Never a dull moment around here

A few weeks ago, we went to lunch with Jan (a.k.a. Honey). The children asked me where we were going. I said, "Roly Poly." Dean got all upset in the car and said, "Gross! Mama, I don't eat bugs!"

Honey took Dean and Anna Grace to get new shoes. They both love them but Dean is particularly proud of his. He could not wait to show them to Neal. He said, "Daddy! Look at my new shoes." Neal said, "Man, those are awesome!" Dean walked off looking at his shoes and said, "Yeah, my shoes are awesome." He runs around now talking about his "cool" shoes.

Here are Anna Grace's new cool shoes too..."strawberry shoes" is what she calls them.

Dean may have moved on from his new shoe obsession because the morning after his birthday he asked me when he was going to get to wear his new "Mater the Greater" pjs again. I assured him he would be able to wear them again that very night.

Anna Grace has been taking exceptionally good care of her babies lately. One of them in particular sleeps a lot...in our laundry basket. It is no longer safe to dump the clothes in the machine without a careful doll search first!

Most recently this is how I found her.


Anna Grace served her dolls tea one afternoon.

And finally a few weeks back Dean went to our trusted barber shop (Neal started going there when he was about 15) and got his first real haircut. I went with him for fear they would cut it the same way they cut Neal's (not that there is anything wrong with that or with Neal's haircut but I was not ready for such a big boy cut). He got a John-John cut and he looks very handsome. All it took was a well-equipped, experienced barber and a few dum-dums. And just for the record, I should not have been nervous.

As for Caleb, well, walking is its own post and if there is a remote control, cell phone or sippy cup within his reach he is claiming it. While we have none of this caught on camera, Neal did ask why we had the last 5 minutes of All My Children recorded the other day. One word...Caleb!

Caleb Walks!

While in Jackson Sunday Caleb decided to start walking. We got footage.

Fun in Jackson

This past weekend we had a fun time with our family in Jackson. We went to see the Mississippi Braves play on Friday night and then Saturday went out to see Pop and Peanut and ride Pop's tractor...Dean has been asking to do this for about 6 months now.

First, the very hot baseball game. Thank goodness we had a suite that we could all go in to take a break from the heat. And an extra thank goodness for the ice cream man; his timing was impeccable!

It is really hard to get a good picture of 7 active children.
This is the best we could do.

Our Saturday morning was spent playing with Abby, Caroline, Logan (the triplets) and Holt at Josh and Cameron's house. I told Cameron we must have looked like a bunch of red-necks to their neighbor filing all those children out of their house.

This is how the big children slept. The girls on the blow up king-size
mattress and the boys in the twin beds (which are usually the girl's beds).
If you look closely you can see Abby and Anna Grace - the two
sleepy heads - still sleeping in there.


The others slipped out of bed and started playing right away.


Caleb started his day the usual way at his usual
time; while Holt decided to sleep in.

I just can't get enough of these two guys playing together.

Before making it out to Pop and Peanut's we had to stop off at Krispy Kreme for a healthy breakfast (there is no trans fat you know and they all drank milk...whole milk that is) at 11:00.

Then it was on to a fun-filled Saturday at Pop and Peanut's house. This really should be its own post because we have so many great pictures but...

It was all so peaceful and picturesque until we showed up...


Things got loud and I think even the snakes took cover.

Pop got out the tractor...

She looks so little walking down that big, long road
(it's really the driveway).

This is how Caleb spent his afternoon.

We even had a birthday cake for Dean that night.

This is by far the most fun I have ever seen Dean have
being the center of attention.

Thankfully Neal thought to take some pictures of the general chaos that ensues when 17 people sit down to share a meal.

Anna Grace and Dean entertained themselves in the quiet house Sunday morning while we packed our things. First Anna Grace decorated the sun room for the ball - you never know when you might need to be a princess at a ball. Dean got involved and he had a different opinion of a proper ballroom...

After the ballroom was complete, she thought she would help by making up Peanut and Pop's bed...

Yes, you are seeing that correctly. In this sophisticated master bedroom Anna Grace chose to go with a his and her motif. She thought that only a Disney princess would be fitting for Peanut and, even better, Mater was fitting for Pop. I am amazed at how accurate and insightful my little 4 year old is!


In Conclusion...We had tons of fun. We had tons of drama. And we are so thankful we did it.

Lake Martin at last

We spent part of Memorial Day weekend at the lake; it was our first trip down since last November...We forgot our camera. Thankfully Jan had hers and she was able to capture some moments for us.

This is by far Caleb's favorite thing to do at the lake...float
and sometimes sleep and float - with adult supervision of course.

Dean usually spends his time "cleaning the dock,"
"fishing," playing on the steps and riding in the boat.

Anna Grace on the other hand is not so "chill." She spends her time
swimming, riding the Sea-Doo and tubing. And for our little
drama queen the faster something goes the more fun.

Our second trip to the lake...3 days later...we took plenty of pictures to make up for our first trip.

While the men went to an Auburn baseball game, we took our little troop out to eat on the boat.

Our trip back was extra exciting for them...in the boat after dark.
Caleb was unimpressed.

Saturday everyone got their turn on the new Sea-Doo.

Caleb's first ever Sea-Doo ride.

Some more of our favorite things to do at the lake.

Playing on the steps.

Swimming.

Anna Grace went tubing with Neal.

Caleb was the 1st Mate while we got
everyone ready to ride.

Dean could sit and watch the wake behind
the boat all day long.

Ready to ride.

The boys watching from their favorite spot.

The ride.

Caleb...reminds me of his big brother watching
so intently what is going on behind the boat.

Having fun outside.

And having fun inside.