Study until You Drop!

It has been a very busy week.  You know with a birthday, pioneer day, and the other normal activities that we do.  Sometimes it is hard to get all the homework done by bed time.  Mom dropped the ball last week, and Corynne paid the price with not so great test grades last week. Let me just say that Corynne typically has 4-5 major tests on Friday with a couple of others scattered during the week.  It is a lot to pour into a little brain in one night, so we normally start studying for "Test Day Friday" on Monday night!  With renewed gusto and a "got to get a better grade this week" attitude, I revived the study a little every night routine this week.  Tonight we were down to the last stretch of reviews when I left Corynne's room to go get the little girls in bed.  It did take a little while since they were in the bathtub!  Four kids, 1 mom, and 1 dad MIA (aka at work or a meeting I don't remember).  When I returned, this is what I found.  All lights on, but one little girl turned off!

Pioneer Day

Lauren's Kindergarten class celebrated Pioneer Day today.   In preparation for the day, they had seen a few episodes of Little House!   I think that was one of my favorite shows growing up, but my kids do not seem to enjoy it as much as I do! Pioneer Day was a fun day for the kids complete with games, johnny cakes, and a one room school house.  I left Bible Study a little early today so that I could go see some of the fun at ECS.  I arrived just in time for the one room school class.  The fifth graders participated with the Kindergarten today.  I hear that they helped with the games and food before I got to the festivities, but I saw them leading and participating in the school room.  First they had a spelling bee which made the parents a little nervous for our kids.  They passed with flying colors.  They spelled words like cat, dog, log, the, and dad.  Sounds easy for us, but for 5 year-olds standing in front of their peers, 5th graders, teachers, and parents it was a HUGE accomplishment! Next they had a math and reading lesson.  It was really cute to see them with their slates!  After school, they got to go outside for a snack and playtime.  Lauren had a blast, and she could not wait to tell everyone about being a pioneer!

Happy Birthday Corynne!.

My sweet little girl turned 9 today. I still cannot believe how fast the years have gone. It seems like yesterday that we brought home a tiny little baby girl dressed in a delicate white dress. I was so excited to have a girl to dress up and play with. She has grown into a beautiful young lady who is kind and compassionate to everyone. I am so proud of her and the road she has taken in life. She makes me smile (and laugh) everyday.

"The Lord bless you and keep you; the Lord make his face shine upon you and be gracious to you; the Lord turn his face toward you and give you peace."  Numbers 6:24-26

i love u, Corynne!  

Mug Shot

I love mug shot pics.  My favorite is a pic that JM took 2 years ago of the 3 girls while they were at a baseball game.  At least it was my favorite until I found this pic when I uploaded his pics from this weekend.  Let me say that we have tried to repeat this pic for the last 2 years without success so I will treasure this one for a few years.  They are growing up so fast!

Where, oh where have we been?

I know it has been a long time since I updated, but we have been sick and very busy!  After our very busy Valentine's Day, we loaded up and went out to the lake house for the rest of the long  weekend.  I think everyone had  a great time, but in all honesty I have no clue because I was in the bed with a high fever and coughing up my lungs.  I managed to get out of bed a few times to cook meals for JM and the kids.  That is one of the disadvantages of going out to the lake.  If we were in town, I would have told them to go get yourself something to eat!  

Tyler had been saving his Christmas money to purchase a shot gun.  JM did take him on Sunday to make his purchase.  I am not a "gun lover" so this did make me a little nervous.  Tyler was very proud of his purchase.  Dad also got a pellet gun and targets which provided hours of entertainment for the kids over the weekend.  

February 20-22

This weekend was a little different for us!  I took Tyler to a tennis tournament in Tuscaloosa.  Tyler did not do very well at the tournament, but we did have fun together.  We got to go see a few of the Eastwood Warriors (the girls' school) basketball games.  They were playing in the ACEAA state tournament in Tuscaloosa.  The varsity girls team won there division and are now the STATE CHAMPIONS!  The boys played a nail-biting game but came up short in the end 45-41.  We had a great time watching the games with church friends!

John Mark stayed home with the girls (with a lot of help from Ms. Roberta and Ms. Dot)!  JM and Corynne went quail hunting on Saturday morning.  Corynne shot 2 quail, and Dad shot 5! They went with a few guys from JM work.  The man standing next to him is his new PA Patrick (technically not new since he has been here a year now)!   They had a wonderful father/daughter hunting experience.  

JM also gathered the girls, balloons and confetti and went up to meet the bus of Eastwood basketball players when they rolled back into town.  Lyndsey could not wait to get on the bus.  Corynne was excited to see a few of her 3rd grade friends to play with.  Lauren perfected the game of let the cute little boy chase you.  (Reel him in and run away.  Reel him in and run away.)  Oh boy, she is going to be a real pill in the teenage years.  They had fun at the surprise celebration on the Eastwood parking lot!

It was bound to happen one day...

With four kids and many activities, I live by what my calendar says.  Unfortunately, I am human and sometimes I make mistakes when I enter events onto the calendar everyday.  Usually I catch my errors before they effect others but today was the day that I didn't.  We have been trying to juggle Valentine's Day, final basketball games, and a winter dance recital all day long.  I really enjoy the winter dance shows at our new school because the classes are divided up into half hour recitals all day long so it really is a short commitment for parents and siblings!  Corynne performed at 11 am this morning with her class.  We cut out immediately after her performance to make it to her last basketball game at noon back on the east side of town.  Short lunch at our break at 1 pm, and then we went back to Lauren's show at 2 pm.  

We walked into an empty auditorium, and the crew was packing up and cleaning up.  I realized I must have written down the wrong time for her class.  My heart sank because she was so excited=(  Daddy walked in behind us as I was telling Lauren the horrible news.  

Dad  helped Lauren get control, and they decided to go tell Mrs. Tonya sorry that I messed up on the time.  Mrs. Tonya said, "Well you are here now. We have a stage and music.  We have an audience of teachers and your family.  Put on your shoes and lets dance!"  

It did take a little playing around to get her in the mood again, but Mrs. Tonya saved the day.  She even topped it will a heart necklace and flowers.  

Wow!  Thank you Mrs. Tonya for saving the day!  Now we are back on the road to the east side of town for our final basketball game!

SuperBowl Fun

Tonight we had our 4th annual Family Night SuperBowl party!  Actually, this was the first year that JM actually came to our party.  Tyler and Mom prepared the feast of football junk.  Tyler mixed, poured, and baked the brownies.  Then he placed the chicken quesadillas, pizza rolls, wings, and loaded potato skins on the pans to bake.  He really had fun in the kitchen while Daddy and the girls made a run to Starbucks!

When the girls returned, he had the jerseys ready for them.  This is another of our SuperBowl night traditions.  Some years we have actual SuperBowl team jerseys and some years it is all just for fun (and the pictures to see how we have changed)!

We had fun watching the game (well maybe we had more fun doing other things).  For the last quarter it was just the guys in front of the TV for the important part of the game!

Happy Superbowl Night!  Have a fun week!