Do the Humpty Hump

'tis Wednesday. Oddly enough Wednesday is my favorite day of the week, maybe it's the odd spelling or simply that it's the middle of the week and is the day that pushes over into the 2nd half of the week! OR {and a reason I haven't considered} it's the day I was born---which I might remind you that today also marks exactly one week from my birfday ;) Please refrain from any renting of party rooms or expensive gifts, I really would like to keep it simple this year.
So yeah, anyway. We had a good busy day today. This morning I picked up Hope and Evan and we headed out to grab some flowers, 2 haircuts for 2 little boys (Evan and my Zman) and then on over to my grandparents house to weed and plant flowers! My Aunt is out of town this week and my grandfather is staying at the VA while she is gone so I thought it would be fun to have a little surprise for them all when they get back. My grandmother has flower beds all around the house and yard and it's so very much for them to keep up now, so I hope it helps out some :) I know she really loved working in the flowerbeds and it's just a neat thing for me to be able to work in the same soil she did and see the things how she left them. It makes me miss her :( but at the same time makes me feel closer to her. I really hope they are happy with what we have done. The kiddo's had a good time and were worn out! We hit up Olive Garden for dinner and it was yummy as usual. We have a busy rest of the week and hopefully will be able to chill on Sunday!
Robert's brother graduates from MTSU on Saturday morning, Jakeb has a game on Friday AND Saturday. And I have a bachorlette party as well Saturday evening....so busy b we will b!

Have a great few days!

Slacker---slackerson

Well one day I will get this "posting everyday" think down pat....someday.
Things have been pretty well since Monday. The boys had school and what not and really nothing of too much excitement to blog about. Maddie girl is doing well and is currently barking at the cat behind me. We are still of course struggling with the gosh darn potty training but she is doing A LOT better...she does know to go outside but hasn't figured out that she can ONLY go outside and of course how to tell us she needs to go. She's getting bigger and a little rougher in her play so we have to help teach her to be gentle, the boys when we first got her loved to have her chase them...and I knew then that that was not a good idea because when she's big and trying to chase, right you get the idea. SO we have got to stop that habit on all fronts because she thinks anything running is something to chase, particularly little children and cats LOL. She's a sweetie though, so far no regrets!
Jakeb had a game tonight....he is doing A LOT better, still not catching or hitting far BUT is catching on in other areas. I am so proud of him for actually getting out there and playing, I really am. Now after saying that...I will add that I wish he would put some effort forth! Jakeb thinks that if he cant' do it right he's not going to try until he feels like he can...problem with that thinking is that as he gets older there are somethings he isn't going to get without practice--a bit of a catch 22, I guess. He'll get there though, I know he will. I hope our encouragment helps and he see's it as that and not nagging LOL! oh...and they lost the game :( BOO!
Jakeb didn't have school today so we headed to the zoo for the first time this year, it was really nice out today so that was a fun trip. We pulled up and about died because it was SLAMMED with field trip kids, but I think we timed it right because we never saw them past the first few exhibits. It was a nice trip :)

We ll we have a busy weekend. Gavin's 2nd Birthday party is Sunday at the park...pray for SUN!!

Hope everyone has a great weekend!!

It's Funday Monday!

So ok we didn't really have a super Funday Monday but we or at least I feel like we had a relatively fun day. Of course my moood is quite often determined by the weather and our weather today was superb in my opinion :) We got up and going early this morning and headed over to my grandparents house to spend some time with my grandfather. I am his official "hairdresser" so I gave him a haircut and did a little bit of gardening in one of my grandmothers beds. Their house is one of my favorite places to go ever...I swear I could sit on the front porch on any given day and just chill for hours. Hot, cold doesn't matter one bit I LOVe it! And with all the spring colors out I just couldn't have been happier hanging out there today. Makes me miss my grandmother so much because I know we would be talking all about how pretty the Lilac's look this year and about what things are starting to come up in all of her flower beds! So while being there makes me very happy it also makes me very sad :( Not to sound too "cheesy" but the beauty of our day seemed to comfort me I guess because really that's what I felt while I was there today...just comfort.

Zachary and Gavin came along with me and Robert met me out there about mid morning. The boys also love it and were pretty good...til nap time and then Gavin was spent and it was time to head out!

Jakeb had baseball practice today and he's moving along...if we can get the boy to CATCh the ball he would do ok. One cool thing is they are implementing a new skill to work on and that is running the bases because our players are SLOW...so Jakeb took off and ran the bases in 18sec. Which puts him as the 3rd fastest runner on the team. The 2 fast boys are the 2 best players on the team so that was no surprise hehe, but I keep saying "at least" he can run! And it was nice to see I was right! So go Jakey Go!

And Oh.MY. Our little Gavy Gav is talking like crazy lately. He is repeating everything and telling us all kinds of things now, it's so cute! He still has got the pronouns figured out but he's getting there! He even will say his name...Gavy! He's super a wild heathen boy but man is he a cute wild heathen boy...he cracks me up!

Alrighty so here's a few snaps from today...the Lilac's are from my grandparents...I wanted to grab a few pics of them because they are SO pretty this year and much to my excitment walked up to this GORGEOUS butterfly! Lucky me!

And look at what else I found while there! That is a real nest and real birdy...isn't mama bird cute up there!? This is right under their carport.Jakeb at practice...he gets to have Daddy this week! And of course the Zman for his 365...which I thought I forgot again...but I didn't and actually took a couple of him at Pappy's but I liked this one better :) And yes he sleeps with his eyes 1/2 open LOL!

Little bit of catch up!

Haven't a chance to post...well that's a lie, I have but I am bad at managing my time--secrets out, anyway I am posting finally about Zman's very first baseball practice and our very first trip to an air show...and various events in the week. So right now that you have a summary...feel free to read on...

So yeah Zachary's ball practice last week...very cute! He has been so excited about starting, however when we met his coach a month or so ago he would not say hello and in fact hid his little self behind me. So I have been very anxious to see how he would do, his response was a little better than I anticipated so that was good! He warmed up pretty quickly :) Surprisingly to anyone who actually knows Zachary, he is VERY, VERY shy. He rarely will talk to anyone he doesn't know and even those he does know it takes him a few minutes to warm back up to them. His teachers at school always comment how quiet and serious he is...I questioned if they were talking about MY child. The very loud, very rowdy little boy I have is rarely quiet and even less serious at least around us :) So knowing all this I expected him to be hesitant...but he did good walked out with everyone (granted he did have Robert with him the whole time). The coaches had all the kids stand on home plate and then told them (very excitedly) to run to 1st, 2nd, etc all the kids took off running...except...Zachary. He started to walk, then stood there looking as though he would burst into tears. Robert grabbed his hand and tried to get him to run but all he managed was a walk, but he did go around the bases. Then they busted out the bats and let him go first...this time he did RUN the bases...holding Robert's hand, and did this several more times and finally ran the bases all by himself. So he did come out of his shell finally! So yay for him. And man oh man were those kids CUUUUTE! Zachary was of course the cutest, IMO. I am excited for him, for both of them.

This was his response when all the kids took off running for 1st.

Jakeb is coming around...we just need to work with him quite a bit more. He's afraid of the ball now soooo that makes things a little tricky for him. But he will get there, after-all he IS only 6 and never been one for sports.

Now Gavin as posted previously is ALL about it. He again tonight wowed us all with his mad skills on the field. Jakeb's coach even pitched one to him for him to hit (which he did) and then ran the bases with him (which was adorable), after which he had a coughing fit. Poor kid! He's sick this week and his asthma is flared up like crazy. Zachary also got in on the action and hit several pitched to him and even ran the bases. We are having fun with baseball this year!

Now for the Air show :) We hit that up this past Sunday...yes the Sunday in which it barely got over 40 degrees. It was a complete last minute decision, I knew I wanted to go but knew Saturday was out because of other plans. So we rushed up there Sunday, the show was very cool but it was also very cold. So we had a nice time but hopefully next time we go we can enjoy it a lot more. It was just SO cold! Anyway here are a few pics from the show...We had Caroline with us for it as well. Her and Zachary are so nuts about each other it's well...nuts.

Gavin the Allstar

Seriously I think the kid is a natural athlete...I hope his uh pint sizeness isn't an issue when he's not quite so pint sized!
He had me in tears today at Jakeb's practice. First off the poor baby (who I am realizing is fast approaching "little boy" status but that's for another post!) has a cold which has resulted in his asthma acting up and a ear infection...all of which are now being treated. So we are at practice and he's tossing his baseball at anyone who will play with him and has his little glove on...the right hand I might add, all be it backward a few times. He was impressing him with his skills with just that but then the stinker picks up the bat...the bat which he barely can get up on his shoulder. But with all that determination he has he manages and starts swing it at the ball. Then he walks up to the team's tee (which they weren't using at that time) pops his ball up on the tee and whacks it (about 1 ft hehe) and THEN he drops his bat and takes off running. I about died! He took off and circled back around to the tee, we all cracked up and decided he needs a jersey. He just loves all of it, he was so very serious about it too. It was classic.
We hit up the air show this past weekend in Smyrna...it was very cool both the show AND the weather. I will throw some pics up in a day or two from it. Zachary also had his first ball practice on Saturday but I want to wait and post about that after I am ready to load up the pics...so really I am ending it now! I just HAD to post about Gavin tonight...I feel like I haven't had much to say about my little baby boy :)

365ish

So I posted a while back that I have been wanting to do a "365 Project/Project 365". I wasn't sure when I wanted to start this OR what I wanted to do...I didn't want to be my own subject well because, yeah the same reason most people wouldn't want to take a picture of themself everday for a year. So then I started thinking of other subjects, I wanted it to be something I am passionate about, something really love...I thought of all kinds of things, trees, outdoors, sunshiney days, music, friends, etc etc but nothing that would really change...so of course my mind came back to the kids. I really wanted to do something more reflective of myself however, at this time in my life they are my life. So all signs began to point to el bambino's...now just had to figure out how I wanted to tackle it. Do one of the 3 of them together...uh no thank you. Pick one kid...that didn't seem fair. So long story...long...my plan is starting with each ones birthday to start with that child. So Zachary's 365 project started on his 4th Birthday (February 12th), Jakeb's began on his 6th (March 20th), and Gavin's will start on his 2nd (May 2nd) and each one will end...you guessed it exactly 1 year later. Which in Zachary's case in theory would be 366 days because of the leap year. Now the catch is that I have already forgotten about 3-5 days for Zachary and 1 day for Jakeb. So so much for that, but darnit I won't give up just because I left out a day or ten! I think it will be a neat collection of photos to put in an album from day 1-day 365. There will be a great many of them sleeping because I several times already have gone "Oh crap!" and run in there and snagged a photo of a sleeping 4 or 6 year old. It also helps me keep my camera in hand and hopefully will get some "creativity" running around a bit more. We'll see!

Anyway my point of all this was to share the photos I snapped of Jakeb and Zachary today...not sure which I will use just yet but they were WILD this afternoon. They kept sliding down the slid on their tummy's riding on each other's backs or pulling the other down by of course nothing other than their pant legs. Which of course resulted in Jakeb in his skivvy's and them cracking up about it...like it was a complete accident that they didnt' see coming haha. I was watching them and pretty quickly knew where their game was going to end. LOL

Anyway on with the photos..and surprisingly I have more of Jakeb from today...but I will toss in one or 2 of the Zman posing his star wars men and himself yesterday.

A hot faced Z.
Total cheeseball here but a dagum cute one!More for real smiles here...gotta fix the pink pj pant in the corner...hahaAnd of course can't leave of the G-baby...attempting to blow bubbles today.Also today, ubber shallow DOF so I missed the focus on his eyes... but this photo is CUUTTTE!

Take me out to the Ballgame...

We had our very first baseball game tonight! Jakeb our little leaguer has started baseball/teeball this year and his team--The Marlins--had their very first game tonight! Man was it exciting! It really was, those kids were so darn cute and just had no clue what to do at all, they all were so nervous but man did they look cute out there! They didn't know which way to throw or if they should run or go or what to do--they lost 18 to 6, but at this age who really cares. All that matters is that they had fun and I think for the most part they did. Many of us parents ended up pacing the fence row wishing we could run out there and tell them what to do, but I guess there are rules against that so instead we had to sit back and watch our wee ones try to figure out what the heck to do. I think Jakeb really hoped the ball came no were near him--kinda like when the teacher starts calling on people and you slide down in your seat trying to hide--he just went on digging in the dirt pretending he didn't see it. He made it all the way to 3rd base and 3/4ths of the way home but another kid got out so no run in for him. He did-and this is big for him-manage to stop a ball hit his way. It was a grounder and poor baby didn't know what in the world to do with it once he got it...he looked so confused and turned to look at us instead of his coach. With about 10 people telling him to throw it but he didn't know which kid to throw it to, he didn't throw it (which was probably the best thing!) but I was so proud of him for stopping it! So yay for Jakey boy! Can't believe we are this point already--baseball. So cool. Here are a few pics of him today!

All the boys before the game...aren't they cute!?Jakeb showing one of the coaches where we were...he's left field..First swing on the tee...Nervously standing on 2nd base after his hitAnd all the kids after the game...Jakeb is the 2nd one from the coach in the white shirt--he has on the hat. And because she's cute...Maddie Girl...who thinks she belongs on the couch already..tsk, tsk!

I hate Cancer

Blogging mid-day shocking I know but I just have to post about this poor sweet little boy whose story I have been religiously following for many many months now. It's of Ethan Powell who was diagnosed with cancer at 2 months old (in late 2006) he has since been at St. Jude Children's hospital with his parents fighting. This morning however he passed away :(. I am so heartbroken for this family and every family out there fighting these battles. I can't stand it, I can't stand that we can't find a cure for this....and even more importantly WHY is it happening. WHY are all these children, adults, babies...getting Cancer. It terrifies me! Anyway check out Ethan's blog his parents have diliginatly kept updated. ALso check out the many friends listed and their stories. It's just heart wrenching and makes me want to help in this crusade. Something I wouldn't know about had I not kept up and read these sites. No matter how sad they make me feel it helps me see the struggles of other people instead of pretending they aren't there, it helps me want to help them. ANyway take a moment and say a prayer for Ethan and his family, I know they are devasted, absolutely devasted.

A few favs from our trip

I finally have managed to get thru some of the pics from our trip to SC. I have them loaded to our website for anyone that is interested to see 150+ pictures. In my defense that is for family and is the entire month of March...well at least the ones I chose to load :) Anyway for those of you who don't have the time, energy, or cares to look thru that many photos of my boring...but cute little fam here are a few of my favs so far that I snagged.... the above picture is just well funny...if you notice Zachary is crying, Gavin is crying, and Jakeb has his head in his hands--the work of a big brother is so stressful! LOL

My Uncle Fred trying to show the boys how to catch a ball..

The picture below is of Gavin at the Zoo in Columbia..

This one is of Jakeb at Waterfront Park in CharlestonZachary at Waterfront ParkZachary on the boat on the way over to Fort Sumter...his expression cracks me up!This one is Jakeb on the top of Fort Sumter..annoyed and ready to goZachary on Fort Sumter Both on Sumter again...striking a pose...or responding to hey look as I snapped LOLMr. Attitude walking to the car one morningAnd a cold unhappy Gavin at the Beach. It was windy and sandy (of course) and he wasn't happy about either. So there you have it....a few of my favs...notice there is nearly none of Gavin well if you have read previous posts you will remember I said he was not happy camper much of the trip...be it 2 year old-ness or just out of sorts I am not sure but that left me with very few shots of him. Jakeb on the contrary was quite the ham and Zachary always is!