then as the afternoon began we would be done and off to swimming we go. Well, it got hot a lot faster then we thought and it was humid. I was dreaming of a white sand beach down in Florida. There are three ways to dig for diamonds. One way is a surface walk. Just walking through the mine and spotting what may be on top. Another way is digging in the dirt and dry sifting it through a screen. Both of these consist of being out in the hot sun. By the way, the brighter the sun the better, cause then you can see the sparkling little gems. The third way is to shovel dirt into a bucket a sift it through a screen in the water using an area under a shaded area. Well, once I figured out the third part. It wasn't so bad. The girls and I had a blast getting all wet and dirty searching for diamonds. We talked to tons of people from all over the country. I think I actually had a good time. Shh, don't tell anyone though.

Here we are, all dirty and ready to go swimming. They had a great pool next to the mine that you could go to. Had water slides and everything. When we hosed off before we got in the pool, it was like a huge mud slide going down the drain. Let me tell you though....that pool felt so good.

The next day, we spent the day in Hot Springs. We shopped through the downtown shops, went miniature golfing indoors ('cause it was to hot outside), went to the mid-America Science Center, and closed the day with a magic show with a master Illusionist.

This was a cool show in the Science museum. It was a demonstration of a Telsa Coil. Now, most of us have seen this in some sort of glass ball, but this was huge and it was very loud. We learned that tons of things we use today came through this technology such as fluorescent and neon lights, cell phones, cars, televisions, and tons of other modern conveniences we might use today. Afterward the kids got to go up there and touch part of the demonstration using there bodies and other objects to produce negative and positive energy. They said it tickled their bodies.

That evening, we went to a magic show. Because we sat on the front row, Megan and Emilee got picked to help out. Now, they were totally excited, but when Emilee got up there she freaked out. He rewarded her with a drink of her choice and about 3 bags of candy and a bag of popcorn. Megan was doing great. She had some dance moves that I didn't know she had. She laughed tons and was having a great time until he brought out the guillotine. Her face changed expressions very quickly. It was very funny. I think it was a pretty good show and the kids enjoyed it tons.

That was our trip. Not much else to say about it, but we did have a good time. Now it is time to get ready for school, which I have to say is very exciting. As much as I love my children, I love it when they are learning in school as well. By the time summer is over, I am all worn out and so ready to get things back to normal.

Almost 40

2011-07-17T19:56:00.000-05:00

Another year has come and gone. It seems the older I get, the faster they come. When I turned 30, it was pretty easy. Just another year. I had just had my second baby girl and I had felt on top of the world. Now, nine years later as I come closer to 40, I find that it is a little bit more difficult to take. WOW! I always thought 40 sounded so far away, but as I come closer to it, I find out how fast life really can come racing past us. I have noticed how we can go through our day to day events of our lives and sometimes forget to breath.

I decided to look back and see what happened the year I was born. Turns out tons. First of all the average cost of a home in America was about $27,000 and gas was .55 a gallon.

In history, five white house operatives were arrested for burglarizing the offices of the Democratic National Committee which was the start of the Watergate Scandal and Pres. Richard Nixon orders the start for the space shuttle program. Movies that were popular were The Godfather and Fiddler on the Roof. TV shows that were popular were Sesame Street, The Brady Bunch, Hawaii Five-O, and The Price is Right first premiered on CBS. Music that most loved came from artists such as ABBA, The Eagles, Simon and Garfunkel, Don McLean, Elton John, and Led Zeppelin. HBO was first launched, digital watches were introduced and you could buy the first hand held scientific calculator for $395. The Volkswagen Beetle was the most popular car sold and Atari kicks off with the first generation of video games with the release of PONG which became the start of the video game craze, and the first call with a cell phone was made in New York.

Now here in the present I have learned many things. Patience for one. Now don't get me wrong. I still have a lot more to learn about patience, but after having three children growing up before my eyes can blink, an awesome husband, a live in mother-in-law, a dog that I still can't figure out became a part of our household, church callings, great friends who put up with my crazy thoughts and theories, and of course just me being me, I think I have made leaps and bounds. I have much to be grateful for. I often tell my kids that I am 25 again and they proceed to tell everyone just how old I really am. Well, I am here to say, "40, here I come!" 'cause in the grand scheme, it really is not that old.

Rough'n it!

2011-07-02T23:08:00.002-05:00

One day, Jeremy came to me with an idea to buy a tent. Now, let me tell you. I am not much of a camper. It's not that I hate it or anything, but I do love my blow dryer and other modern conveniences. What girl doesn't, right? Well, he sold me on it and we decided it would be fun to take the kids camping a few times a year. The first place we decided to go was this KOA spot in the corner of Georgia and Tennessee near Chattanooga. It wasn't totally without some modern conveniences. Each site did have electricity and water. Bathrooms and showers were available and it even came with a pool, playground, and a giant jumping pillow for the kids. So, we packed the car, checked the list, of course, the kids had to check the list as well and we were off. Now, I have to laugh. We told the kids over and over not to forget certain things, including their pillows and wouldn't you know it. After everything was set up, Jeremy and I discovered what we forgot was, our pillows. Let's just say, I don't sleep well without my pillow. Go figure.

After the tent was set up, air mattresses blown up, and bedding put into place, (except my pillow), the kids wanted to cool off by jumping in the pool. Even Jeremy jumped in, which doesn't happen very often. He is not much for swimming, but I am so proud of him. Two days in a row he went swimming with us. How cool is that.

Then it was dinner time. What do you think we had. Yep, hot dogs and smores. Yum! I will say, it was way fun. I really haven't done that since I was a kid.

I have to laugh at Megan. She is funny. She is definitely turning into a tween. She spent a lot of time in the tent with her MP3 player on and drawing while the rest of us were outside. Though Emilee did join her sometimes as they played their DS games together. After the kids went to bed, Jeremy and I had a nice time talking and relaxing underneath the stars. It was nice and quiet. Like I said before, me and him forgot our pillows, so sleep was not good, but we survived and when morning came we were excited to get breakfast going. Pancakes for the kids with bacon on the side and Jeremy made some breakfast sandwiches for himself. I would have joined him with one of those sandwiches, but I think I ate too many pancakes.

Now, when we went out on this little camping adventure, we had no idea what we would do the next day. I think we thought we would hike, play around the camp site, relax, read. Nope. None of that happened. Instead we decided to head to Chattanooga and go see Ruby Falls and Lookout Mountain. Ruby Falls is a big waterfall that is in a cave in Lookout Mountain. They say at the top of Lookout Mountain, you can see seven states when looking out at the top. Hmm, who knew?? Now I have been in a lot of caves. This particular cave was a bit pricey to go into, but I have to say, it had a lot of neat things to look at inside and the falls were quite amazing. Very nice! If you live around here and you want some place to take your visitors who come see you, it could be a definite place to go. Even my kids were impressed.

After the falls and lunch, we took the kids to the children's museum in Chattanooga. That is always a kid pleaser.

After we left the museum, we went back to the camp site, swam, roasted, and played all night. As soon as the kids went to bed, I enjoyed the silence once again. I think I slept that night, but let me tell ya, after breakfast the next morning we went back home and I took a long nap. I think I could get use to this camping thing. We are interested in going to a KOA in the Smokies next. I'm not sure when, but when we do, it will be an adventure, I'm sure.

Police Camp for Megan

2011-06-29T12:52:00.002-05:00

Megan had the opportunity this year to go to a Madison City Police Camp. This is a program that is set up for 5th and 6th grade. It was for one week and she went from 8 am to 3 pm. I have to say, I think it was probably the best $50 that I have spent for her all summer long. She loved it and the kids learned some very important things. She came home every day with some great stories to tell. On the first day of camp SWAT came in. They got to go in there trucks and look at all their SWAT weapons and tools. They listened to stories about SWAT and they even had a helicopter land right on the field for them. The second day, they went swimming and had belly flop contests. OUCH! The third day K9 came with their dogs. They watched the dogs find drugs around the school (that were planted of course by the police officers in charge) They looked at all sorts of kinds of drugs. Some included, weed, cocaine, crack, meth, and maybe some others. They learned what they looked like and they learned all about the consequences of using them. Not good. Megan said they looked really gross and she couldn't understand why anyone would want to use them. That's my girl. Keep it up. Megan loved the dog, of course. His name was Timber. The kids were told not to play with the dog. He was working and on serious duty. They watched him train with his partner and she was in awe. The fourth day, they played in the mud. Mud fights, tug-of-war, and other mud things to do. Let me tell ya. I had to throw those clothes away.(We knew that before the day started though) When she came home, she said she could play in the mud all day. YUCK! On the last day, they learned all about crime scenes and investigations. In their teams, they were suppose to look at a crime scene set up, follow procedures, and solve it. Points were taken off for mistakes and at the end of the day, they told the kids which team had the most points. Megan's team came in second. Just 2 points away from first. She also got to drive drunk. OK, not really, but they had provided golf carts and drove with drunk goggles on. Megan had said that she crashed into tons of cones without the goggles let alone with them. I said that perhaps she should just not ever drive. One can dream, right?? They also had many other in between activities through out each day. I went to a program at the end and saw a slide show of all the activities. I could tell that the kids loved every minute. If you live here in Madison, you ought to look into it when your child gets into 5th grade. They will love it. I thought it was a great week for her and she loved every minute of it.

Happy Birthday Kids!

2011-06-22T21:59:00.002-05:00

Birthdays, birthdays, and more birthdays. I have been blessed with three wonderful adorable children. I will have to say, that they are some of the bestest of the best. Now, I'm not sure what I was thinking , except for that I taught and so I always went for a summer baby. What do ya know, all my kids were born at the end of May and they happen to be all in the same week. So, for us, the end of May is like Christmas! Now, they don't all have parties every year. They take turns and this year it was Emilee. Her birthday is the last of the three, but since it landed on Memorial Day this year, we decided to do her party the week before so we will start with hers. She turned nine. WOW! I can't believe it!

Emilee looked on the internet all by herself and came to me with the idea of having a "Rock Star" party! It was so much fun. We had the girls dress up as rock stars plus I had a bunch of things here they could dress up in and whatever they chose to use, they could take home. I asked a friend to pant their faces, we made guitars, and we had Kareoke singing going on. I even made up a stage area with a backdrop curtain. The girls loved singing. Watch Out American Idol! Your future is ready to sing for ya.

I wish I could take credit for this cake. I want to so bad, but I can't. My good friend Marie made it for us. I didn't want to cut it, it looked so good.

Emilee has always been a little crazy, but we sure do love her.

There they all are, Rock Stars and all. It was a fun day and I'm sure Emilee will always remember it.

Next up was Megan. Her birthday is actually the first of the three. She turned 11 this year. She had a party last year so this year it was strictly family. She got to pick where to go eat dinner and of course she chose a Chinese Buffet. She always asks to eat a a Chinese Buffet. She will say to me, "Mom, I really feel like Chinese food tonight so can we go?" Ya right! So we packed up the presents and cake and went on our way to the buffet.

I think I have mentioned this before, but Megan loves cinnamon rolls. This year she asked instead of having a cake, could we have cinnamon rolls instead. I didn't see why not. I was going to make them for her, but then her next request was if they could just be from Cinnabon. Well, I didn't see why not except the only Cinnabon I knew of closed down and then I remembered they had one on the army base. Guess what? I can get on base so off I went to pick them up and that was her birthday cake. Fun, eh?

I have to laugh. The waitresses were so funny. They gave us decorations and a candle to decorate her cinnamon roll. I love it!

Now that is a girl who loves cinnamon rolls. What a mess!

Last, but of course not least is my little Hunter Man! He turned seven this year and his birthday

actually lands right in the middle of the two girls! I can't believe it! My youngest is getting to big. He also had a party last year and so his as well was strictly family. On his birthday he actually had a father and son campout with the church, so we had to celebrate his day the next day when they got back. He asked to go to Cici's Pizza and was so excited to get a Harry Potter ice cream cake.

Hunter is hilarious. He is always asking for a tuxedo. I don't know why except he wants to impress I guess. So I had found this T-shirt and thought it was perfect for him. He loved it.

Whew!! Another year done and gone! It is always a little stressful, but we always get through it. The great thing is about having all the birthdays in the same week is that I'm done! I don't have to worry about it for another year.

I love my kids so much! They are tons of fun, most of the time. I wouldn't change a thing. I know it is a little late on the blog, but Happy Birthday kids! You are so the best!

Seattle, WA

2011-06-02T16:29:00.002-05:00

How do you think I ended up in Seattle, WA? Jeremy had work to do there and of course, I just had to tag along. Woo-Hoo! I have never been to Seattle and I have wanted to go for along time so when opportunity comes we go with it. Jeremy sometimes gets sick of the travel that he has to do, but I will say that I think this is the best part of his job, besides the being able to support his family that comes out of it. I mean, that's a given. Well, I had expectations of Seattle. Some were met, some not even close, but all in all I had a good time, despite all the rain that I endured.

First day I was there, I ventured out by myself.(Of course I always do this on these kinds of trips. I love it) As I asked the front desk lady at the hotel about the city, she was in shock that I would actually go wandering around a strange city all by myself. Hmm, I guess she doesn't get out much. Well my first day was a rainy rainy day. As I walked down the streets of Seattle with my freezing feet, I noticed I was the only one wearing flip flops and carpi's (at least I had sense enough to wear some sort of rain jacket.) Can you tell I might be from the dessert? This is also what I mostly packed. Well, I got soaked from the days events was cold and by the end of the day I made my way into the Old Navy, found some other clothes to wear and bought a pair of tennis shoes from the Ross down the street. Remember folks: If you are going to Seattle in mid May, bring the appropriate attire. It will probably rain and be cloudy and cold and if you're lucky, you might even see a few vampires.

This is a must see, though I have to say, I think it might be over rated. It was kind of fun to see the fish being thrown from worker to worker and they were funny. I even liked how there were endless shops through out the building and tons to look at. But like most things like this in other areas, it is a definite tourist trap and not cheap. I thought most things were very overpriced. Fun to look at though, music to listen to, and I found the bestest and biggest maple bar. Mmmm it was so good, I had to go back another day and buy another one.

This is where I saw most of the fish being thrown around. I have seen this on the travel channel and other places. It is fun to see and quite entertaining. Some of the fish that I saw was huge. If I lived in Seattle, I would buy fish from there all the time.

I love tulips. I have always wanted to plant them, but I am not a gardner and from what I can see, they don't last long. Here at the market they had thousands of tulips you could buy. They were beautiful. If I lived here, I think I would come down every day and buy more tulips.

I just love big buildings. I truly am a city girl at heart. I thought I would hear more music around the city though. You know, a lot of great music and bands come from Seattle. Perhaps it comes out mostly at night. I usually made it back to the hotel before 6 pm. Because Jeremy was working, our hotel was not in the city. We had to stay more where he could get to the facilities he needed to be at. Most days were cold and rainy. We did get a couple of sunny days. I think Seattle is nice and all, but I am not cut out to live there. I value the sun to much. I did love the cafes, old used book stores, and the pioneer square that is a great place to read a book. (when the sun is out)

Jeremy use to live up near Seattle for a few years when he was a kid. He lived in Kent which is not too far from Seattle and even closer to where we were staying. We decided to head out to go see his old stomping grounds. His family left Seattle when he was about 14. They moved around a lot, but Jeremy did like this area. This was the house that he lived in. He was amazed how close things seemed, 'cause as a kid, everything seemed so far away. He also couldn't believe that hardly anything looked familiar, but he did find the house, his school (middle and high school), and the church he went to.

Of course, how can you go to Seattle and not see the Space Needle and look, it is a nice sunny day. It reminds me of the Stratosphere's little brother (even though the Needle was way before Stratosphere) Every picture you see of Seattle has the Space Needle and so it is a must see.

After we were done with the Space Needle we decided to catch a ferry and drive through the Olympic Rain Forest.

I have been on many ferries, but I have to say, that this was the first time I had ever driven the car unto the ferry and parked and then drove it off the ferry. It was kind of fun.

I have decided that I love the Olympic National Forest. It is quite the sight to drive through. I would love to just find a cabin here and stay for a couple of weeks. That would be wonderful. The water and trees were beautiful and the waterfalls were right off the side of the road. I loved it. Of course though, as we were driving that would bring us right through....OK Twilight Fans, hold on to your seats....Forks, WA. Ya you read that right. Forks, WA. Let me tell ya, It is not much of a town. One street pretty much is it. We did eat there though, and I did see the high school, which is under construction, and the people of Forks have truly embraced the Phenomenon. As we drove into town we saw a hotel sign that said, "Edward Cullen did not Sleep here" HA, funny right?? I even got to see Bella's truck. Ooooo, I know your jealous now?

La Push is not too far. We were going to head there, but we missed our turn. Oh well, but here is a pic of one of the beaches near it. Cool, right?

The next day, we just relaxed, did some shopping, and went and saw the Seattle Temple. Of course, it was raining. It would have been nice to do a session, but it didn't work out that way. We went and walked around the grounds anyway and took some great pics.

I thought this was pretty......We had a nice time. It was fun to see the sights and spend time with Jeremy. Stay tuned, coming next up: Three kids birthdays all in the same week for the last week of May.

Another day in Lexington, KY

2011-05-27T14:23:00.000-05:00

I have usually been pretty good at updating our blog, but the last couple of months have been truly busy and I am still quite busy. I have some things to post, but we will start with Lexington. The first of April, I took the kids up to Lexington, KY. As most of you know, Jeremy travels a lot for work and Lexington is one place he goes often. We sometimes go with him. The first year, we took Megan for her birthday. Of course, Emilee decided she wanted her turn so the next year we took Emilee up for her birthday. Well, Hunter talked about it all the time and would ask when it was his turn to go up to Lexington to ride and visit the horses. Jeremy will not be going to Lexington anymore, so on his last trip up there, I packed the kids up, picked them up from school and drove them up so Hunter could have his turn as well. It was a fun trip and here is what we did.

In the past, I have always gone on the ride with the kids, but while riding the horses, I have learned that I am pretty allergic to them. I didn't use to be. This is something that has occured in my old age, but every time I get on the horse, when I get done, my eyes are swollen and red. I decided to just watch this time. Hunter was actually too young to go on the ride, but he was able to go on the pony rides instead. We let him go on several. He had a great time.o

We went to several children/science museums on this trip. I think I got museumed out for a bit, but the kids had a blast and our family pass got well used with what we had payed for it and that was a huge plus. By the way, look at Emilee Hula Hoop. I have several of these pics. I never knew she could move her hips like that and it was all so effortless. She could have hula hooped all day long. I can't even do it for 10 sec. WOW!!

Who knew that Cincinnati, OH was so close to Lexington. Only an hour a way. So we made the trip and went to a huge museum that actually had about 4 museums in it. It is an old train station that they converted into a place for museums. They have the coolest kids museum that I have ever seen. I personally could have spent all day in it. Now, why didn't they have these things when I was a kid??

We also went to the Natural History Museum in the center. What was cool about this one is that they had a couple of man made caves inside that were pretty realistic. One was a smaller trail then the other, but it was really cool. Usually you can't climb around in a cave when you are on a tour, but in this one you could climb and play away. So much fun. Hunter didn't go in. He was to scared of the bats he might see. They did have some live bats down in their cave, but they were behind glass and pretty scared. We couldn't see them. Trying to explain this to a 6 year old was useless. His mind was made up. He stayed outside with Jeremy and then me so Jeremy could go through as well.

Afterward we went for a walk down the Ohio river. Even though the kids had a good time skipping rocks and all that fun stuff. I wouldn't get in that river for anything. Yuck!

After the weekend, We had to get back and put the kids back in school. Jeremy had to say and work. On the way back, I stopped in Nashville and let the kids go to the Adventure Science Center. We had never been there and I had heard good things. It was quite the place. It was hard to get the kids to leave.

Well, that's it. I know it's a lot and it happened a couple of months ago, but it is never to late to post. I have some more stuff to post. Jeremy and I just got back from Seattle so that is coming next and of course all the kids just had a birthday, so I have tons about that. Stay tuned. I'll see ya soon.

2011-03-15T19:06:00.002-05:00

Aren't they just some of the cutest kids? Even with their faces painted all up. Well, most of you know that I hate grocery shopping. I can put it off and off and off until it can't be put off anymore and then I will have to

get so much stuff. Well, that was the case yesterday. It had to be done. The girls were at their friends house and Hunter went with me. After we were done though, he proceeded to tell everyone just how much I spent on groceries. I mean everyone. Nothing is kept secret when a six year old is around. Well, after I was done, I decided that I was too tired to cook and since Jeremy was out-of-town, I decided we were going out to dinner. Now some of you might know of "Mellow Mushroom". If you don't, you are missing out. It is a great pizza place and I know my pizza. On Monday nights here in Huntsville, AL...Kids eat free, so off we went. They had free face painting so the kids insisted and I said go to it. This is what the outcome was. We have a fairy queen, a black widow, and a tiger. Like I said at the beginning....aren't they just the cutest kids??

Another Time Out that started with a big "Crash"

2011-03-13T21:21:00.006-05:00

I attended yet another "Time Out for Women". I love to go. I would really like to go to Women's Conference at BYU, but I am a little far at the moment so instead, when it is available, I have been so blessed to attend "Time Out for Women". This time it was in Nashville, TN. Nashville is about 75 miles north of us, so not too far to go. My friend Marie and I were suppose to go in Atlanta together back in October, but I needed to attend the funeral of my sweet little niece and so I missed going with Marie. When the opprotunity came to go to Nashville this year, we both got the OK from the husbands and headed off. Marie had asked another friend to come along as well and the three of us had a great time.

Most of you know that Jeremy goes out of town a lot. Because of this, he accumulates a lot of hotel points. So we were blessed to stay in the Renissance Marriott which was connected to the convention center that Time Out was being held at. Very convienent. I parked in the garage, got my bag out of the back seat, shut the hatch down, and "CRASH!!!!" My back window shattered into a thousand pieces. Now let me explain something to you. I have had this SUV for about 2 weeks. I was not excited to not only hear this loud crash, but to also see my window in thousands of peices on the garage floor. All three of us were silent for maybe 30 sec, but it seemed more like 5 min. It sounded like someone shot through my window. I had no idea what to do. I called Jeremy, he called Honda, took all my stuff out of the car, and checked into the hotel room. After we got some dinner, I went back to the car and reparked it in a stall backed up to a wall so hopefully nobody would know I had no back window.

Now it is a little hard to see that there really is no window, but it is very much opened. Here is some of the glass inside the car, the rest was on the floor. Well, hopefully Honda will take full responsibility and fix it. I think it most definately was a defect on their part. I will take it in tomorrow and I hope they give me a car to drive, 'cause Jeremy is in Jacksonville and I will be carless during Spring Break.

Funny Story: A few weeks ago one evening, I had come down with a bad case of flu. Achy body, cold chills, it was aweful. I had been crying, wishing for my mother like a little four year old at which time Jeremy had given me a blessing. Well I guess all my crying worried Hunter. The next morning I was all better. Hunter had said this to me: "Mommy, I thought you were going to die last night and so I prayed that you would get better and not die and Heavenly Father answered my prayer" Sweet right? Well today I was telling Hunter that hopefully I will get a car so we can do some stuff this week so I said, "Pray for a car." Hunter said, "Like when I prayed that you wouldn't die?" Kids have so much faith. We can truly learn from them.

Well after all the boom and crash, we acturally had a pretty good weekend. I hardly thought of my car, except when it was brought up from time to time. Here are some hilights of the weekend.

This is Marie Kilpatrick, Karen Bagley, and me getting ready for the evening talks and performances. Now I had never really met Karen before, but I enjoyed being around her. I found her very fun to be around and I hope we can continue to keep in contact. I had seen her every week and didn't even know what a great person she was. We are both in the nursery in our wards and as I am leaving, she is coming in. Small world, right?

This is Merrilee Boyack with Marie. She just loves her and I thought these were the cutest pictures. She looks like a person in heaven meeting someone who has been a great influence.

This is Mary Ellen Edmunds. It was fun to hear her. She is someone I remember my mom talking about all the time.

This is Mariama Kallon. I heard her speak at Time Out in Plano, TX. I wanted to get a picture with her then, but didn't get a chance. She has an amaizing story and a huge amount of faith and hope. She grew up in Africa in a place called Sierra Leone, while they were in a war. Her parents were killed, and she watched her sister get her arms and legs chopped off and came very close in losing her own life. She had no more family, but somehow she found the gospel. I love to listen to her speak. If you ever get a chance, look her up. She has a heartbreaking, but wonderful story to tell.

After the evening talks finished, we felt like some dessert. We went to the place called Mortons. Very classy. I mean the waiter even had a special tool to sweep the crumbs off the table. He called it his "zambonie".

The rest of the weekend was just as great. I loved Hilary Weeks like always, heard some great talks, and took some great thoughts home with me. Will I do it again? Most likely. We even made it home with no window in the back. Poor Karen had to endure the wind, but she was exhausted and hardly noticed. Jeremy and I put some plastic on it because we heard it will probobly rain, but hopefully I can get it to Honda before any rain hits. Of course, I can't see through the back now so if you are driving near me, you might want to move away.

(OK, so my spell check is not working, so if I have tons of spelling errors, I am so sorry and please remember that I never claimed to be a genius. I mean, I was a kindergarten teacher. How many words do I really need to know how to spell? Let's just call it inventive spelling and leave it at that.)

Ice, Ice, Baby...

2011-02-05T11:25:00.001-06:00

Last week, Jeremy and the kids went to a hockey game. The girls had gotten free tickets from school for reaching their AR goal ( program at school about how many books you read and comprehension by taking a test on the books that you read) Jeremy decided it would be fun to take them. So he bought him and Hunter tickets and they all went. I have to say that the kids were very excited. More then I thought they would be. Some might wonder why I didn't go too. Well, besides the fact that the only sports I like to watch are tennis and basketball, don't ya think that it is good for the kids to spend some good quality time with their dad? That's what I thought.

So, I guess it happened to be "kid's night" the night they went. The first 1000 kids got a jersey. Fun, right?? Well, they made it. They each have a hockey Jersey that is way to big, but great to go to bed in them and that is exactly what they do.

Jeremy tells me that they all really liked the game. He said though that Emilee loved it the most. She screamed and yelled and screamed some more, and of course was jumping up and down the whole night. That's my Emilee. She always has been my screamer. It would have been a sight to see. I can imagine it though.

I guess these are the mascots. I was told their names, but I couldn't begin to tell you what they are. What I do know is that the kids couldn't get enough of them.

So, I guess our team lost. The score was 2 to 1. Oh well. I asked the kids if they wanted to go again and they all said yes. Jeremy has also been watching a lot of monster truck shows on TV with the kids. Again, not my thing, but I guess all three kids like it and so he wants to take them to a monster truck show. Of course Emilee is way excited. What is my husband doing to my sweet little girls??

Hawaii---Last Days

2011-01-26T11:41:00.001-06:00

All good things must come to an end. Though I think Jeremy was glad. He worked 10 hour days while I played. (Though isn't that how it should be??) Our airplane wasn't leaving until Saturday evening so we had planned to rent a car and go to the other side of the island and just drive around and see what we could see. We wanted to see North Shore, look at some falls, see the temple, and just look at the scenery of Oahu.

Before we left for Hawaii, we thought on that last day we might attend a session at the temple. There just wasn't enough time, but we did go visit, walk around the grounds, and check out the visitor center. We chatted with the sister missionaries for a bit and learned some neat things about this temple. I love this statue of Lehi and Joseph. I pretty much love all these kinds of statues, but I really liked this one. A few days before, Jeremy had to do some work on the big island and he was right near the temple there so he walked around it as well, took some pictures of it and some of the water shores. (He said, because of the still active volcano, the shore is mostly lava rock. Not suitable beach like, but still pretty. He took pics of that to. They are down below.)

Waimea Falls is more like a park with many different trails to hike. If we would have had more time, I would have liked to hike more of the trails, but the falls were very nice. I also would have liked to hike other falls that were farther away, but that will have to be saved for another time. (I might be putting my hopes up on that one.) We saw all the people swimming around them and thought that our kids would really have liked to do that.

So many people, including the lady that Jeremy was working with for the week, had told us to go to the Dole Plantation. We couldn't figure out what the big deal of that would be. Well, we had a little time before we had to go to the airport and it was on the way, so we decided to stop. You can ride the pineapple express and go through the largest maze, but all those things like everything else cost and we just didn't feel like spending the money on it. You could look around the grounds though and drive by all the pineapples and purchase the most yummiest pineapple ice cream. It tasted it a little like sherbet, but very creamy.

I never thought I would be able to go to Hawaii. I always wanted to. I remember when I was little, my parents went with my brother and sister-in-law. I begged to go and when they got back, I begged for us all to go again. My dad had brought back this coconut bank and said we shall save money for us to go. Well. I am 38 and I think if he found that bank it would still be empty. Funny though, Megan begged just like me and those pineapples that you eat ice cream out of, they are banks as well. Guess what?? I told her the same thing. LOL! I don't know if we will ever be able to go back. I would really like to see some of the other islands. I have heard such wonderful things about them. Maybe someday. In the meantime, I will be grateful for this trip and glad I enjoyed it like I did.

Palaces, Luaus, and volcanos

2011-01-21T22:20:00.000-06:00

I love to take tours with anything to do with history. This was one of my favorite days in Hawaii. Hawaii is the only state in the U.S. where you can find a palace. Before Hawaii became a state, it was controlled by kings and queens. The "Summer Palace" was more like a home, but the Iolani Palace was very beautiful. I loved the woodwork in the palace and it was just a neat tour to take.

How can you go to Hawaii and not attend a Luau? They had lots of activities before dinner. You could get tattoos, make leis and headbands, learn to hula dance, and even watch a Samoan climb a coconut tree. The food wasn't bad and I did enjoy the seaweed more then I thought I would. The show was great and like the Polynesian Cultural Center, I really enjoyed the fire dancers.

Ahh, Diamond Head! This was a beautiful day. Diamond Head had been closed all week and finally opened the day before we had to fly home. It was crowded, but it was a great hike. Nothing too bad, but very enjoyable until you got to the cave. Normally I guess it only takes a few minutes to get through the cave, but because there were so many people, we were stuck in the cave for about 30 minutes. Now I have never felt clausterphobic, but I did in this cave. It was so small for the amount of people that were in it, it felt like a sauna, and I had serious doubts about going on. I decided I had gone this far, I needed to go the rest. I stuck it out and it was way worth it. The view was amazing. Definitely a great experience.

Polynesian Cultural Center --Laie Hawaii

2011-01-20T00:23:00.000-06:00

This was the day I was waiting for. I was so excited. I had heard so many good things about the cultural center and couldn't wait to go. Well, it started raining hard the night before and the next day it was pouring. How unfair! I wasn't going to let some rain ruin my day, so I bought an umbrella, took my rain jacket, and waited for my bus. The rain was off and on through out the day, but I had a great tour guide that did his best to keep us out of the rain and helped us to have a great experience. I loved the shows, I loved the hands on activities, the food was fantastic, and I thought our Samoa guide was excellent.

The evening ended with a show called, "The Breath of Life". This went through all the Polynesian islands and showed us the things which made each island unique but similar as well. It ended with fire dancers from Samoa and it left me speechless. Well, as I said before it had rained off and on through out the day. When the show was over and I left the covered theater, I had seen how much it had been raining. As I made my way to the bus, I had to walk through water up past my ankles. The bus was suppose to bring us back to the hotel by 11 pm. Well, we were stuck before the bridge back. We couldn't go forward or backward and the rain was raining even harder. Water was up to the knees of the firemen as they helped cars get off the bridge. Finally after a few hours, we were able to pass. I finally got to the hotel about 1:30 am. It was a long exhausting day, but even with all the drama of the rain, it was well worth it.

The beach and more......

2011-01-19T00:07:00.000-06:00

Below is where we stayed at. We stayed at the Hilton Hawaiian Village. Now, you may have seen this hotel on TV if you ever watch shows that are set in Honolulu or Waikiki. You usually notice it as the big tower with the very large rainbow on it. The Hilton probably has about 5 towers. We actually stayed in the Rainbow tower. It was a very nice hotel, except the bed was not so good. I woke up every morning between 3 - 4 am. I thought at first that maybe it was the time change that was affecting me so much, though that might have been some of it, the bed was just not comfortable. Besides that, I was very happy with our hotel. The people were nice, it was right on the beach, and there was lots to see from it. We had a very nice view of the beach which you can see from the pictures that I have added.

Before Jeremy had to work, he was able to get a few activities in. One evening we decided to go on a Sunset Cruise. Now we have been on these kind of cruises before, but each one we go on is very different. This one was a buffet and it had some entertainment on it. Kind of like a mini luau. We were hoping to spot some whales before it got too dark, but not a single one did we see.(This time of year is suppose to be big to see whales, but we never saw one.)

The first day Jeremy went to work, it was kind of a rainy, windy, gloomy day. I was hoping to hang out at the beach a bit, (which I did the day before)but it just wasn't a beach day. I decided to go to downtown Waikiki and hang out at the shops. I did go on the beach for a bit, but just to look around. It was not a day for sun. I liked all the shops down there. They were fun to look at. The rain held out for most of the day, but on my way back to the hotel, I got caught in it. By the time I got back though, Jeremy got back just in time to go to dinner.

Hawaii--Island of Oahu

2011-01-18T00:05:00.000-06:00

Jeremy has to travel a lot for work. Most of the time, he travels around the southern states such as, Kentucky, Tennessee, and Mississippi. He often volunteers for places that nobody wants to go, like St. Louis, Missouri in the winter. Other times he has to go to places like Texas, Philadelphia, Virginia, and once he even had to go to LA for a bit. I sometimes go with him. Not too often, but every once in awhile I do. Well, this time it was Hawaii. Wow! Now isn't that something?? Well, I just couldn't let him suffer in the tropics by himself. I had to go with him. We went ahead and went a few days earlier so Jeremy could see some sights before he had to work. Then I was off by myself, enjoying the warmth of the island. So, while everyone in Alabama was shoveling the snow, I was reading a book on the beach.

I had a good time. And even though Jeremy had to work most of the time, I think he had some fun as well. So the next few posts, I thought I would put in some things that I got to see and do. I even learned a few things and that is always good when you go on vacation.

Jeremy loves to go to swap meets or flea markets. I hate them, but I figured since Jeremy only had a few days, I wouldn't fight him too much on this and we would go to Oahu's largest swap meet. Great right. I go all the way to Hawaii to attend a swap meet. Well, it wasn't the kind of swap meet that Jeremy likes. It was all the souvenir things that you can buy in Waikiki but tons cheaper. So, I had a good time, but Jeremy was a little disappointed. What was cool though about where this swap meet was is that it was very close to Pearl Harbor, so we got to go. We learned some things about why the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor and we also were able to see the USS Arizona underneath the water. It was a time to pander and to contimplate. As I listened to the movie before we went to the memorial, I thought how we are still fighting the same fight just with someone else. It was a very humbling experience.

I am not always one to take pictures of too many landscapes and such. I often like to have people in my pictures, but I found myself in awe of all the different forms of nature to be seen. I couldn't help myself, but snap pictures of all the interesting plants and animals. Here are some of the things that I took pictures of. Through the next few posts I will put more of the beautiful forms of nature that I saw.

Cookies for Santa, Pajama Elves, the "Big Day"....and even a "White Christmas"

2010-12-26T23:46:00.000-06:00

The shopping is done, the festivities are pretty much ready, and it is time to start the Christmas traditions. We always make cookies for Santa on Christmas Eve. Some we give to neighbors, some we eat, and the kids usually pick 2 cookies that they really like to give to Santa. I think the kids did a great job.

These are the chosen ones. Just for Santa. I hope he comes hungry.

After dinner, it is time to talk about what Christmas really means and how important the Savior is and what he has done for us. Sometimes we watch a movie, sometimes we go through a box of symbols of Christmas, this year we read the story of "The Three Trees". After we talk about the Savior, the kids get to open one present. ( They try so hard to convince us to open a second one, but of course we just stick to the one,) Now I don't know if the Pajama Elves come to your house, but every year they come to our house. Every year the kids think they are going to catch the sneaky little elves, but they never do. This year they came during dinner. Hunter must have heard something, 'cause he decided to look out the door after dinner, and what do you know?? Three boxes and in each box a pair of pajamas. Sneaky little elves. Right before the kids go to bed, I always like to read " 'Twas the Night Before Christmas". The kids then looked on Jeremy's phone to see an update of where Santa was at that time and then off to bed they went and dreamt of Sugar Plums dancing in their heads.

This year the kids woke us up really early. 5 AM. I couldn't believe it. We tried to stall until about 5:45 and then we couldn't stall anymore. We had to get up and join the kids down stairs. Now, I don't know if you know much about Alabama, but usually it doesn't snow too much. Every once in awhile some flurries, but nothing big. Who would have ever thought we would wake up to a "White Christmas". Growing up in Las Vegas, I remember I use to wish for that and my parents would say it is nice to wish, but it probably won't happen. How lucky the kids were to wake up to all this snow. It snowed all day, more in the night, and even more the next day. (Now that Christmas is over though, I think it should go away, I know longer wish for snow) The kids had so much fun in it. They haven't played in the snow since we left Virginia, so it was a real treat for them.

That is pretty much Christmas in a nutshell!

The kids had a great Christmas. They got things they asked Santa for and maybe a few things they never thought to ask Santa for. They played, played, played all day long. By the end, we were all exhausted and grateful for all the things we had and for being with each other. We even had "Roast Beast" with the neighbors. Oh, what a day!

I wanted to add this picture. Hunter got this Paper Jam Electric Guitar from Santa. He has played for 2 days straight. Jeremy finally got tired of hearing it and gave him some earphones to plug into it. Hunter has been asking for a guitar for awhile. Since the real thing is a little pricey right now, Santa gave him this for now. He sometimes wears his sunglasses, sometimes jumps in the air while playing it, sometimes he even might sing a little. He is so funny. He is our little Rock Star.

Christmas Festival

2010-12-18T17:57:00.000-06:00

Every year our stake has a big Christmas festival. This festival is enjoyed by all around Huntsville and other areas near by. It is enjoyed by members and non-members. The community looks forward to it every year. Prior to the festival, they collect nativity sets from all who will let the stake borrow them. There are hundreds and they are all unique. Some are from other cultures, some are very childlike, and some are very elegant. They have very big ones and very small ones. They even have a set that is distributed throughout the sets where the children can look for each piece like a scavenger hunt. They display these through out the cultural hall along with Christmas quilts that many have sewn and Christmas trees decorated. They even have a live nativity where you go from room to room watching as the story plays out. They transform the rooms and hallway and it really looks as much as you can in a church, like being there. It is very quiet going through this live nativity and very reverent. The whole church is decorated with decorated fireplaces throughout and foyers decorated very home like. They have a choir that sings at different times (which you should acquire tickets earlier because it is reserved seating). They also take a family picture, if you would like. This is ours. Not too bad. It was a very nice night. The choir sounded beautiful and amazing with many added orchestra instruments involved as well. What a great way to start the Christmas festivities.

Santa Claus

2010-12-15T15:39:00.000-06:00

Every year, as with most of you, we take our kids to see Santa. This is a most necessary event. It is very important that the kids put in their order to Santa personally. Sometimes their list is long, but I try to tell them to pick just a couple of things and to remember that even though Santa is listening, he doesn't always get what you most desire, but to be grateful for what you do get. Here is what they ordered from Santa:

Megan asked for Legos, a puppet, and a ZuZu Pet,

Emilee asked for a MP3 player and a doll (14 in. that you can dress),

and Hunter asked for a Spider-Man Web Shooter.

Well, I hope they get what they wish for and that all of you have a very

Merry Christmas!!

Thanksgiving Day

2010-12-01T15:27:00.000-06:00

Thanksgiving is a great time of year to be with your family and friends. Like many, we do not live near my family. For so long, we did and I have many wonderful memories of Thanksgiving Day. It is so fun to visit all day long, play games, and just hang out. The food itself is overwhelming and there is so much and so many favorites that you look forward to all year long. Because of all this food is the reason why I didn't cook Thanksgiving in my own home this year. I am sorry to say, but it is way too much for just us, especially when your kids eat like little tiny birds. Last year, my dad was in town, so it was worth cooking a great meal and smelling the turkey all day long. This year it was just us, so we decided to head up to Nashville and eat at the Golden Corral. Now, you laugh, but we were together, no cooking, and best of all no clean up.

There is a park that we like to go to in Nashville. It has lots of fun things to do, wide open spaces to run, and some trails to hike through. After we ate, we went to the park and played for the rest of the day. It was fun. We had a good time and even though we couldn't be with my extended family, at least we had a great dinner and time to spend with one another and that is something to be grateful for.

Gone Fishing

2010-11-27T23:49:00.002-06:00

Since the kids were off of school and Jeremy took some time off of work, he decided to take the kids fishing. I was lucky enough to stay home and get some much needed things done. They seem to have a good time and he took some pictures. I think they look kind of cool with the fog and all.

They tell me that the fish just weren't biting this day.

Both Megan and Emilee have gone fishing on Jeremy;s boat and have had the chance to catch some fish. Hunter has yet to go on the boat. He has gone fishing with Jeremy, but just off the shore. He has yet to catch anything, and so doesn't see the thrill in fishing like the girls. He will some day.

This picture kind of looks like "A River Runs through it".

There is Emilee the star of the show.

After they were done fishing, they went on a little nature hike. This is one of the buildings on the

hike that you could go into.

Well, no fish for the day, but I think they had a good time anyway with dad....and of course I used my time well and got tons done.

Halloween 2010

2010-11-01T23:33:00.002-05:00

Aahhh, Halloween!! This is the time of year that my children look forward to the most. They start planning it for the next year as soon as they get their costumes for Halloween . And let me tell you, they change their minds about 5 times a day. And then we get to that final day of selecting the costume and they get one that they have never even discussed. What can I say, they love it! This year Jeremy went with them to get their costumes. I didn't even know they were doing it. They just came home with them like they did the dog. ( I am starting to think that maybe I should go along on all these Daddy - Kiddie outings.) Well, I think the kids liked their choices and were so excited to dress up. What fun they had at the Trunk or Treat and wouldn't you know it......They started discussing in the car, what they would be for the next year.

Megan wanted to be a devil. I am not sure why this was, but she makes a pretty cute one. If I would have been there, I would have tried to talk Emilee into being an Angel. Now don't you think that would have been a cute picture?

Emilee decided on Spidergirl. Now, I have to say that I thought this was just a made up character for Halloween so that the girls could use the Spiderman theme in their costumes. Nope, she was real. (In the comic book world that is.)
Spidergirl is the daughter of

Peter Parker and MaryJane. Who knew??

Hunter went back and forth between Batman and Wolverine. In the end it was Wolverine that won. His favorite part of the costume of course, are the pretend knives that have the appearance of coming out of the hands. He does look tough though.

Until next year......I hope everyone had a Happy Halloween!!

"Lyons Farm"--TN

2010-11-01T19:22:00.001-05:00

We just recently took the kids to Lyons Farm. They have a few of these kinds of farms around here that are open for the month of October to pick pumpkins. It was very fun for the kids. We spent most of the day there. The kids went through a corn maze (over and over and I think they tried really hard to get lost as much as they could),they played in huge piles of corn, slid down monster slides, road cow trains, jumped in bouncy houses, played on mountains of tractor tires, played on tractor tire swings, ate funnel cake, and of course, picked their pumpkins. It was very fun for everyone. I couldn't decide what pictures to put on the blog so I chose them all.

Halloween Fun

2010-10-21T08:06:00.002-05:00

Personalize funny videos and birthday eCards at JibJab!

Time Out for Women Plano, TX

2010-10-17T14:37:00.000-05:00

This past week, I had the great opportunity to go to Dallas Texas and visit some family and friends. They really don't live in Dallas, but close enough. It was way fun, relaxing, and full of great experiences. I stayed with my most beautiful cousin Joanna, but I got to visit with others. My brother Darin and his family live there as well as my cousin Lisa and her family and my cousin Teresa. It was so good to see everyone. In fact, it was the first time I had ever seen my brother's youngest daughter and she is definitely a Davis.

Joanna, my sister-in-law Betty Jo, and I were able to go to Time Out for Women in Plano. Along with them my good friend Lynette who use to live here in Alabama, got to come up and attend as well. It was so good to see her. We were able to spend most of the weekend together playing card games, talking about old times, eating out, and of course listening to awesome Time Out speakers. For those who knew Lynette, she is doing quite well as she is serving as Primary President in her ward and loving the time she spends with her family.

Joanna and Julee. Isn't she beautiful?? She is so much fun to be around and even though she doesn't think it, she is an awesome mom of 5 very active children. Now, I love her children. They are seriously funny and so much fun to tease, but if anyone deserves a Time Out, it would be Joanna. She has so much patience and she loves to do so many fun things with her kids. They are so lucky to have a mom like her.

Lynette and Julee. It was so much fun to see Lynette. She is one of my bestest book buddies. I have missed her so much and it was so good to chat with her and spend some time with her. When I first had thoughts of going to Time Out in Plano, I had thought that maybe I could drive back down to Houston with her, spend a week around her house, and fly home from Houston. It just didn't work out that way, but that just means we can always plan another trip. Though, I have taken a few trips this year, and Jeremy might start putting his foot down. I love ya Jeremy.

Here is the gang with Virginia Hinckley Pearce. She wasn't suppose to be at this Time Out, but was filling in for someone that just couldn't be there. What a surprise. It was so cool to listen and talk with her for a few moments. I kept thinking, "Wow, this is Pres. Hinckley's daughter, she must have had some awesome experiences growing up". I loved every minute of it.

I was so excited to hear that Brad Wilcox was going to be speaking. Joanna and I use to hear him speak when we were youth. Also, I had forgotten this, which I can't imagine why, but he was in the bishopric in our BYU ward. (I know, how could I have forgotten) Betty Jo was excited to talk with him 'cause he was her brother's mission president in Chile. He gave a wonderful talk. Just like I remember.

Ah, Michael Mc Lean. I have heard plenty of his music and my most favorite is the Forgotten Carols, but I have never had the opportunity to be there for one of his performances. He was very very fun.

And here we are at the end of a great Time Out for Women. We had a great time. Time Out was awesome. I had a great time and learned some good things while enjoying myself with others. I guess I get to go again next week in Atlanta with a friend from here. There will be a couple of the same speakers, but about four will be different. Lucky me. The rest of my trip was great also. It was so much fun to see everyone and to visit and catch up.

Meet Odie

2010-09-05T16:53:00.001-05:00

Saturday morning, Jeremy says he wants to go to the flea market not too far from Huntsville. Well, if anyone really knows me, you know that I hate flea markets. I don't find them fun at all. So, I let him take the kids while telling him I had laundry to do. (That is how much I hate flea markets) A few hours later Emilee comes into the house very excited and asks me to guess what they got from the market. I go outside and Megan is bringing in this. An 8 week puppy. Now, Jeremy and I have been talking about getting a dog. We had one a few years ago, but we had to give him up because he just was too hyper for my kids. I just thought we had to prepare more around our house to make it more puppy safe. I guess when they found this little critter, they couldn't resist including Jeremy. So, we now have a new member of our family. I guess I think he is kind of cute. So, just when I thought I was all through with potty training, here I am, doing it again. He is actually doing pretty good. We just have to be on top of it and make sure we take him out every 2-3 hours. He seems to hold it quite well during the night. We need to work on him telling us, but they say that can take a couple of months. His first night he whined a lot in the night, but I put my earphones in my ear and told Jeremy I've done that job 3 kids before, it is all up to him. Hee-hee. He is a Dausend mixed with a Coon Dog. His mother was the Coon and his father was the Dausend and the kids named him Odie. The kids have had a blast with him. They even love cleaning up his stuff outside. They get so excited for him when he makes it outside to do his business and praise him with great words and treats. I think little Odie is going to like it here. He definitely will have lots of love from my kids.

First Day of School

2010-08-11T11:35:00.000-05:00

Ah, the first day of school. So many emotions for this day. For the mom of a first child going into kindergarten has many different emotions then the mom who is on there fifth or sixth child going into kindergarten. For me, I have to admit is a lovely day. Don't get me wrong. I love my children. I love spending time with them, I love hearing their stories, I even love (sometimes) their emotional breakdowns. With all that love, sometimes, I want to share it with their teachers. My kids, even though they won't admit it, I think were excited for the first day of school. And even though they won't admit it, for the most part, enjoyed it. I was having some thoughts of when each went into kindergarten for the first time yesterday. So, I got out the old photos and decided to compare. How they have grown. Especially my oldest.

I probably couldn't find my camera the first day of kindergarten when Megan went to school so I must have used my phone and we think camera phones are bad now, back then they were awful. Megan started school in Las Vegas, but we were getting ready to move to Virginia. We knew she would only be there a few months, but she loved both kindergartens. She is still short, but has grown up most definitely. She didn't like her first day of fifth grade too much. Here in Alabama, they have to change classes through out the day and she has three teachers this year. She says she doesn't like to do that. Megan has never been one for change and isn't ready to grow up at all. I say that is fine, but she will want too in time. I can't believe she is 10. Wow! Time does go by fast. She did say her second day was much better. She will get use to all the differences and I am sure will have a great year.

Emilee started kindergarten in Virginia, but like Megan, we knew she would only would be there for a few months before we moved to Alabama. Also like Megan, she enjoyed both kindergartens a lot. Emilee is my little studious student. She loves school, though if you ask her now she sometimes says no, but I think that is just because she listens to her sister too much. She is always well liked by her friends and her teacher. She had a great first day of third grade and loves her teacher. I never worry about Emilee at school. She is always happy.

Not much change for Hunter since he just started school last year. And what do you know, we actually had a child finish kindergarten with the same teacher. How 'bout that? Hunter is very silly when it comes to school. I am not sure what goes through his head all the time. His teacher last year only had great things to say about him. He seems to listen well, but he says he doesn't like school at all and thinks he would get along fine without it. I think he liked his first day of first grade. I see him smiling and then when I call him on it, he says he wasn't and doesn't like to sing and doesn't like the big spider hanging on the wall in his new classroom. He is such a character. Mostly talk I tell you. I am sure he will get along just fine.

It will be a great year for all of them.

Peaches

2010-08-07T14:46:00.002-05:00

I love peaches! I never really knew how much I love peaches until about 6 years ago when my ward in Las Vegas took orders to have some peaches delivered to us from the great state of Georgia. So, I ordered a box. OMGosh!! So good. They just are not the same in the grocery stores. Everyone of them was a bit of heaven. A year and a half later, we moved to Northern Virginia. I thought "Wow, look at all the orchards around. Surely the grocery stores will have some great peaches" No....They don't. The next year my cousin had come to visit so we had took her and the kids and went to an orchard to pick some. OMGosh!!, so good. Now we are here in Northern Alabama and I thought once again, "Wow, these peaches look so good in the store" No, they weren't. Very disappointing. So, the other day I ventured out to find some good peaches that were not in a grocery store. I am here to say, I succeeded. My friend told me about this place off the 72 called Isom's. (For all of you living near here) They were fabulous.

Don't they look wonderful?? Believe me, they are! Well we didn't stop there. They had some nectarines to eat. So I ate one with the kids. Megan says"MMMMmmmm, I like that!" I guess she has never had a nectarine....go figure.

Now I think I like nectarines just as much as I like peaches, but again, you can't seem to find good ones in the stores so I guess I never bothered to give them to my kids. My kids were all over them when we got home. Don't they look good??

We ended up getting some grapes also. They were really good as well, but they have seeds in them so I don't know how much the kids will eat them, but that is OK. I still like them.

LESSON TO LEARN: Don't buy your peaches and nectarines in the grocery store. So not worth it. Either grow them yourself, find an orchard where they grow them, or if this is not available for you, find away to make that order from Georgia. I still will say, that those were the best peaches that I ever did have. I guess that is why Georgia is called the "Peach State".

"Smokies"....Tennessee

2010-08-03T12:58:00.005-05:00

Last week our family was able to go to the "Smokies" of Tennessee. We went a couple of years ago, but we thought it was time to go again. We went to Dollywood again and instead of going to Splash Country this time, which is right next to Dollywood, we decided to go to an indoor water park in Gatlinburg called Wild Bear Falls. Of course the kids had a good time. They were definitely in their element of fun. I have said it before and I will say it again, I am impressed with Dollywood. Coming from the west, I always thought it was a park that probably was a joke, but it is a very nice park. Very green, lots to see, and a good variety of rides for everyone. Most rides you do get wet on, but I have to say..It felt really good to get wet that day.

We were lucky that day at Dollywood. It called for rain and we didn't get any. The next day we went to the water park and what do you know, it poured and you know what?? It didn't matter 'cause we were indoors. Hunter had a blast. He was so excited to use his swimming skills that he was able to learn this summer. Emilee wasn't to shabby on her swimming skills as well. Megan of course loved the big water slides. She tried really hard to get Emilee on them, but Emilee just didn't like how high they were. I went on one of them with her a few times, but I wouldn't go down the really fast one. Something about being in total darkness heading down a really really fast slide. I lost my nerve. What happened to me. I use to go on anything. I almost went 'til I heard someone say, "I am never going on that slide again." So what if it was a kid that said it. Don't feel too bad for Megan. Her dad went down it with her and she found a friend to hang out with.

We had a good week. But, like always, it was good to get back home in our own beds.

Elizabethtown, KY...Much Needed Getaway

2010-07-26T00:10:00.001-05:00

For the past year I have been telling Jeremy that I need a vacation all by myself. No kids, no husband, just me. Well, I finally got it. I just wanted time to relax, not worry, and just have time for me. When I told others about where I was going, most said, "Elizabethtown. What's in Elizabethtown and why did you choose it?" Well, I learned about Elizabethtown last year when we took Megan up to Lexington. It just seemed like a small community with a lovely name. When we took Emilee up to Lexington this year, I was reminded of Elizabethtown again and thought, that is where I want to spend my few days. It was small enough not to get distracted by too much to see and close enough to the big city, if I wanted to venture I could. So off I went and let me tell you. It was wonderful. When I first got to the hotel, I lied down on the bed and looked up at the ceiling for about 30 min, just enjoying the silence. For the most part, I read, watched a few movies, slept, saw a few of the quaint little sites to see in Elizabethtown, and I even went shopping,.... and I did venture to the big city of Louisville.

This was a cute little walking tour that I did in the center of Elizabethtown's little downtown area. They had characters dressed up as we visited each one on this fun walking tour through the downtown area. They told us the story about themselves and their role in Elizabethtown and their mark on American history . We got to go in houses along the main street and pretend we went back in time. We met people like Pres. Lincoln's sister-in-law and Pres. Buchanann. Each person we met was a real person from the past and it was kind of cool to hear all about their stories.

The day before I came home, I went up to Louisville. It is about 35 min. away from Elizabethtown and it is a huge city. I went to Cheesecake Factory, shopped a little, and went to the downtown area of the city. Now, I am not a fan of baseball at all. But, when you are right next to where they make the "Louisville Slugger" baseball bats and you see a huge Louisville Slugger bat off the road, you stop and take a picture. I wish I could have gone inside, but it had just closed when I got there. Oh, another time. I also enjoyed "Fourth Street Live". This is an area on the street where cars cannot go into. It is mostly bars throughout, but they have some other things as well. They usually have some bands playing. Now, of course I didn't participate in any of the bar scene, but I did enjoy my Wendy's Frosty and listened to some music. Of course, my luck, it was a country band. I hung out a bit, but then I headed into Border's books, and finally back to Elizabethtown. Now, as much as I enjoyed my "alone time", this would have been a place to go with others. Lots and lots to see and that would have been fun with Jeremy or some great girlfriends. Maybe another time. It was a good trip. I highly reccommend it. We each need some good alone quiet time in our lives.

My New Blog

2010-07-13T00:09:00.002-05:00

I have been thinking about doing this blog for a while. I even think it might be a little embarrassing, but I figure the more people I let know about what I am doing the better. I so often have just kept losing weight a secret because of how often I fail. So I have created this blog to journal my struggles, triumphs, downfalls, and successes. I have the desire to change and I hope that you will all visit it often to go on this journey with me. I hope by knowing that if you might check it often I will be able to work through the struggles and become successful in the end. Please leave comments of encouragement, tips that I might add to the pages, healthy recipes that have been proven successful in your families, and links that might have helped you. I would like to post these things on the various pages of the blog. These are things I would like to add. I even want to add pictures, which is embarrassing itself, but what a great way to see progress. I can't wait to hear from you all. See you on my journey......
http://watchmybuttshrinkthejourney.blogspot.com/

Emilee's Kentucky Trip

2010-07-07T10:43:00.003-05:00

I have been meaning to put this up for some time, but just haven't had the motivation or the energy to do it. After a few weeks, I finally got it together. As most of you know, Jeremy travels a lot for work. One of the places he has to go is Lexington, KY. Last year Megan and I tagged along on one of his trips for her birthday. Emilee of course wanted the same thing, so this year again I tagged along on one of Jeremy's trips and we took Emilee up to Kentucky and enjoyed pretty much the same things. She of course was ecstatic. She couldn't wait to go to the horse park, ride horses, go to the children's museum, swim in the hotel pool, and hang out with just mom, dad, and her. When Megan got home last year, she told Emilee all about Riddick. Emilee of course wanted to ride Riddick as well. I told her, that might not happen, the workers choose a horse for you and it had been a year. A lot can happen in a year. I couldn't believe it, out of all the kids that were there, Emilee ended up with Riddick. She was so happy and couldn't wait to tell Megan. She did really good. A lot better then me, though I have to say, I had a HUGE horse, by the name of Big Boy, and I felt very high up. I also think I am allergic to horses 'cause last time my eyes puffed up. I had thought it was just plain old outside allergies, but I ended up at the eye doctor because it was so bad. This year my eyes seemed fine, until I got off that horse. After petting the horse and rubbing my eyes, they become puffy once more. Not as bad, since I took my contacts out immediately this time. That is what happen with me and cats, so I think I must be allergic. It was fun to watch Emilee though. I would do it again.
We got to see some fun horses, some small, some huge, and some pretty and different ones. We watched some do tricks with riders, and run around the track. It was a beautiful day. Warm, but beautiful.
We also went to the children's museum downtown. Emilee had a blast, running, playing inside big bubbles, working on patients, and going to the moon.
Last year, on the way home, Megan and I stopped at one of the caves, called Diamond Cave. This year on the way home, Emilee and I stopped at Hidden River Cave. At one time this cave was probably the most Toxic Cave in the Nation, because people would drop trash, dead animals, and anything else they didn't want down in the cave. In the '80's Kentucky made a law against that sort of thing. Some organization cleaned it up and the water started cleaning itself up and now is the town's primary water source. It is now know as the Nation's greatest ecological miracles. Before it went through all of that, in the '20's it was a dance club. They had a big band down there in one of the "cave room", set up lights, tables, refreshment areas, and danced the night away. I thought that was pretty cool. I guess many of the caves in Kentucky did the same thing.
We had a good time. We were happy to be home, but we had lots of stories to tell. I guess Hunter thinks he is next. But he has to be 8 to ride the horses, so it will be a couple of years.

Catching up.....

2010-06-12T15:53:00.016-05:00

A few things have happened since the last post that I have not had a chance to bring up. I decided that this would be a good time and instead of making many small posts, I decided to make all the events into one big post. First of all, I just had the opportunity to run the Cotton Row Run, 5K event. I have been running for awhile and 3 miles at that. When some friends from the ward decided to run it, how could I say no. Of course I tried, many times, for fear that I would come in last, 'cause I am not the runner I use to be, but my friends were all encouraging and kept me going. Well, Memorial Day came up and I actually went and ran. While I was running in the extreme humidity, I was thinking about the instigator of this crazy thing and wanting to step on her foot or something like that. (I guess, I am not a very nice person when I run) I finished and not even last with over 100 people behind me. It was awesome and just motivated me to want to try it again and work harder at getting myself fit for the next time. All I have to say is, watch out Emily, next time. You are truly my inspiration.

On another note, I was just released from my Relief Society calling. I have been the second counselor in the Relief Society for some time. Even before we moved here to Alabama. In Virginia, it was my calling for 1 1/2 years and then we moved here to Madison, AL. I didn't have a calling for about 5 months and then they called me to second counselor of the Relief Society presidency , again. I guess I wasn't done yet. Well, it has been 2 years and even though I would sometimes kid around about the calling and say it must be somebody elses turn, I truly have enjoyed myself. It was a huge surprise and totally unexpected, but they released me and called me to the nursery. We really do have some good sisters in the ward and they have been fun to serve. I will truly miss them. They are all such good examples to me. I have learned, grown, and been blessed to serve around some of the great and noble ones. I didn't think I would feel sadness about being released, but believe it or not I do. It has been a wonderful two years and I hope I am not forgotten in the nursery.

Emilee, had her very last theater performance the last week of May. They did a couple of numbers, but the one we hadn't seen yet was "Doe a Deer" from the Sound of Music. Don't they look so cute? They did this one on the big stage with tons of people watching. Emilee liked this whole experience, but she did say performing in front of that many people was really hard and scary. I asked her if she wanted to continue in the fall, but she said no. She wants to do gymnastics. I was hoping she would keep it up, but that is OK, as long is she is happy and having fun. Now Megan says she wants to take her hand at theater, as long as she doesn't have to sing. I guess she is not into musical theater. We shall see.

The rest of these pictures are just some fun things we have been doing this summer. Besides swimming everyday for lessons and fun, we have gone to the Children's Museum, movies, the Space and Rocket Center, and much, much more. Megan and Emilee love to dress up at the Children's Museum. They have a whole set up with old time house and a general store. That is their favorite. I can't help but laugh listening to them. It is times like that, I love being a mom. Hunter is listening to the big tree tell him a story. Two years ago, he wouldn't go near this tree. He was so afraid. How he has grown up. Below are some pictures from the Space and Rocket Center. They have a climbing wall there and so the kids remembered their tennis shoes this time so they got to climb. I thought Hunter and Emilee would have a hard time, but to my surprise, they did very well.

Well, I hope I haven't bored you too much. These are just some happenings. I am sure we will have many more this summer. Keep checking back for more and take a look at the slide show above marked "Children". The pictures have been changed. If you are a family member, you will be so lucky to be getting yours in the mail soon. I just know that will be the highlight of the day. 'Til next time.................

Turning Eight

2010-05-31T21:17:00.002-05:00

My little Emilee. Yesterday she turned eight and we had a very big day. She has been such a wonderful blessing and I have loved seeing how she has grown. Not only was it her birthday yesterday, but she was also baptized as a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. This will be a birthday that she will always remember. Things I love about Emilee.....
--I love the way she laughs.
--I love that she usually has a smile on her face.
--I love her sensitivity.
--I love how she is everyone's friend.
--I love how she makes me laugh.
--I love her hugs.
--I love that she loves learning.
--I love that she loves to learn new things.
--I love how she plays with her sister.
--I love how she tries to be a great big sister to her brother.
--I love how she loves to learn about the gospel.
--I love how she cuddles.
--I love that she loves to be tickled.
--I love when she tackles her dad.
--I love when she tackles me.
--I love how messy she always seems to get and always has.
--I love her Valaseraptor scream.
--I love her silly jokes.
--I love that she loves the same musicals as me.
--I love how she plays with others.
--I love that she always tries to do what's right.
--I love how her teachers talk about her.
--I love how she is so helpful.
--I love how she helps others.
--I love how she loves me.
--And just as the others the list goes on and on and on............
Happy Birthday Emilee! You are one of a kind!!

Emilee had a wonderful baptism. She was so excited for most of the day, she hardly could contain herself. Her friend Elisha turned eight the week before and about 2 months ago, they had asked if they could be baptized on the same day. Elisha's mom and I thought that was a great idea. They were so cute together. It was not planned, but what do you know, Emilee and Elisha had the same exact dress, bought from the same place for their baptism day. Now how cute is that? Both of them were so wonderful. It was a great night. Emilee's grandad gave the talk on baptism. Elisha's Grandpa gave a talk on the Holy Ghost. Elisha's brothers sang, "Bring the World his Truth". The bishop and the primary presidents said some wonderful things. I am so proud of Emilee. She is really growing up to be a wonderful girl and I love having her with me always. Now she can't wait to go to Activity Days. She has been talking about it for weeks.

Congratulations Emilee! Your dad and I are so proud of you!!

I didn't get to put this on the page above, but I thought this was such a cute picture of Emilee and her dad. She is such a daddy's girl.

He is the big Six....

2010-05-28T20:46:00.004-05:00

Our little Hunter man is now the big six. Can you believe it? I can hardly believe it. He has grown up so fast. Yesterday was his birthday, but because it was the last day of school and I had so many other commitments, we celebrated it today. He had his first birthday party with friends. Unfortunately, because of the holiday weekend we didn't get as many people as we would have hoped. Hunter didn't even realize the missing people. He had fun with those that could attend.

Things I love about Hunter:
-- I love his silly jokes.
--I love his cuddle times.
--I love his long stories ( Most of the time)
--I love his laugh. (Especially during tickle time)
--I love how he loves being with dad.
--I love his smiles.
--I love his tackles.
--I love his questions.
--I love that he loves me.
--I love how he adds lately (all the time)
--I love his smarts.
--I love when he plays with his sisters.
--I love how he talks about his friends.
--I love his hugs.
--I love how he tries to trick me.
--I love his happy moments.
--I love how he tries to teach me about Spiderman.
--I love how he pretends to be a super hero.
--I love how nice he is to others.
--I love how helpful he wants to be. (Especially when cooking dinner)
--I love when he is so proud of himself.
--And like Megan, the list can go on and on and on.................

Happy Birthday Hunter!! I couldn't have a better boy as my son!!

Megan gets to "double digets"

2010-05-24T16:47:00.004-05:00

In the year 2000, we were blessed with our first born. I am in shock still that it has been 10 years. It seems to have gone by so fast, but Megan has been a wonderful blessing in our lives. Things I love about Megan:
--I love the way she laughs
--I love her hugs
--I love her silly jokes
--I love her friendly smile
--I love her sensitivity (Really I do)
--I love it when she makes up shows she wants us to watch
--I love when she plays with her brother and sister
--I love how she cares for others
--I love her love of animals
--I love her creativity
--I love her thoughtfulness
--I love her careful manner
--I love her quiet times
--I love her noisy times
--I love how she takes care of her sister and brother
--Did I mention I love her hugs?
--I love how she loves me
--I love her tackles
--I love her thoughtful questions
--I love her silly answers
--I love her crazy moments
--I love her smarts
--I love her spirtual insights
--Did I mention I love her hugs?
--The list can go on and on and on and on and on......................................................

Megan has blessed our lives through these past 10 years and I can't wait for how much she blesses our lives in the future.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MEGAN! IT HAS BEEN A WONDERFUL 10 YEARS!!!!!

Swingin with the Fifties

2010-05-18T18:57:00.004-05:00

Megan came to me in January with a permission slip for to join the school choir. They were going to perform a big show at the end of the school year. Now, Megan usually isn't one who likes to perform in front of people, except maybe the piano, so I was a little surprised she wanted to do it. This meant early morning practices (which school already starts at 7:40), and as time got closer to the big show, they would need to do after school practices as well. She was willing to do it and I am happy to say that she did it all semester without not one complaint. The show was called "Swing'in with the Fifties". They sang songs from the fifties and danced dances from the fifties. They did an excellent job.

Megan's big part was a jailbird from the song "Jailhouse Rock". I loved it. Especially when she was swing'in her hips. So from one costume to another....Megan did a fantastic job.

It was hot in there, so I think Megan was glad when it was over. Now I recorded the whole show, but I didn't think you had time to watch it all, so I just edited the video to show Megan's big dance in it. The rest of the show she sang in the choir. Take a look. Megan is the short one on the end. Way to go Megan!!

Down to three on American Idol

2010-05-14T00:26:00.005-05:00

Some of you may know that I have always enjoyed American Idol. Now this season has been interesting. There were many I didn't think should have made the cut and some I thought should have made it, but didn't. I have heard a lot of negative comments about the contestants this year and some by me. Some have even said, it hasn't been worth their time in watching. Even with all that, there were always three contestants I have been interested in since the top twelve was voted in. I have been saying for weeks that these three will be our top three. Well, they finally made it and I was right. Now here are my predictions: Next to go will be Casey, which will leave Crystal and Lee to stand off and in the end, Lee will take it. This has been my prediction for a while. Now, I am not always right and sometimes I get it wrong (like that Fantasia year was definitely a bust and let me tell you, I don't know what America was thinking with that one), but most years it is always so obvious to me and in the end I am proud to say I am usually right. (Not to toot my horn, but why not) I decided to add a poll to the blog above this post. Look at it and put your vote on who you will think will win this year. Let's see if we match up to the rest of America.

Learning to Fish

2010-05-13T23:49:00.002-05:00

I was married to Jeremy for about 9 years, before I knew that he liked to fish. I had no idea until we moved to Virginia. He went a few times in Virginia, but he has gone a lot since we moved here to Alabama. The other morning he decided to take Emilee out fishing. I hear they had a fantastic time and Emilee caught quite a few fish. Other people around fishing were left speechless and surprised at the luck Emilee was having. Jeremy tells me that every time she would get one, she would jump up and down screaming all excited. It would have been a sight to see. That's my girl, you know. Emilee says she loves to fish now. I asked, "what if you didn't catch anything, 'cause sometimes that happens" she replied,"I wouldn't like it very much then" For now, she loves it, just like her dad.

Graceland in Memphis

2010-05-13T23:32:00.005-05:00

As most of you know, Jeremy travels a lot. One of the places that he has had to travel to is Memphis, TN. I had a desire to go see Memphis and so Jeremy's last trip to Memphis, I tagged along. Now, I am not really a big Elvis Presley fan, but I felt that if I was in Memphis, I should visit Graceland. Even if you are not a fan of Elvis, you can't deny that he is apart of American pop culture history. Since Jeremy was working, I went by myself. I thought it was very enjoyable. Jeremy is just fine to travel with, but it was nice to go at my own pace with no interruptions. I thought it was pretty interesting and I was glad that I went. If you look below, you can view some pictures I took of Graceland. Sorry some of the pictures aren't clear. I had an annoying camera, but pictures should be clearer now in future posts....Jeremy got me a new camera for Mother's Day.

2010-05-13T23:30:00.001-05:00

It's a Hard Knock Life.....

2010-04-24T11:20:00.003-05:00

Emilee has been taking a musical theater class since January. They have been learning some dancing, stage presence, and other performance skills with learning about musical theater. In Huntsville every year, there is a Arts Festival called "Panoply". Emilee's little group was asked to perform at it. A few weeks ago the girls started learning It's a Hard Knock Life from Annie, so they were able to perform it at Panoply. This is the first time the girls have been able to perform in front of anybody. Emilee was very excited. All day she wore her hair in a pony tail with the hopes of taking it out right before so she could look all messy. I thought the girls did pretty good for their first time in front of anybody. Emilee came home and said,, "we were the very best ones." I just love her humility, don't you?? Well, you can check out the video below. Just pause the music on the left. Emilee is in the back row with the red apron on.

At Panoply they have all sorts of things to see and do. They have a ton of crafts for the kids to do. The food smelled so good. Too bad we had dinner before. The kids were having lots of fun, until the rain started, so we had to end early. Maybe next year we can enjoy more of the festivities.

Better late then never--Easter

2010-04-11T16:17:00.003-05:00

Well, I know that I am a little late posting these pictures. I usually get these things on right away, but all I can say is time has not been my friend lately. Also, I know that these pictures are terrible. I desperately need a new camera. I don't know what is going on with mine, but it can't focus for anything. Even though the pictures aren't very good, I have to make them work. I mean, this is our family journal, I guess you can say, so how could we not have a memory of a great Easter posted. It really was a good Easter. As always, the kids woke us up early and made us check out what the Easter Bunny left. They wore their Easter clothes the Sunday before, because this year General Conference landed on Easter. (Which was a great conference) I think the kids really liked what the Easter Bunny left them. So enjoy the pics, even if they are terrible. I guess that should be my next big buy....a new Camera.

Having a Six Flags Day

2010-03-23T18:47:00.004-05:00

Well, for most of Spring Break, we couldn't go anywhere. I had a Relief Society Birthday dinner to prepare for. Things were busy, busy, busy. We decided that it would be nice to go on a short trip, starting Friday and coming back Sunday. We didn't want to tell the kids about anything. The Friday we left, they were surprised to see me packing the suitcases and were like, "where are we going?" It was 20 questions after that. When we were almost to Atlanta, we told them that the next morning, we were going to Target to pick up a copy of New Moon. They didn't know what to think, but I stuck with my story. Megan kept saying, "what so special about that Target? You could have done that at home." I told them that was the surprise and they couldn't believe it. I really wanted to keep them going, but Jeremy couldn't do it anymore. Right before breakfast on Saturday morning, the kids wore Jeremy down and he told them we were going to Six Flags. So weak I tell you. Though we did end up going to Target right before to get that copy. HAHAHAHA!! We had a good day. The weather was absolutely beautiful. Hardly any crowds at all. I think the most we stood in line was maybe 20 minutes. The first roller coaster I took Megan and Emilee on was a big white wooden coaster. Reminded me a bit like Colasses at Magic Mountain. Emilee screamed the entire time. Probably not the best choice for her first big coaster ride. Megan, of course loved it. She is my coaster girl. She wants so much to build one in our backyard. Ya right. I told her, how can we do that when we don't even have a swing set yet.

Superheros was definitely the theme. They got to go through Metropolis and Gotham City and even had capes to fit in with the superheros, which they wore all weekend long and some. Megan really tried to wear hers to school, but I just couldn't let her do it.

Emilee wanted to go on a coaster with one loop, so we took her on the "MindBender ride" After we went through the first loop, she screamed "I don't like the loops, I don't like the loops" Then what do you know, we entered a second one. She was not a fan of that ride either. Megan though, of course loved it. I see that my girls are very different. Which is wonderful.

Hunter was just glad to ride the rides in Bugs Bunny World. He loved the swings, the big tug boat, Thomas the Train, the airplanes, and much, much, more. He didn't like the Monster Mansion though and when he was done he said, "Mom, you didn't take a picture of me crying, did you, 'cause that would be really uncool." I told him, no teary pictures today. He was glad to hear that.

What a day! We stayed 'til just about the park closed. I loved to see the kids having so much fun. It was trips like these that I remember most as a kid and I hope the same is for my kids.

New Eclipse Trailer

2010-03-11T14:58:00.003-06:00

Since I did this with Twilight and New Moon, I thought I would share the 90 sec teaser for Eclipse. Enjoy......

Emilee's Second Grade Program

2010-03-09T20:35:00.004-06:00

When we have PTA meetings at school, they end with a performance by one of the grade levels. This time is was second grade's turn. Emilee couldn't be more excited. Here are a few pictures of the evening and some video. Excuse the camera. It was freaking out on me, so the pictures aren't very clear and the video is not the best. My Emilee is a funny girl. She has been taking theater classes the past couple of months, working on a sorts of musicals, dances, singing, and stage presence. You should see her "Hard Knock Life" hair spin flip. What a girl. They will be doing a big performance in May, so we will keep you posted.

Look, It's Amelia Bedelia

2010-03-08T22:37:00.004-06:00

A couple of weeks ago, the author of Amelia Bedelia, Herman Parish, visited the kid's school. What a treat and of course they had to have books that he could sign. Me being an avid reader had to let that happen, so I let the kids pick the books that they would like to have for him to sign. How exciting for them. They were so excited to tell me all about it when they got home. Well, today I dropped off a folder for Emilee at school and I ran into Hunter's teacher. She handed me this newspaper clipping she found in the paper of the event and what you know, it was Hunter having his book signed by the author himself. I thought that was totally cool. Doesn't my Hunter look so big? How fun that day must have been. (It is just a small caption, but I think you can click on the picture and it should go larger to read the print)

Well, of course, Mr. Parish had to bring Amelia Bedelia along, so there she is. That is her brushing Emilee's teacher's hair or something. You know that Amelia....she is always doing something funny.

The Harry Potter room underneath the stairs

2010-02-13T13:45:00.003-06:00

It has been forever since I posted anything. I wish I could say that I have just been too busy to post like everybody else. (Though, I do get busy) That really isn't it at all. Just nothing has really happened worth posting. So, I found these pictures in my camera today that I took when my dad was here for Christmas. Now something about my dad, he can't just sit around....he has to have some sort of project to keep him going. One day as he was sitting on the couch, he kept looking at the wall where our stairs go up and decided that nothing could possibly be under there and thought what a bunch of wasted space. He wanted to build a closet there if that is what we wanted. Well, after speaking with Jeremy we decided, sure....that would be awesome!! Now, Jeremy was at work for the week, so since Megan was out of school, she became the designated assistant, and you know, she did pretty well for most of it. The first thing they had to do was make a small hole to see if for sure it was a bunch of wasted space. Sure enough, it was hollow so the next day, they took the saw and started sawing down the wall. I guess there was no turning back after that. If I remember right, Megan did a fantastic job.

Saw, saw, saw away Megan.......So, now they are inside. One of the hardest things was the electrical, It was driving my dad crazy, because he couldn't find the right wiring or something. All I know is that part took all day and it wasn't suppose to. Now for the most part, my dad is pretty patient, but after that day, I think he might have felt like, "What have I gotten myself into." He did it of course, he always does. Doesn't Megan make a great assistant. She looks so professional with her hard hat and tool belt. Gotta love her.

Well, here it is, the wall is up inside, the door is on, the electrical is done, I believe all that needs to be finished here is to put the floor down, which Jeremy did. The first items stored in the closet were the Christmas decorations. Today I put all of our board games in there which freed up a lot of space on the bookshelf. Thanks dad....You're the best.

Megan often tells us that she wants her very own room. I can't blame her, I mean she is the oldest, but of course this cannot be. After we were done, we told her she could move her bed and things in and have her very own Harry Potter room underneath the stairs. She looked at us and said, " No Way", she liked her room just fine, but maybe we could put grandma down there.

Christmas 2009

2009-12-28T00:05:00.005-06:00

Christmas has come and gone. Oh how time passes quickly when you are having so much fun. It really is a fun time of year. It is a time for traditions old and new, a time for family, a time for fun and imagination, and of course it is a time to reflect on the most precious gift of all, our Savior. It has been a most wonderful year full of exciting adventures and much celebration and how we love to end it with the fun activities of Christmas. Most years, I really don't stress about the happenings of Christmas, but this year I was definitely much more busy in preparations, whether it was from substituting daily, family, or church. With all that going on though, we made it through, and I do believe the kids had a blast, and of course, can't wait for next year's festivities to begin. Every year on Christmas Eve, we make cookies for Santa. When I first started doing this with the kids years before, it always was a huge mess and I would end up doing most of it. Now my kids are older and they get along quite well. I only have to make the dough and they do the rest. They always pick out two of their favorites for Santa, which is a total of six cookies for him and then the rest are for us to eat. I think that might be their favorite part.

Christmas day!! I really thought I might be able to sleep in longer, but no why would I even think that. 6 AM comes and the kids jump on us and tell us all about Santa and how much he left us. Now I remember trying this on my parents, but somehow they seemed to make us wait 'til about 9 or 10 while they slept. That doesn't seem to work for our family. The kids definitely have rule on Christmas Day.

This year Megan had asked a lot of questions about Santa. You know, at age 9, she hears a lot at school. I told her, it is up to her if she is ready to grow up, or if she still wants to believe in magic. She said, " I'm not ready to grow up." I have to say, that is OK by me. We just left it at that. I do believe, she had a very magical day.

Emilee is my child that every year lately, it seems she wants Santa to bring her the most expensive toys he might have. I always try and tell her that Santa can't bring everything, and he knows what parents can handle in their homes. She finally settled on one of the newer webkinz that is out. She opened the box and screamed a loud scream and showed us that Santa brought her the caterpillar webkinz that she desired. That Santa, how does he always know?

Hunter is a smart fellow. We have been trying to get him to stop sucking his thumb. I have tried to bribe him with this Bumblebee Transformer helmet and do you know what he said? "Mommy, I don't need to stop sucking my thumb, Santa will get me the helmet". That Santa couldn't resist and gave him the helmet. I guess I can bribe him with the Optimus Prime helmet instead.

It was a great Christmas, with lots of fun. The most important part was teaching my children about their Savior, and how they need to remember him always, and be very thankful for the gift that he gave us. How grateful I am for that and that I know he knows me and my family very well.

A Visit to Santa

2009-12-19T21:19:00.004-06:00

Today we went to go visit Santa. Usually we go sooner, but things have been crazy this year. The kids have been waiting and waiting to tell Santa what they want. Megan wants a Bat Cave made from Imaginex (I know a nine year old girl, who would have guessed) Emilee wants a DS, but I think I convinced her that Santa ran out and so she asked for a Webbkin.(Like she doesn't have enough already) Hunter asked for a Bumblebee Transformer electronic helmet. This was the first time in awhile that Hunter didn't cry. You know, he is a big boy now. Nice and brave, though I think he was a little nervous sitting on his lap, but he did great. Now I guess we have to wait and see what Santa brings. Merry Christmas all! We hope you have a wonderful Christmas and a Happy New Year!

It's the little things....

2009-12-19T20:12:00.004-06:00

When we lived in Virginia and had moved into our house, everything was almost perfect except for the fact that on our kitchen sink, we didn't have a water sprayer to help clean the dishes. Now some of you might be thinking, big deal. Well, when you don't have it, let me tell you, you miss it. Of course I survived without, but I sure did miss having it. When we got our house here in Alabama, funny I know, but that is one of the things I looked at in the kitchen. Sure enough, it was there, but as we moved in, no garbage disposal. Again, what's the big deal, just scrape the food in the garbage, which you are suppose to do anyway even if you have a garbage disposal. Well, we have been scraping food into the garbage as clean as we can for the past 2 years and let me tell you....It's the little things that you miss. My dad is visiting for Christmas and we insisted on his help, not only to help install the garbage disposal, but find the electricity line, plumbing line, and fixing the right side of the sink, which has been broken since September. Today is a historic day for the Lamps family. After four years we now have both the water sprayer on the sink and the garbage disposal. Life is good. The new garbage disposal, ready to be installed in the sink. Woo-Hoo!, Say it with me, Woo-Hoo!

This was just the beginning of the messy counter for two days. As long as the garbage disposal got in.

Jeremy is now making sure that everything fits OK as he gets it all in.

Isn't it beautiful. A real work of art.

I wasn't there at the end, but I hear the kids gladly helped in cleaning up. I am not sure if I believe that and if they really did, it must be because Santa is on his way.

Daughtry Concert

2009-12-13T19:15:00.003-06:00

12 years ago on Dec. 20, Jeremy and I were married. Can you believe it? It really doesn't seem like that long, but it is true. Well, Daughtry was coming to Birmingham, I felt like going to a concert, so we decided to celebrate early. (I mean we tried to get Daughtry to reschedule his performance, but for some reason it couldn't be done, hahaha) Since the concert was an hour in a half away and the concert would get out late, we decided to stay the night down in Birmingham. Well, of course I also made Jeremy take me to Cheesecake Factory. It was a very awesome concert. It had been so long since I have been to a concert. He definitely put on a great show, and I will have to say there were people of all ages that came. Now I might be hooked. I am ready for another great concert, O.A.R., Train, Cold Play, and the list can go on and on. It was a very fun night and most needed.

Thanksgiving Day

2009-12-13T19:03:00.002-06:00

So, I know this is late, but I thought I would share some pictures from our Thanksgiving. Because we are so far from home, usually it is just us. Also, since it is just us, sometimes it seems pointless to make a big dinner, especially since our kids are not the greatest eaters. Last year we went up to Nashville, took the kids to play at some big park, and ate at Golden Corral. This year Megan was against that idea. She wanted me to make Thanksgiving dinner and so I decided to go ahead and make it for her. I tried to keep preparations small, but with all the favorite Thanksgiving foods, we still had plenty of Leftovers (which I guess is very normal for the day of the feast). I have to admit, it was nice to sit and rest after dinner. I think on a whole, Megan had a great idea.

Halloween Night

2009-11-01T00:35:00.002-05:00

Another year has gone by, and we find ourselves dressing up for Halloween again. I think this celebration holiday is probably the kids favorite. They start planning for it while trick or treating the previous year. My kids talk about it all year long and change their minds about 100 times of what they will be. What great fun it is to be a kid. Megan is always changing her mind and is probably my most indecisive child. This year she finally made the decision to be a vampiress. The fangs were the most important part of the whole costume. Do you know that they really don't make good looking fangs for someone her size. Her little mouth was just too small. We finally decided on the cheap ones and of course, she chose purple. I don't think I have ever seen a vampire with purple fangs. Of course, I guess I have never seen a vampire at all. All I have to say is, watch out Cullen Family, Megan is coming to get you.

This is the third year that Emilee is wearing a wig. They all seem to be blond of some sort. This year, she decided she wanted to be Rapunzel. I thought for sure she was going to stick with her choice from last year. She talked about it most of the year which was Velma from Scooby Doo, but after watching some Rapunzel movie she quickly changed her mind. I must say, she makes a most beautiful Rapunzel.

Hunter was convinced he was going to be Buzz Light year again. He doesn't like that the old costume has gotten a bit small and wanted a new one. Well, one Saturday a few weeks ago, we were at the store and he looked at the Buzz costumes until he saw Bumblebee. Well he quickly changed his mind and for sure that is what he was going to be. As we were getting ready to check out, he saw Optimise Prime and decided he was going to be the leader of the Transformers.

The kids definitely got their use out of their costumes. It started last week with the Fall Festival at school, Trunk or Treat a few nights ago, and then of course Halloween Night. I must say, I am all Halloweened out and we have candy everywhere. The kids have had fun though and can you believe it, of course they are already talking about what they will be for Halloween next year.

Happy Halloween !!

Choo, Choo

2009-11-01T00:20:00.003-05:00

We are always trying to find fun and different things to do with the kids. Last year, we learned about this train that you can go on at different times of the year. It changes it themes according to the holidays. Easter, Mother's Day, Fall Colors, Halloween, and Christmas. We seem to always think about it, after the fact. Today, we remembered. It was the Goblin Express for us. The kids were excited to ride on a real train. Well, I have to say that sometimes when you look forward to something, it is not always what you hoped for. It was definitely not the experience I thought it would be. Jeremy and I were a little disappointed in it. The kids on the other hand, seemed OK with it. I guess that is whats important. As long as they were happy, then I am happy. They liked the train, they liked the experience, and of course, they liked the goodie bag they got, when they got off the train.

Ahh! The Invention of the Telephone

2009-10-24T17:18:00.004-05:00

So, we all have probably heard the saying, "Diamonds are a girl's best friend". I think I might have to disagree with that and say that it is probably the telephone. Through the many years since the telephone was invented, girls have chosen this object to be the desire of their heart, the connection, and the addition to their ear. And so it starts with our family. Yes, my girls have discovered, THE TELEPHONE. It rings constantly around here and I wish I could say it was for me, but no, it is usually for Megan and sometimes Emilee. Some days the girl's get home from school, they rush in the door, and it is not uncommon for me to hear the question from Emilee, "Mom, can I call Lilly". I then say,"Didn't you just see here all day at school." Emilee then might say, "But I didn't get to talk to her." Later, the phone rings, "Is Megan there"....hold on please. 10 min later, the phone rings, "Is Megan there...and this might go on a few more times through out the day. Sometimes I might even hear Megan and Emilee get upset with one another, because the other has been on the phone long enough. Now I fully expected this to happen, but I thought I had a few more years. So, now it starts, my girls are growing up and I can't seem to stop it. I am not sure I like it. I am just grateful they still think boys are yucky.

2009-10-17T13:32:00.001-05:00

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Happy Halloween

2009-10-14T21:40:00.003-05:00

Enjoy the cute song and :

Wishing everyone a very Happy Halloween! :)

Madison Street Festival

2009-10-04T14:39:00.003-05:00

Yesterday we were thinking of something to do together as a family and what do you know, there was a Madison Street Festival. Now we actually live in Madison which is just right outside of Huntsville. (they pretty much are like one city) The festival was in downtown Madison. There was lots to look at. Many cute and things to see. (I think I might even got a few ideas for the next Super Saturday) Every booth we went to the kids were like, I want that, I like that, Can you buy that?.....Oh to be a kid again with no worries of where the cash really comes from. Somehow they seem to think that I can just put my magic card in the machine and poof, the item is theirs. Well, we actually made it with only spending $3.00 for the bounce houses. I think that is pretty good. It was a beautiful day and fun to be out in the sun on a fantastic fall day.

The kids saw a Star Wars Storm trooper out and had to take their picture with him. Hunter was a little scared of him, but with Dad in the picture with him, we was able to brave the big bad storm trooper. We were hoping to dunk Hunter's teacher and the kid's PE teacher in the dunk tank, but we were too late. They had already finished earlier that day. Too bad for us, but the kids got there faces panted instead.

We had a good time. That is one thing fun about living out this way, lots of different festivals. Most are fun to go to. Every once in awhile we hit one that was not worth it, but for the most part, we really do enjoy them.

Megan shares her talent

2009-09-20T21:16:00.003-05:00

Today in church, our ward had their primary program. It was so fun to see all the kids talk about the things that they have learned through the year. Megan, Emilee, and Hunter did a wonderful job. One of the things that they do each year is have some of the children play the songs on the piano that the primary kids sing in the program. Megan had done this last year and this year they asked her again and she said yes. Her song that she played for the program was "Did Jesus Really Live again?" She worked very hard on it and today she did a fantastic job. I had my MP3 player, so I recorded her. You can listen to it below.

Meganprimary.WAV