Smiling Eggs!

Every year Alison and I get together and bake, bake, bake all day for our neighbors. We love to do this and it has become an annual tradition. This year we were tired and a little reluctant to get started so needless to say we were grumbly. Ali cracked some eggs in a bowl for us to use in the pumpkin rolls. I wasn't paying much attention as she is pretty proficient in the kitchen these days and she went to the sink to throw out the eggshells and this is what we found when she returned a few seconds later. Totally not planned by us but how awesome is it that we found this. Ali and I agreed it could only be God. We then had a great day of baking.

Great Joy!

I am not sure I have ever experiences great joy in my life. Happiness, yes but not a great peaceful joy. I did last night. We arrived at the beach in Destin and boy those kids helped unpack that car in record time and no complaining. We were at the front door of the house to the beach in about 45 minutes, everything unloaded (some put away - okay only the cold groceries). After about an hour I just sat in my chair and watched. The kids were having an awesome time, all smiling faces and laughing. The beach is beautiful, no seaweed to be seen, white sands, green/blue waters that look like they are falling off the edges of the earth. Not very crowded and oh so very peaceful. I think this is the most relaxed I have been in ages. I sat and cried a bit of happy tears as I watched the kids. Especially Austin. He did not like the beach when we came two years ago, wouldn't go near the water, moaned a lot, couldn't stand the feel of the sand (hates to step on grass barefoot too) BUT this time he was right in it. A little leary at first but then he was jumping and swimming in the waves, building sand castles, doing is stimming a little bit (his running), and had the BIGGEST GRIN I have ever seen planted on his face. Jon and I both said this was the most we have ever seen him smile and laugh in his life. It was AWESOME! They were all up at 630 a.m. ready to go again so we went out and there were little fish swimming everywhere the kids are still out there with Jon trying to catch them. LOVE IT!!

Dixie Stampede - Loads of Fun!

We went to the Dixie Stampede today and I highly recommend this if you are ever in a place to go. First you eat with your hands, no silverware, Austin LOVED LOVED LOVED this!!! It was a great show that lasts about 1 1/2 hours. Had longhorns, lots of horses, ostriches that were being rode on, chickens, and more. It was really a neat show and you are being fed great food the whole time. The kids favorite part was being brought an entire mini-chicken for each of us.

Jon was picked out of the audience to go down and play a part in the show. We were the North Side and played against the South. Jon representing the north was to play against a guy from the South in a game of horseshoes. The catch: The horseshoes were toilet seats. It was too funny!! Jon was really embarrased I think but he enjoyed it as well. He lost but not by much. We were cracking up and the kids LOVED having their daddy in the show. Mattie was beaming from ear to ear, Austin was amused, Alison was like "I can't believe he is doing this to me" embarassed. I thought it was great. We weren't allowed to take any pictures, bummer.

Hillbillly Golf - Gatlinburg, TN

This was an interesting putt-putt course. It was built into the side of a mountain. You had to ride a pully type cart to get to the top and you played coming back down. It was fun. Jon won but I claimed hazard points because I somehow was with Austin and Mattie both. Austin did pretty good, Mattie had fun but was terrible and refused to hit the ball correctly. She just put the club between her legs and swung like it was a bowling ball. Too cute. Ali came in 3rd with Austin 1 point behind her.

Horseback Riding - Gatlinburg, TN

We went on a 3 mile horseback riding adventure today. They all laughed that we came from Texas to ride horses in Tennessee. Actually, one lady said I sounded like I was from Texas. I didn't think I had the accent but from all these accents around here I might have stood out as different. There are some deep southern talkin goin on round here! Jon quickly got held back from the group, he also had Mattie riding with him. His horse decided it wasn't going to go. I waited a bit and yelled back but decided to catch up with the group because Austin and Alison were way ahead of me. I finally got up there and asked the guide to go back for him. He did and came back without them and said he didn't see them. He thought they must have decided to turn back around. But NOPE, we we got up higher on the mountain I could hear Mattie crying. Well Jon's horse decided to go off path and mind you we were on a mountain. A BIG MOUNTAIN in the Smokies. Deep into the brush and trees on a steep hill. Jon was freaking out and trying not to show it for Mattie. We all held up for about 20 minutes while the guide went back and got them. Jon said it took him a good long time to get the horse to cooperate but it finally did and we finished out trip. Took a little over an hour. I really enjoyed it and I think the kids did too. Who knew that my city kids could ride the horses. Alison did it at camp as did Austin but I wasn't worried about her. Austin refused to ride with me which scared me because, well you just never know about him. However, I am now going to start to worry less about that kid because he went up and down this steep mountain, guiding that horse like it was nothing. At one point he said and I quote, "Look mom, no hands!" AGH! Austin hold onto that horse right now. He laughed but did. A little later the cowboy turned around on his horse backwards and was looking at Austin (he was first in the pack and I was about 5 in the pack a good ways behind him and I thought just great Austin is so going to try that. AND about 15 mins later I see Austin flip one leg to the other side and was riding the horse sideways. ARE YOU KIDDING ME! So, I yelled Austin get that leg back over to the other side, he did, he laughed, and I heard the guy say, boy your mom is no fun!!! ARE YOU KIDDING ME!! Anyway, it was a great time. Here are some pics:

Pigeon Forge, TN & Corky's!!!

We finally made it here yesterday afternoon. Our cabin is wonderful and the kids love it. There is a huge road that connects Sevierville, Pigeon Forge, and Gatlinburg and it is full of things to do and places to play at lots of kid friendly vegas type shows. Actually, I would liken this to Vegas For Kids!!! We could stay a week and not see everything. We played Laser Tag and went on a Jurassic Park boat ride. Went to the grocery store at 9 pm last night and it was PACKED it was worse than opening day at HEB! :-)

This is a link to the pictures of our cabin. Take a look:

http://www.starrcrestresort.com/stairwaytoheaven.php?d=still&o=01&ph=Exterior.jpg

We pulled up, almost to the turn off for our cabin and guess what was right there on the corner??? A CORKY'S!!!!! YUMMY, even with my toothache I managed to eat BBQ it was sooo tender. Those people seriously need to update their website. I decided God put it there just for us! HA!

God has spoken!

Okay, I am now listening to God because all of this can truly be no other. I am not a good listener and he really had to work at it with me but.....

1st we are supposed to leave on our trip and I have been strugglling all day to pack and get ready. Jon was to be home at 4 pm (which he actually was) and we were going to leave. I was already running about 1 1/2 -2 hours late. We were packing the top of the car (yes, we have that much stuff, beach stuff went up there) when we realized Austin was laying down and not moving. Way unusual. Then I said you know he has been saying for a couple of hours or so that his tummy hurt. Of course I was too busy to notice. Brought him in and took his temp 101. Hmmm, not good. Our plan was to drive to Baton Rouge tonight then Pigeon Forge the next day. Jon decided it would be best if we left tomorrow instead.

Okay, dosed him up with motrin, cancelled the hotel reservation in Baton Rouge. Called and begged the cabin people in Pigeon Forge to let us slide those three nights back one night. They were not happy and really didn't want to but luckily the cabin wasn't booked Saturday night. (of course it costs more now but oh well) and we prayed that we would be able to leave the next day because they were unwilling to make any further changes. No possible way we can make it 16 hours to Pigeon Forge in one day and that is only drive time estimates, not stopping.

Okay, get all that arranged, finished packing, etc. Order a pizza for dinner, eat,and discuss that God must really not want us on the road tonight or wants to keep pushing our trip back. Originally we had planned to leave on Wed and do this all a day later anyway and just changed that last week. Then we realize Austin is now back among the living. Totally under the influence of Motrin but bouncing off the walls so Jon thinks maybe we should go after all. Okay, he goes to fill up and we all tidy the house. I sit down to make the reservations back at the hotel I just cancelled and it shows it is full. WHAT!?!?!? I call them and they tell me they are completely sold out. I question this as I just cancelled not even an hour before and was told nope, they are completely sold out. Check the one down the road and guess what SOLD OUT! -- Okay I am freaking out now at all the roadblocks and signs that I am so trying to ignore. Tell Jon and he asks about Lafayette, okay I reluctantly look and guess what both hotels SOLD OUT! (I am sure another chain would have been open but we normally stay at Hilton hotels for the points) Okay, that was it we are staying home tonight. This is too much -in your face-- for us!

Brittany can just move in here tomorrow instead. :-) We are faithfully now listening to God even though he had to get a little rough with us.

Scrapbook layout - Natural Bridge Caverns

I haven't scrapped in ages and felt the quick urge to document the fact that I was actually in pictures with my kids. I have been sorting and organizing 9 years of pictures and realized there are very few of me in the pictures with the munchkins. I was surprised when I uploaded these pictures from July 4th at the Natural Bridge Caverns. (maybe I should have worn makeup :-)) Anyway, thought I would whip this out to document it.

Pictures

Ali feeding dolphins at Sea World. Didn't take too many pictures here (unfortunately) but Austin was not having a good day whatsoever! Ali with trophy her dance competition won a Gold at Nationals.

Kids at Natural Bridge Caverns July 4th weekend

Big Girl, Alison at the airport before flying by herself to Oklahoma.

Wine's at the circus.

For a good laugh!

Took Ali to the airport today and I decided it wasn't worth trying to find a sitter for Austin and Mattie and took them with me. Wrong, choice! We leave at 820 of which Austin is angry because I had sad the night before we were leaving at 830 so I was told that I was lying to him, sigh! Listen to Mattie whine all the way to Hobby Airport because she doesn't want to watch Thomas the Train as it is a boy show and when is a girl show coming on. Pull into the parking garage after 1 hr 15 min drive down there and can't find a single parking spot on ALL 5 LEVELS! Not kidding! Drove all the way back down to start again and finally on the way back up on level 3 I found way. Mattie started throwing up (luckily I have a trash bag handy at all times and threw it back there while driving) about level 1 and finished on level 3 as I found the parking spot. Just great!! Ali is now gagging b/c she had to help her and was climbing all over the car trying to find the napkins in the backend. (I have a whole supply of everything imaginable back there) Austin is screaming that it is disgusting and he wants out of the car and that Mattie is gross. Finally get them all out of the car and Austin won't budge because he dropped his weapon to her lego indiana jones man (small itty bitty thing) between the back seats. I have to take apart the entire back row of the car and am hauling seats out of the 3rd row to find it so I can even think about walking into the airport without pulling and fighting him all the way. Found it and we went down elevators and got into the aiport without incident. Fill out the paperwork for an unaccompanied minor and get to the counter and the lady gets angry at me because while I am speaking to her and pulling out id, etc my kids are all standing on and weighing themselves on the baggage thing. Finally get done there and head through security. Austin refused to take off his shoes because the floor is disgusting, he will get germs, it feels yucky. Get the shoes off and all things on the conveyor belt and wait to go through the metal checker. Girls go through and Austin won't until we explain to him in extreme detail exactly what it is, what it will do to him and if it will hurt. I try to push him through and it beeps at us and we have to start all over. Finally get through this and get his shoes back on. He refuses to walk on the walking sidewalk after we were on it... drug him along. Stopped and bought m&ms, gum, etc m&ms for Austin to keep him busy a little bit. Get down to the gate and sit down. Ali says you like nervous mom. No, Ali I am exhausted! Mostly uneventful for about 45 minutes Mattie laid down saying she was going to throw up again, Ali watched something on her ipod, and Austin ate m&ms and played indiana jones. Then Austin started to run and wanted everyone in the place to be quiet, became very agitated, screamed at all of us, and the poor lady in the wheelchair next to us, then at the whole entire group waiting to get on the plane... Now I was really stressed. I vaguely noticed at the time that Mattie now has my car keys and is over waiting with Alison to get on the plane. Guy comes out ushers Ali on to the plane I barely say goodbye, I get Mattie over by me who is now upset her sister is leaving, Austin is still screaming and I am trying to hang onto him. They continue to load the airplane and I am not allowed to leave until the plan pulls away from the gate (but of course). As the crowd dispersed Austin calmed down a bit but still a man wouldn't quit giving me dirty looks and staring as I continued to tell Austin to look in my eyes every 30 seconds, count to 10, and take some breaths, oh and QUIT FLIPPING SCREAMING! I wanted to sock the man at this point so I gave him back a dirty look! Hmph! Everyone is now on the plane and I start to gather my things and realize I can't find my car keys. Where are they? Then I realize Mattie had them. Oh Crap! Mattie were are my car keys. Oh I put them in Ali's suitcase! DO WHAT!!!! Go to the guy who is getting ready to close the door to the airplane and tell him. He is NOT and I repeat NOT happy with me but goes on and finds Ali, her suitcase, and comes back out with the car keys. THANK YOU GOD! They immediately close the doors and the plane pushes back. Can you imagine if I had realized this 30 seconds later. NOT GOOD! Austin is now starving and wants Subway, we go there as it is next to us in the aiport terminal. Then he gets angry because there is a line and he can't stand to wait and here the people talking so we need to cut. NO! He finally decided to go run up and down and back and forth where I could see him while I stood in line and got him some lunch and Mattie some much needed water. Poor girl throws up and mom never got her anything to drink afterwards. Get that done and walk back to the car. Mattie throws up again. Get in the car and my phone rings (not even backed out of the parking spot) and my parents were calling to tell me they were at the aiport to pick up Alison which was to land 20 mins later. Are you kidding? I am not even out of the aiport and she is ready to land in Oklahoma. I get home at 1:10 due to traffic accident on the beltway. I got home 50 minutes after Alison had landed in Oklahoma. NEVER, NEVER am I doing this again. Whew!

Helping Kids Learn How To Eat HEALTHY!!!

LOVE, LOVE, LOVE this new product I found. I am ordering it now and will let you know how it goes. We talk alot about healthy eating habits in our house (especially this year) and are changing our eating lifestyle. It is hard for the kids because they can't visually see it but never fear, supernoots is here! (okay that was way cheeesssyy) Anyway, check this out. www.supernoots.com

Noah the Boxer

My step-brother Noah has taken up boxing. Left the basketball at the hoop I guess and now is boxing. I don't see the appeal but he seems pretty good at it. Here you can watch him on youtube with both of his fights. He is getting married in May so I hope he is done so he doesn't have bruises for that!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NhHQ7oCp1Og 1st fight
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cV3D3bT4ksk 2nd fight and the more interesting of the two. If the links don't work just go to youtube and search for Noah Zuhdi, they will pop up.

I am glad I didn't have to watch him get his butt kicked.

Zoo on Monday

This past Monday was a school holiday and it was a gorgeous day, sunny and 65. So I thought it would be nice to take the kiddos to the zoo as we haven't been in a long while. We packed up lunches, picked up a couple of friends and headed to the zoo. Me and 5 kids, 2- 8 year olds, 2 - 6 year olds, and one 4 year old (minus a friend b/c I can only fit 5 in my car now, oh darn). We did have a nice time overall. Just a couple of incidents. Mattie fell off the playground equipment about 4 feet to the ground on her head. No major problem there other than a knot on her noggin. It is a padded fall so that was good. However, due to this fall and the paramedics from the zoo being called my who only knows, I had to sign my life away because I didn't want to take her to the emergency room. Hey, her eyes are dilating, she isn't crying, nothing is broken... we are fine. Paramedics looking at me like I am nuts but made sure I signed their release of liability form. Not my first child head injury people and we are going to see the animals at the zoo and not in an emergency room with 5 kids. This set off a whole other chain of events in that Austin was now cut short on the playground from his allotted time of 20 mins. (yes, everything really is about the exact time with this kid). I convinced him to go have lunch which he did nicely but then became obsessed with going back to the playground to finish out his 5 mins. In retrospect, I would have saved myself 2 hours of torture if I had just done it. My thinking: already one injury, hard to track 5 kids in there, and by this time everyone in the zoo had made their way back to the childrens zoo, which we did first to avoid this crowd. I also knew the rest of the zoo would be very light at this point in time as everyone was eating or in the childrens zoo. And it was but... Austin refused to do anything for the next two hours. He layed on the pavement and wouldn't move. I finally got him into the wagon and he layed out in there. He became very sullen and it was sad to see, he just wanted to go home. But, we didn't and he was fine laying in the wagon so we went to see the rest of the animals and fed the birds/ducks and went home! I was very tired at this point. We added a 6th child to the mix at home and Mitchell came over, I shoved them all outside and sat in the chair half asleep for a bit until it became time to make dinner and shove some kids to their homes, eat, clean, bathe, collapse! Here are some pics from the eventful day.

Christmas Eve at Church!

Here is our family picture from Christmas Eve services at our church, the Foundry United Methodist. Mattie and Austin enjoyed going up for story time and then they went to a Birthday Party for Jesus! Then Alison went up to join in the sermon portion of the service. We definitely went to the kid friendly Children's service.