Happy Friday

Today has been a great day over here! We had another day of kindness and cooperation, and this momma was one HAPPY camper today! I didn't have any "school" planned today, but the girls have been begging for more school days, ever since I lightened the load down to 3 days a week. So I scrambled to put something together for us to do. I really need to get a folder prepared for these circumstances, sorta like a substitute folder. Anyways this is what I came up with for today.....

I had this particular activity planned out now for about a year. My mom and I made this last year when I was planning on reading to Kaylee's class, and then the teacher never had time for it, so i tucked it away until today.

I read them this book......and I have to say both girls were completely enthralled by it

Then i passed out the pieces that correspond with the book and I reread the book to them even the 2nd reading kept their attention. Whenever I said a piece that they were holding they had to come and place it on the white board in the correct spot.

After this activity I gave them a paper with all the pictures on it and asked them to remember what color each thing was and to color it the appropriate color. Here is Ainslee's color page. It is amazing how they remember everything you say.

Here is Kaylee coloring her page, she takes such pride in her work, and it makes me happy!

When i was getting the pictures off my camera for this post I found a few surprises.......

 Kaylee must have gotten a hold of my camera and taken a

few shots of her favorite person.........37 pictures

to be exact!
and they all look something like this

 

Here is a picture of the bird house my dad gave me that he made with the children at Madonna Learning Center (a local school for children with disabilities). My dad volunteers there once a week and does wood working with the children. His "project" was this bird house. He made it with one side plexiglass so that the birds build their nest and you can look in to observe without disturbing them. I was so excited when we got this and had GRAND plans of doing lessons on birds, but we haven't gotten around to that part. I knew it was getting late in the year, so I had to go ahead and put the house outside so birds could start doing their thing. Today was the first day we've seen any action. Two birds, I like to think are husband and wife, were checking out the place deciding whether or not to move in. We got so excited! Cant wait to see how they decorate the place!

While the girls were napping I started looking around online for some Easter activities. I found this one and thought we'd give it a whirl after nap. I grabbed the necessary supplies and got things prepped.

Kaylee poking her whiskers through

gluing her ears together

the final project......I had plans of getting a shot of each girl with her creation, but then daddy woke up and the chaos that followed did not allow for that.
***this picture shows the flowers on the hands grass unfinished. We made the petals for the flowers with glitter, which is always a hit around here.***

I have a few more activities rolling around my head, one of which I am extremely excited about......I'll keep you posted, if I'm able to get pictures before I eat them all up!

After showing off all we did today to daddy we enjoyed a family game of Disney Bingo. Then Brynlee requested her meal while ours was still in the making, so I had to pass cooking duties off to daddy, and I have to say he fared quite nicely in the kitchen. It was nice sitting back, nursing Brynlee, while Marcus handled the big girls and finished dinner.

Lately I have been busy planning my visit to the Homeschool Convention that is coming next month. I will be going by myself this year (well Brynlee will come at least one day), but next year I am already excited about making it a family event!  And now as I type I am thoroughly enjoying my first glass of wine in like 3 weeks! I am finally well enough to want a drink, and MAN is it tasty, even though it is only 3 buck Chuck! Don't get me wrong, all days around here do NOT go this way! But occasionally some do and I am very thankful for them!

HAPPY FRIDAY Y'ALL!!!!!

U2 -- St Louis

Our internet AND tv were fixed today, and since I already had this post typed up on the ipad, but no internet to get it off, I figured I would post it first, since the Florida pics are estimated to take 31 minutes to transfer off the memory card.


We were supposed to go last summer to Montreal but when show got postponed we went on our trip to Germany. And Montreal was rescheduled to the weekend we were in Florida this year, so we decided to sell our tickets and try to go to the St Louis show, which was within driving distance, therefore cheaper. We sold our Montreal tickets literally hours before the concert. Mom agreed to keep the girls for the weekend and pretty much everything else fell into place......perfectly.

Marcus and I headed out Saturday early afternoon, I drove while he slept. We made it in about 6pm and our first stop was my grandmas house. We stayed and chatted for about an hour and a half. I just hope that when I'm 94 I have 1/2 the brain she has! She is such a remarkable woman! After leaving her we checked in to the hotel, and then drove around the corner to grab some dinner. We decided on a Japanese Hibachi place and it was probably one of the most entertaining meals I have ever had. You know when you eat at one of those places you sit at the same table with strangers, well we got the perfect table. To our right was a couple (mostly the woman) who was very outspoken, which proved to be a funny quality to witness when the other group at the table appeared to be an older gentleman with 2 call girls (one of which he claimed to be his cousin). Between all the alcohol consumed and the "openness" of all involved including the cook it was a fabulously entertaining evening! We returned to our room and watched a movie on the iPad before crashing for the evening. I definitely "missed" the girls at this point but was enjoying our date weekend too much to let it interfere with that.

Sunday morning arose bright and chipper (at about 1030am, lovely getting to sleep in) ready for our exciting and eventful day planned. First on the agenda was the Women World Cup Final, we went to Albert Pujols' sports bar to eat and enjoy the game. That is all i will say about that, as it was probably the worst/most disappointing part of the trip.

After the game we went back to the hotel to get ready for the concert. We tried to stop at Ted Drews for some custard but due to road closures we decided to skip it. We found perfect parking right across from the stadium, which ended up being about 100 yard walk to our seats (perfect planning?). We picked up our tickets and went to get Marcus a beer at a nearby Brewhouse, before making our way to our seats. Which turned out to be perfect as well! We bought them last minute on stubhub, because we had already seen them this tour and knew the stage configuration I decided I wanted to save money and buy cheaper tickets at were located behind the stage. We were in the top row of a section of bleachers so we had a nice breeze on our back, which proved invaluable in the excruciating heat. There were 6 seats in front of us that were empty leaving us feeling less claustrophobic and with the ability to put our feet up. The concert did not disappoint! Bono and the band put on such an amazing show! After the show we stopped by a bar and grill to get dinner at midnight! Cause you can do those kind of things when you are on a date weekend! We rolled back in to the hotel at 1:30am! It was then that I began feeling thankful I am no longer in college or the "party" years of my life. Those late nights out are just not for me!

Needless to say we slept in Monday morning and I thought it would be a good idea to try this gluten free place for lunch. This stop turned into a 2 hour stop, and get this: I ate veggie pasta served with a bread stick (I added 2 more because they were so good), I knew I wanted to buy stuff to take home so Marcus went and bought a cooler while I picked my foods. In the meantime the owner and I were chatting telling stories about Celiac diagnosis, children, gluten free diet, etc. She then offered me samplings of zucchini nut bread, sandwich bread, gazpacho, and pizza (I ended up eating 1/2 of it). I left there with a cooler full of tasty food and a full belly! It is my new favorite place in St Louis! We hit the road about an hour later than we wanted to, but it was oh so worth the time and drive to the GF place!

To sum it all up we had the most fantastic trip, and I realized this whole "getting an extended break from children" thing could become part of our monthly routine. (wishful thinking huh?)


I have to say a HUMONGOUS thanks to my mom and sister who kept the girls for us. They kept them happy, entertained and even took Ainslee to her dentist appointment for me. I am so thankful for family who loves to hang out with our heathens!

my birthday

I am another year older.......boohoo!

Marcus surprised me this year, my day started off with my usual Sunday routine of getting to sleep in. Marcus and the girls woke me up and he wanted to take me to breakfast, so he got the girls AND himself ready (which I think is a first) and we drive into Cville. We called my parents and sister on the way and asked if they wanted to join us and they did. We had a nice LATE breakfast and then headed home for the girls to nap. Actually we ended up ALL napping, which was quite nice. Then we had a birthday party for the girls to go to, which was at our neighbors house. It was fun, and super tiring for the girls, and Amma appreciated that when we dropped them both at her house so we could have a date night (which was also a surprise for me). Thankfully we decided to call the restaurant ahead of time because we learned that it had closed! So we drove around for AN HOUR trying to decide where to eat. With all my food "issues" and sensitivities it was not an easy decision! We finally settled on Shogun, a Japanese restaurant with hibachi grill. I was craving salad, and while they don't have the best salad they have the best ginger dressing! Also the rice just sounded really good to me, so that's where we went. We started off with a sushi roll and a giant salad, with extra dressing. Surprisingly I wanted the sushi and LOVED it too. Then we moved into the hibachi section of the restaurant and had our dinner, but by that point I was getting full and only ordered rice. I could barely put a dent in the humongous pile I had on my plate, but it was yummy!

Marcus was begging to go to a movie after dinner, and I just couldn't do it. We agreed to get a redbox on the way home and watch in the comforts of our home. Which ended up being perfect because I started feeling really sick and nearly lost my dinner on the way home. We watched "I am Number Four". I was skeptical at first but it turned out being ok.

I picked up the girls the next day from Amma's and they both thoroughly enjoyed my left over ginger dressing and fried rice! It was such a great day!

Composting

About a month ago I was strolling around Costco when I found a few things for my birthday list, which BTW isnt until the summertime. In my defense, Marcus needs a LOT of notice and a LOT of reminders for gift ideas. So I dropped a few hints about the want for a compost bin. I have wanted to compost for about 2 years now, but never really learned much about it, so when marcus pretty much shot down my idea of trying it I just gave up asking. But when i saw this bin I new that i was going to persist and I was going to try my hand at composting. To my surprise Marcus let me get the compost bin immediately, and about a week later my dad told me that he was going to get me that for my birthday........ooops! *more on that in another post When we got the bin home, it was too late to put it together, so it had to wait in the garage until the next day. Thankfully this all happened during one of those unseasonably warm days in early March. The girls were excited to get to go outside and I was excited to put something together. I LOVE PUTTING STUFF TOGETHER!

Here are the girls by the unpacked box

Kaylee was most excited about composting. She has watched MANY episodes of Curious George being "green" and composting is one of them. She has been the best compost helper. Like when we are out she will ask "Can I take this home to put in the compost bin?" She reminds me ALL the time about things that go in and things that dont.

Here she is helping carry all the parts to the back yard

all of the parts laid out

This is the location Marcus chose for the composter, it is nice/convenient but hidden location.......perfect! (and a bit weedy, we should really do something about those weeds)

Kaylee told Ainslee that we needed leaves (or browns as she calls them) for the compost bin, so Ainslee collected some leaves to help......thanks AZ

Kaylee forgot to tell her that the leaves were supposed to be collected from the ground. Ainslee was pulling them from the plants in the flower bed. Looks like Kaylee joined in on the fun as well. While I put the composter together I sent them to the backyard with the wagon to collect all the leaves they could that had fallen from our lonely oak tree. They did a pretty good job until they found a mud hole by the stump, then Kaylee was busy making mud pies while Ainslee watched in disgust.

My little helper picking up the leaves

Kaylee grabbed the camera to catch me in my "put something together mode," the funny thing is, I didnt even know she took this picture until I loaded these pics on the computer. HA!

Now it has been about a month, we started out with some leaves and pine needles I collected from Marcus' moms house, as well as some kitchen scraps I saved. My dad quickly jumped in to help and went to Starbucks to get some coffee grounds for me, about 10 lbs worth of coffee ground to be more precise. Then he offered to save the scraps from the Fish Frys at the church each Friday, so before I knew it my 80 gallon compost bin was well on its way to success! We have thrown SO much stuff in there, I am really seeing a difference in our garbage as well. Did you know your dryer lint and hair can be composted? Ainslee has even learn about what goes in a compost bin, how many 2 year olds do you know that scream "compost BIN" after you peel an orange for them?

I am so excited about this endeavor, I know that this compost is going to help out so much with my garden next year as well as other areas around the yard, it is amazing what you can use this "gardeners gold" for. AMAZING!

Money and Updates

I am FINALLY better, by that I mean completely unsymptomatic except for my annoying cough. Buuuuuuuut the girls are now not feeling 100%. Ainslee has been nursing her runny nose (being controlled by twice a day sock treatments which she LOVES), and now she has developed a cough too. She might have a low grade fever, nothing high enough to test though. She is eat well and sleeping fabulous, so I am ok with her situation. Kaylee had some drainage from one of her ears this weekend as well as near complete blockage when I looked in the ear. I decided to go ahead and take her to the doctor yesterday even though she says it doesnt hurt, and it didnt seem to be affect her. The doc says she has swimmers ear, and she was given a clean bill of health besides that. And as luck would have it, her cough has decided to escalate since going to the doctor. She is running a low grade fever which the doctor wasnt at all concerned about. So with all that said I think we could use a little R&R around here, we are all ready to be well again!

Now on to the main reason I started this post.........MONEY!

Marcus' mom has always said (about Marcus), "he could fall out of an airplane and land on his feet." Basically he is just lucky. But as Oprah says there is no such thing as luck, so call it what you want but he always seems to come out on the right side of every deal. Anyways, so with our recent bank change, we have had some minor problems with bills not getting paid. Some our fault, some the companies fault, but either way because of this and the fact that our garbage pick up was a few days late. Marcus decided to call the company to find out what the problem was. He was shocked to learn what he learned from the phone call. Basically we havent paid for trash service since (dont pass out here)..............................2004! Last time we switched banks apparently that was one bill that never got switched. The company had made a mistake and never stopped our service. So each week our trash has been picked up, all the while saving us around $2000 big ones!!! So now we are paying our trash bill, and I have to say we honestly did not know we werent paying it for 6 years. That is really sad to admit, but its true!

Remember a few months ago when we had all our car issues? We spent a pretty penny that month on car maintainence. Last week we learned we would be getting some of that money back. We got a letter in the mail from VW stating that the "air bag sensor issue" we had fixed is being covered by them. I had to copy some paperwork, scan some bank documents and put a packet in the mail, and once approved we should be getting about $320 back. YIPPEE SKIPPY!

Lastly, Marcus and I have been conteplating buying a playground for the girls. Actually I have a huge dream in mind for the back yard, and hopefully it can come true piece by piece. But the first and foremost is a playground. The girls need something to do outside. Right now the options are slim (read non-exsistent). So last weekend we went for a family walk, I however wasnt completely recovered and feared that I shouldnt have tried to walk, so we decided to cut the walk short. Kaylee knows that she has an open invitation at one of our neighbors house to jump on their trampoline. So we decided to let her jump for a few minutes. One thing led to the next and soon we were invited to dinner and the men were heading to the store for a few bits and pieces. That night these neighbors offered to GIVE the girls their playground set! AWESOME! Yes it isnt exactly what I had in mind but, hello, ITS FREE!!! We are thrilled, now we just need to figure out how to move it down the street.

Christmas Morning

They were SO patient Christmas morning, we didn't even open gifts until about 2 hours after they woke up! It was fun and relaxing to be at home, making OUR family memories together. I LOVED this day!

I think Ainslee has learned the "Chandler" smile from Kaylee

Auntie Crista and Uncle Harry really spoiled these girls ROTTEN this year! Here is one of the things they got, a chef's costume.

The entire time we opened gifts from Crista and Harry, we were Skyping with them so they could share in the gifts they gave. It was so fun!

Then it was time for the big reveal upstairs. Kaylee happily tore down the sign that has kept them out of their playroom for the past 6 weeks.

Then the sign got stuck on her sock, so Ainslee helped her out.

Their first look at the room

Kaylee was THRILLED!

Ainslee was thrilled too, but she is much more cautious than Kaylee

Kaylee jumped right on the ladder

Then she checked out the reading area (I still need to get some comfy seating in this area)

Ainslee went to all the "old" toys first. She LOVES that baby stroller and all baby accessories!

Then we broke out the paints.....

After ALL THAT Christmas fun, we napped. Then Amma Rita came over to celebrate some more.

Ainslee got a new purse loaded with lots of goodies, pretend keys, phone, lip stick, makeup mirror.

And then there were more dress-up clothes

At one point Kaylee was in a dress-up dress, on the play phone, AND drilling the table. Talk about some multitasking

Then we played some Candy Lane, while Ainslee made us a snack

THEN, nearly 2 hours late, we ATE! Not only did we lose track of time, but there were a few "set backs" in the meal prep. The biggest was the BIRD that flew into our house. I'm still not quite sure if he wanted to warm up inside or if he thought he could get a bite of our fabulous meal. He was in the house for about 15 minutes, and it went something like this........Kaylee laughing/freaking out excitedly, me freaking out and screaming my head off every time the bird flew to a new location worrying how much poo I was going to have to clean up, Ainslee watching everything very intently mostly focusing on what big sister is doing, Rita trying her best to help out but stay out of the way, and Marcus trying to be a "bird wrangler" and basically yell at me for freaking out so bad. It took him about 4 trys to actually capture the bird, but he did so successfully and released him back outside. It was so much excitement that we didnt even take any pictures.

I served spiced carrot-apple soup, fried turkey (courtesy of my dad), green beans with caramelized shallots, perfect potatos au gratin, and corn bread stuffing (I added extra herbs and wild rice to this recipe). The entire meal was DIVINE! Too bad Ainslee had to miss it! She was pooped and asked to go to bed without even eating dinner.......poor baby.

And for dessert we had another PW favorite, caramel pumpkin cheesecake. I made ours GF and just used regular graham cracker crust. This is a recipe EVERYONE should try!

We had such a perfect Christmas! I LOVE my family, and I cherish these memories! Marcus was able to take a few days off after Christmas so the extra family time was even better. I cant wait until NEXT Christmas!

Saturday Sickday

Last weekend we went to "Family Day" at Marcus's work. They had 8 hours of family fun including, moon bounces/slides/obstacle courses, face painting, balloon artists, airplanes (including the 777 which we went in again), hub tour, other "kiddie" activities, and FOOD! We spent a couple of hours doing all the fun stuff, the girls were given some junk food, and we had a wonderful afternoon. That night Kaylee called for us about 5am, even though I had been awake (trying to go back to sleep) for the past 2 hours i sent Marcus in to check on her. And boy am I glad I did! She had gotten sick all over her bed. Marcus started cleaning up, before he even came to get me. We tag teamed and got her all straightened out and back in the bed. About 30 minutes later she woke up again, thankfully no more surprises for me, but I decided to just let her stay awake. I gave her a nice long hot bath, and we started our morning. She wouldnt eat much all day, which was fine by me, and by the end of the day she was acting herself again. I concluded that the "sickness" was due to the junk she had eaten (without having a proper meal) as well as all the jumping/playing around.

......Fast forward to yesterday.......

We had a birthday party for a friend of mine's son. I sent Marcus with the girls to that party while I attended the baby shower of one of my best friends from high school. Marcus had strict instructions to limit the amount of cake/junk for both girls for fear of another exciting night. Let's just say that about an hour after we put Ainslee to bed I heard a strange moaning sound coming fro her room. I decided to check on her and the second I opened the door, I screamed for Marcus. It was everywhere. Bless her little heart she had moved to the other side of the crib and was trying to go back to sleep. So we tag teamed again and got her all cleaned up. I realized that I left her extra yellow blanket (the one that she is completely attached to, and cant sleep without) at my mom's house. So I decided to go steal Kaylee's (even though it is green, it is basically the same blanket) from off of her. We get her all settled down, teeth brushed, new sheets, new clothes, new blanket and about 5 minutes later she does it again! so now BOTH blankets are dirty! We quickly started a load of wash and tried offering her a replacement blanket. She would smell each one and rejected them all. She finally took one, but wasnt thrilled with it. We got her to sleep on us on the couch while we waited for the wash to finish, every time I felt her stomach convulse like she was about to do it again, I freaked out. I do NOT do well with throw-up! Finally the blankets were dry and she acted like all she wanted to do was sleep, I started walking back towards her room, and she did it AGAIN! ALL over the freshly clean blanket! Marcus and I were stunned! Then I decided to just give her a bath, sometimes the hot water can calm an upset tummy. And she really enjoyed the bath! After all that we were able to get her back to bed with Kaylee's blanket and she slept all night without any more problems. She woke up much differently than Kaylee had the week before. I couldnt give Ainslee enough food. She wanted to eat everything! Once again I concluded it was probably the excessive amount of junk as well as all the activity that got each of them sick.

I was counting my blessings after these 2 experiences....
1. That both of them are ok, and the "sickness" only lasted 1 day!
2. It happened on the weekend, when Marcus could join the "fun". I sure would have hated for him to miss that!
3. They didnt get sick on the same day!
4. They didnt get sick in my car!
5. I wasnt sick when trying to deal with sick babies!

But now Im really concerned with who is going to be THIS Saturday........me or Marcus? I hope this trend does not continue!

What is REALLLY going on?

Any of you "long time followers" might remember reading this post. It seems that Marcus seems to always make huge "life changing" decisions whenever i/we have something big going on in our life. I guess he just doesnt want to feel left out......wink.

After saying all that, i have to tell you that Marcus accepted a new position at FedEx. He didnt really apply on this position, I guess he was kind of told/asked to take it. Which in my eyes cant be a bad thing if the right people are telling you what you "should" do. So anyways, Marcus started the said position last Friday. So basically we havent seen (or heard) from him in as many days. While we try to adjust to our new family schedule, I keep wondering if this post will come in to play anytime soon. that sounds bad, I had trouble with the wording of that, but I typed the first thing that came to mind, so let me explain. Marcus always has to interject his "big news" right before or after MY big news, so this time, he has a BIG change, and I am waiting to see what my BIG news is going to be! I guess in my boring life about the only excitement would be a baby! Time will tell!

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Other things i have been wanting to tell/share with you all.....
-Ainslee is growing SO fast (as all of you moms know), she has added a few more words to her vocabulary including calling Kaylee "yea yea", which has to be the cutest thing ever, behind the fact that she already defends and protects Kaylee and hugs and kisses her each and every chance she gets. Like the other day my parents had both of them and was about to put Kaylee in time out when Ainslee started crying and pointing to the time out spot saying "no no yea yea!" It is so cute how she already wants good things for her big sis.
Oh and other new on the Ainslee front......tooth number 10 broke through last night! I know #10 tooth came through about 8 months ago for Kaylee, but Ainslee I swear is the SLOWEST teether on the planet! Just the edge of one of her molars poked through the gums and I bet it will be at least another 4-5 weeks before the full tooth is in! Kaylee would bust out 3 and 4 FULL teeth in like a weeks time. So this is new territory for me. Ainslee is still loving all foods, although she does go through the typical "phases" no meat today, no veggies the next. Oh well, she is growing just fine, and is a happy little booger!

-Kaylee is LOVING school again this year. Although Im not exactly sure if it is all the candy/sweets she has been getting there or the fact that she gets a break from me. Each and every day I see new words popping up in her vocabulary and I say to myself "I should blog about that" and every time I dont write it down then I end up forgetting what was "so cute" and I never blog about it. UGH! Why dont I learn? So instead of mentioning some of the funny/grown up things she says I will give you a little "physical" description. She is OFF the charts y'all! She has grown 7 inches since her birthday in January, so that's 7 inches in 9 months, and puts her at a whooping 3'7". She wears a size 12 shoe (with VERY little room to grow). She weighs somewhere in the neighborhood of 40 lbs. She fits comfortably into size 5 (or above) clothes. The pronunciation/enunciation this little girl has astounds me EVERY day! I just love listening to her talk, well I love it most of the time! Her most favorite word in the ENTIRE world is WHY! And I swear if I never hear that word again I will be the happiest person alive! She is still having major bed time issues, which have resulted in this mommy nearly losing her mind!

-and me.....Im still here, barely! I have had a sort of "craving" to go back to work. Nothing that I would ever act on any time soon, but that sense of "man I miss that" type thing. So the fact that Kaylee's teacher is looking for help in the classroom is just the right thing for me. I have decided to help by reading to the class (at least once a month), doing a craft/activity with them as well, volunteer to head up the book orders, as well as volunteer my time to help with the class parties. Man after listing all that I am wondering........just WHY am I paying so much in tuition for me to basically be the teachers aide? I feel bad that I have not done any sort of "school stuff" with the girls. And i have tried to make it a priority to do more with them, but something always gets in the way. I need to stop making excuses! I'll keep you posted on the "lesson plans"/ activities i have planned for the little munchkins.


I hope you all have a FANTASTIC weekend, we have a huge one planned! Tomorrow is filled with gymnastics and story time with 5 friends (and mommy friends), Saturday is devoted completely to family time with daddy, and Sunday is our annual trip to Cedar Hill Farm.

Knoxville

Last weekend, WE, as in Marcus and I, WITHOUT the girls, loaded up and drove to the other side of the state. Marcus's sister gave him 2 tickets to the UAB game for his birthday (an early present). My parents were already planning on going up that weekend too, because it was parent's weekend. My sister volunteered to keep the girls, and all the pieces just fell into place. It was nice! It was relaxing! It was the first time we have been away from both girls for more than a night. Oh how we needed it! Friday, we got a later start than planned, somebody in our family has trouble keeping a timeline, Im not naming names. That same somebody has trouble packing more than minutes before we leave too. Ugh, how I hate to be off schedule. So back to the trip, we arrived later, MUCH later than originally planned. Partly because of the late departure, and partly because even without kids we still managed to stop 3 (maybe it was 4) times on the short 5 hour trip. The 2nd stop we decided to get a bite to eat. We didnt really "plan" where we were going to eat, and the signs on the highway just werent clear, so when we got off the exit we were supposed to turn left, but were somehow in a right only lane. We go down the road a bit and turn off into a gas station, thinking we will just turn around and go left. Well there was NO LEFT TURNS (I think there was a median), so we both chuckled and went down the outer road and attempted to turn left, so we could make another left onto the main road, but there was NO LEFT TURN again! It was quite comical at this point. So Marcus had to turn right, make a U turn, and then turn left in order to get on the correct road, going the correct direction. After lunch we got back on the road, but not before a few more detours. There was one sign saying 40E turn left and another sign 40E pointing right. We were in the right lane so we choose right. Well that was another WRONG TURN! HA! We were driving down an outer road of the highway and ended up getting on at the next onramp.

The next stop was scheduled. Earlier in the week, I had spotted a deal at Rite Aid that when I combined coupons, the sale, and the rebates I could get 3 packages of diapers for FREE! I tried going to our local Rite Aid, who were conveniently sold out of said diapers, so I figured we would stop in Nashville. After a short detour, we finally found it the place, and guess what......they were sold out too. I was pissed! In part because I was missing out on the free dipes but also because that meant the stop was pointless. UGH! I cant win! We continued on our way, arriving in Knoxville just in time for the 2nd half of the Woman's soccer match. This was about the only thing that went our way that day, they dont charge for late comers, so we didnt have to pay to get in, UT won (with 3 minutes left in the game), my mom caught a tiny soccer ball that she gave the girls, oh and I got to googoo over women's soccer, just enough to make me wish I could still play. Sitting there watching them play on the same field I had played 13 years earlier as my career opener as a University of Memphis Tiger, almost brought tears to my eyes. I still remember that game, I remember our team played like CRAP, everyone, except me (im not trying to be conceited by saying that), I was just the only one who did anything in that game, I was so excited about playing, I just went all out. It was a memorable game for me! Soccer was always such a huge part of my life, I mean I did start playing when I was just 3 years old (1982) and didnt stop until 2006! So for 24 years I played soccer all over the country, indoor, outdoor, competetive, rec, high school, Olympic Development, college, and co-ed, im telling you people I ate, drank, slept and PLAYED SOCCER! It was my life! And I let that part of me die! I feel like my only connection now is watching the World Cup once every 4 years. BOO!

While I was feeling all sad and envious of the girls down on the field I began feeling a little sympathy pain for them, every hard hit, I felt myself cringe. Tackles that used to be so much a part of my life suddenly looked EXTREMELY painful! I was glad i was not playing that night, but part of me wishes that I could kick it around a little every now and then.

After the game we all ate dinner together. Marcus enjoyed the $1 beer special, while I took advantage of the $5 martini. One was enough for me, but it was DELISH! I think my meal would have been better withOUT the gluten! It sure tasted good, but my stomach wasnt too happy the next morning. Thankfully it was just "contamination" mostly likely due to the fact that they fry their french fries in the same oil as other "breaded" items. It took me a couple hours and a few tums the next day to get to feeling somewhat normal. We enjoyed walking down the strip, perusing a few stores to find a couple new UT shirts, and people watching. Knoxville on game day is one of the BEST people watching places around! We made our way to our seats just in time for the pregame festivities, and the game began. It was a GREAT 1st half! My little brother and my parents asked if we wanted to come sit down by them, so at halftime we went down there. Im not sure if it was because we changed seats or our boys got a little tired but the 2nd half wasnt so good. We barely squeaked away with the win in DOUBLE overtime (we were leading by like 20 at halftime). It was a fun time! after the game we stopped at a bar to have some drinks and some appetizers while we watched the other college games. John's roommate and his parents joined us as well. And they are pretty awesome! We had a great time talking with them and are definitely looking forward to the next visit with them. We all went back to John's dorm after that, and hung out for a little while, and let me tell you that did NOT make me miss dorm life! I also got to see how my little bro lives, and met lots of his friends. It was late and we were all so hungry, but mom and dad were too tired to eat, so the 3 of us went to get a bite to eat. I was so tired too, I think I was asleep before my head hit the pillow, which NEVER happens! The next morning we got to sleep in and enjoy a fabulous early lunch before heading home. We only stopped once on the way home, which made the trip MUCH faster too! While we both missed the kids, I really enjoyed spending time with Marcus, and wish we could do that more often.

oh and as soon as I download the pictures from the camera I will post a few.

Our August

Everything happens for a reason...

We were supposed to go to Montreal, via Boston, for the U2 concert in July. That trip was postponed until next summer. So instead of going to Boston we decided to go to GERMANY! I know right.......Boston vs Germany!

But our trip to Montreal wouldnt even happened anyways......it is a long story! After the trip got cancelled and we decided to go to Germany we got busy getting Ainslee's passport. As I filled out her online application, I just happened to get a bit curious and take a look at Kaylee's passport. After that i noticed I had trouble finding mine and Marcus'. After a little searching I found them, and noticed that they both expired 2 days before! Which means even if we wouldve have tried to go to Montreal for the concert we wouldnt have even gotten to go! So I got busy getting our applications filled out as well and all 3 of us had to get our passports. Then the planning really began.....actually it didnt but that sounds good. We had conversation after conversation with Marcus' godparents, who we where going to see, about our trip and what we were going to do. I managed to find a STEAL for a rental car, and then found out my dad paid for like 82% of it. You see while we were going to be in Germany my parents were going to be on a trip of their own to Alaska and the northwest coast. And because they were staying in one of our time shares dad offered me A LOT of money to which we put towards out rental car. Then we got our plane tickets and were on the way.......well kinda......after taking over 9 hours just to get out of Memphis! That's right we were flying standby with 2 young children, what were we thinking, oh yeah we were saving $2000+ in air fare. It was so worth it. We did a LOT of bonding on this trip, starting before we even left our home town. We made memories that will last a lifetime (as long as I have the pictures, hahaha).

We flew into Frankfurt (a day late), and the vacation began by all 4 of us sleeping about 17 hours the first night! Thats right we all 4 slept in until 1pm, and we werent even trying to. We were so worn out from the trip, we needed the rest! So after sleepfest 2010 the fun began. For the girls the most memorable thing was probably the enormous amounts of gummis (and other treats). Bernie and Karl Heinz was spoiling them every chance they got. But the spoiling didnt end with the girls......they completely spoiled us as well. They sent all 4 of us to south Germany, Bavaria to be exact, Schwangau to be even MORE exact, to a resort spa for 3 nights. We had a 4 course meal each night and a buffet breakfast each morning. All while enjoying the exquisite views of the Alps. I can not even begin to explain the beauty that surrounded us! After Schwangau we headed over to the Bodensee and got a room at a guest house. We went to a zoo "monkey place". To feed the monkeys. Marcus went there when he was a child during one of his trip to visit Bernie and Karl-Heinz. It was really neat to experience. After a night and day there, we headed towards the Black Forrest. We really didnt have a plan in mind. Which made things kind of interesting and kind of stressful. We found another place to stay and enjoyed all the sights we could possibly soak in, in that area. We made our way back to their little town outside of Mannheim through the Black Forrest. When we returned their was more fun in store. We went to Heidelberg, where Marcus was born. We went to visit other friends and spent the day/evening with them. We went to Volkershousen to see the house Marcus used to live in. We knocked on the neighbors door, and sure enough after 30 years the same people still live there. They invited us in for drinks and we ended up staying to talk for over an hour. It was so interesting! They had many memories of Marcus when he lived next door.
We experienced so much in Germany, but we felt like we only saw a small (VERY small) percentage of what Germany has to offer! We will definitely be going back. But it is safe to say we will be waiting until the girls get a little older.

Here are some of the pictures from the trip. I tried narrowing them down, but fear i didnt do that great of a job. If you are friends with me on FB skip the pictures because they are the same ones i already posted on their.

Photo and video editing at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Tunica

Back in July I received an offer from a casino in Tunica. At first glance I thought it was fake! Here is what the offer stated, you tell me if you would believe it......
3 FREE nights in the hotel (no restrictions on days of the week)
$600 Free Play ($200 in July, $200 in August, and $200 September)
$100 food voucher for any restaurant at the casino

Sounds awesome! Well let me just tell you IT IS! I didnt pay any attention to the offer until the end of July and we were running out of days to redeem my July Free Play before it expired. On July 31st, I left the girls with Marcus and my dad and I headed down south. I gambled my $200 and came home with $220. I was thrilled! Oh and my dad had free buffets, so we got to eat for free too. The next night my parents had already planned on going down there to meet some friends, so I gave my mom my players card and she gambled my $200 for August. I knew i wouldnt be able to get back down there so I figured whatever she won me was better than nothing. She was able to win me $180. So for the first 2 months of the deal I was able to walk out of there with $400. Today we are going down to redeem our food voucher and hotel stay. We are only going to use 1 of the nights though, we just cant justify staying longer, one night is enough at the casino. So I hope that I come home with at least my $200 again, if not more!

I'll let you know how I do......but I have a funny feeling that my husband being there will have a highly negative effect on the amount of money we bring home. (I love you bunches babe, but you cant say no when it comes to gambling. just say NO, its easy, let's practice! No! No! No!)

Florida Videos

For some reason I couldnt get my videos uploaded last night, so here are the videos from our trip to Florida

Photo and video editing at www.OneTrueMedia.com

So much to say...

...that is one reason why I have written in so long. I feel like I never have the time to write and when I finally do have time I either have too much to say (and I hate to start something I know I cant finish right then) so I don't even start my post, or I get time to write and I COMPLETELY forget what I wanted to write about. So I decided to just write about what is on my mind today with no real direction to this post and we will see where it ends up. Hopefully I will get back on blog track and post more regularly again, but the demands and pressures of summer are quickly approaching so I'm not making any promises.

here is a little run down on Ainslee - she is getting more teeth (7.25 to be exact, still waiting for the 8th to completely break through, HA!), sometimes I wish her top front 2 teeth wouldnt come in because I like her fang look. She loves to blow kisses, is still a mommas girl, does all her poopies in the potty and most of her pee pees too, her hair is curling up more and more even when it is not wet, spends the night out with ease, laughs ALL the time! She is already a jokester, wants to be like her big sister, still eats everything in sight (unless she is cutting a tooth then she starves herself for a couple days), does NOT like milk, loves ice cream (you think if I let it melt then I can consider that her milk intake for the day? or maybe i should just freeze her milk?). When you say "time for bed, she goes RUNNING for her room," sometimes I wonder why she is so eager to go to bed. She sleeps from 6PM SHARP to somewhere between 730 and 9, loves riding the plasma car, not a huge fan of water (she likes it just doesn't LOVE it.........yet), taking a swim class with mommy, MT and Ms Katie next week. Loves her Amma and Abba very much, has picked up more words and even more signs, knows 3 animal sounds and a couple body parts, knows the sound of the spoon scraping the bowl and begins to sign "all done" and clapping before her last bite has been delivered to her mouth. She has begun exploring other uses for her teeth besides eating (biting Kaylee seems to be the most fun thing to do with her teeth at the moment), still grunts when something doesn't go her way or to basically tell me Kaylee is pissing her off, she is patient and sweet, LOVES to put away her toys (she does so without me asking most of the time), she can follow directions, she listens to everything and knows exactly what I am saying, and my most favorite thing of all is seeing her eyes light up with pure joy/ delight/ excitement/ love whenever Marcus, Kaylee, or myself walk into the room. She wants hugs and kisses from Kaylee and me ALL the time and is not stingy with them at all. I enjoy every minute of her!

I guess since I did a run down on Ainslee I better tell you a little something about Kaylee - she is growing by leaps and bounds both physically and mentally. She amazes us every day with the things that she says and does. She is a fabulous big sister (most of the time), loves play dough, LOVES watching Curious George, loves riding her Power Wheels (and running into things, she is going to really love it when she can drive bumper cars). She is still having some nighttime issues but not AS bad, has developed a dislike of spending the night out (boo hoo), has pushed her bedtime back to around 7 or 730, can't sit still or quiet to save her life, doesn't get mad or freak out when told NO (this is one of my favorite traits about her and I am especially thankful when I see the kind of fits other children throw when they are told NO). She loves loves LOVES the water and can't wait until the day she can spend hours each and every day in a pool (I told Marcus I wouldn't be surprised if she moves to the beach at first chance), buckles herself into her car seat, thankfully she has NOT mastered the UNbuckling part yet, got her teeth cleaned at the dentist for the first time and did amazing, is a people watcher like her daddy, like her sister she already has a tan despite the layers of sunscreen I have applied (white girl momma is slightly envious of this), would eat 20 pieces of fruit a day of I let her, finally developed a liking for sleeping with me (this is more of an accomplishment on my part than hers, we had tons of practice while on our road trip, more on that later), has had tiny samples of gluten over the last couple of months (still primarily GF), sucks her thumb WAY more than I would like, can make anyone laugh at anytime, would make a very good hostage negotiator, has almost given up naps some days are such a struggle to get her to rest for at least an hour and other days she surprises me with these 2 hour naps which make her mood so much more desirable in the evening, she can recite some of her books so precisely it is as if she is actually reading them, and what I love most about my little girl is that she is one of the most fun people to be around and there is definitely never a dull moment when you are in her presence, I love my little girl for all she is!

Since I updated you on the girls I guess it would only be fair if I told you a little about Marcus too. He is still working at FedEx which takes up the majority of his time! When he is not at work or on his blackberry he is spending time with us or trying to keep up with the yard work. He has more ideas/ visions of the yard and flower beds than he can keep up with. He has taken some much needed days off over the past couple of weeks and it has been really nice having him around the house more and I think he liked getting to do/ see some of the things he usually doesnt get to. He is really bummed (as am I) that the U2 concert we were planning on going to this summer has been postponed, so that trip has be cancelled altogether. He is very proud of the gas mileage he has been able to get driving the Jetta to and from work, at 52 MPG that aint too shabby. He can fall asleep within 5 seconds of his head hitting the pillow, a trait that I am MOST envious of, and am trying to learn myself. He is still trying to convince me to stay in this house, and I am trying to convince him that staying in this house is NOT an option........maybe it will sink in to that thick skull of his one day that we need to move! Overall he is such a wonderful husband and awesome daddy!

My Big Backyard Pictures

This little play house was so cute, I wanted to take it home with us. It had a little loft the kids could climb up in and then they could step on a chair to see out of this tiny window.

playing dress-up


Then she wanted a picture with her model

Taking a rest on the giant wormy

check out her ginormous eye

chrysalis swing

getting some practice hanging clothes out to dry

daddy and Kaylee chillin' in some Adirondack chairs, sippin' on some lemonade