Back to school party

Nina hosted a "Back to School" party for the grandkids. Since I am all fun and games, I was in charge of entertaining the masses. What better way to keep 9 kids and 7 adults entertained than with school challenges. After eating way too much spaghetti, we all headed outside for the "Get Ready for School" relay. Each 4 person team had to send 1 person to each station: Get Dressed, Eat Breakfast, Brush Teeth and Pack your Backpack. My co-chair's team won. Go figure - he set up the teams. The little ones(4 under 4) got to play "drop the pencil in the jar". They were not impressed as it soon became the "place the pencil in the jar." I guess they figured their way worked much better. Next was jello. We(and I don't just mean me) thought a jello eating contest would be a lot of fun for the 4 under 4. I think Griffin had some extra coaching and finished in record time. The older kids thought it looked fun so we set them up. I am the proud parent of a 1st and 2nd place win in the jello eating contest. The Evan's family needs to practice their speed eating. Remember 75% in the mouth and 25% on your face. The next "challenge" was the memory game. We had 25 school supplies laid out for you to see for 10 seconds. You were to write down as many items as you could remember. I have no idea who won. I was too busy keeping one of our eldest participants from looking on the kids' papers. Our last, and funniest to watch, activity was the lunch eating contest. Blind folded adults fed unsuspecting kids. They had to eat a small p b &j sandwich, 6 chips, chocolate pudding, a banana and drink an apple juice. Again, I have no idea who won. I was laughing too hard and trying to appease the 4 under 4 with sugary snacks. Next year they will be included. We then got to eat cake and fruit pizza. The adults were able to enjoy most of it since the kids were full.

As you can see by the slide show it was fun had by all. Our photographer had to participate in some of the activities and apparently cannot multitask. Therefore not all of the activities were covered. Enjoy our crazy family!

Big boys.

Today was the boys' first day of MDO. Joshua had a meltdown first thing this morning and was able to recover. Upon arrival and realization that Mommy was not staying, they both broke down. Big boy class or not, they were not interested. Luckily there were "troops" prepared for me and 2 sweet little teens whisked them up and off to their room. As always, we made a big impression on the crowds watching.

By the way, if you want to make a stupid statement in my presence, go ahead, but be prepared for the repercussions. I am extremely sensitive to comments about my kids liking to be with me. I also don't particularly care to hear your evaluation of my boys versus your girl in gymnastics. Perhaps you should be more concerned about making sure your underpants aren't hanging out of your skirt while you help your kid navigate the obstacle course. I'm sure there will be more to come.

3rd Day of School

It's the best we could do. The girls are really enjoying school so far. But then again, the work really hasn't started! Hayden loves her teachers and is making new friends. Today is chapel, so we encouraged her to wear her uniform. She looked so cute. Her teachers appear to be very different in personality and style of teaching. Mrs. Carter is extremely organized and calm. Mr. Hatzell seems to be full of personality and likes to treat the class. Ally is liking her class as well. Her teacher is very nice and I think can get feisty if need be. According to Ally, Mrs. Hulsey has various "looks" such as the "stay in your seat" look. I may need to see her for some mentoring. Ally is thrilled to be in class with her friend Trevor. We thought he might have been replaced after the first day. Ally informed us she had made a new friend, but wasn't very good with his name. (She has my poor ability to remember names, if she even asked his name in the first place!) Ally reassured us Trevor was back on the top of her list yesterday afternoon. We got her hair cut for Locks of Love yesterday. She looks really cute and a little older as well. I think she was having hair-cut remorse this morning. Hopefully none of her sweet little friends will tell her she looks like a boy today. I'd hate to have to beat any children this early in the school year. The boys start school next week. Until then we will just hang out, go to Chick-fil-a to play and miss having big sisters around to play with.

Holiday World

I know, I'm slow. I'm finally writing about our trip to Holiday World. It was a lot of fun. We found a great place to stay and the kids were old enough to ride many of the rides. Hayden could ride them all, Ally could ride most by herself and the rest with an adult and the boys could ride some of the big stuff with an adult. I should probably mention that an "adult" is a person 5'4" or more. Guess what that makes me? Not able to be responsible for any children. Yeah, right. Caleb was a little under the weather and didn't really get to appreciate all the park had to offer, but boy did Joshua. He went on several water slides with Ben and the girls and laughed the whole way! Hayden was excited to get back to her favorite roller coaster, The Raven, and could have spent another day riding the water slides. Ally braved The Raven and The Voyage with Ben. Ben said The Voyage was very intense and probably not a ride he would "voluntarily"get on again. Ally said once was enough. She really enjoyed "racing" around the lazy river. I don't think she got the point. It was a great trip to rap up summer and the kids are already talking about going back.

Who knew?

Eighteen years ago, I was nervously getting ready for a first date. Thanks to Eric and a very fun weekend at cheer camp, he was finally convinced I was a catch. There are no "written" rules in the handbook about dating your stunt partner. And look where we are today . . . me, at home, barely any makeup on, lucky to have had a shower, breaking up fights with our 2 girls, keeping the boys from destroying every room in the house, continually asking at least 3 to stop talking about poo-poo and pee pee and for goodness sakes, keep some clothes on . . . and you, moving up the ladder at work, driving your dream vehicle, just graduated from a prestigious Executive MBA program, coming home to a well prepared meal and sort of clean house. You betcha' I was a catch . . . and still am! Love you Ben. (By the way, I would fake sleeping all over again!)

In the paper.

Well, he's made it in The Huntsville Times and it wasn't in the "slug" section. He is one of the "Pacesetters" in the business section. Who knew 14 years ago I was marrying such a big wig.