Trial and Error

Katherine's dance recital is fast approaching.  We worked on some trial runs of hair and make up today.  The studio is actually pretty strict about how the hair is done and if the make up is adequate. It seems like a bit much to me but they say the lighting washes the dancers out when they are on stage unless they have lipstick, blush, etc on.  So far, Katherine likes the idea of getting "made up", so we will see how it goes in a couple of weeks!

Cleanest Car in Town

{aul is great about washing our vehicles about every weekend. Katherine loves to "help".  Lately, she just washes her own car and that keeps her occupied pretty well.  She washes, polishes and dries it.  It is so cute!

Zoo Field Trip

I was so glad I was able to go to the zoo with Luke's class today. It was perfect weather for it. The kids all had a blast and were very well behaved.  It was fun for me to get to know some of the other parents better, too.  It is hard to believe the school year is coming to a close already!

Home Again, Home Again...

The rain did come last night.  I must admit, it was kind of peaceful sleeping to it hitting the metal roof.  We all seemed to sleep better last night than we did Friday.  We were up fairly early this morning.  Since none of us felt like cooking breakfast and cleaning up all the dishes again we decided to get everything packed up and go to the restaurant at the Inn in the park.  That was an excellent choice!  They had a breakfast buffet and the kids ate either free or at a discount.  The food was great and it was just what we needed for the trip home.  It only rained on us a few minutes after we got on the road and the prettiest day unfolded.  The kids did great traveling home.  They kept themselves occupied in the back with books, InnoTabs and coloring.  Katherine actually took a fairly good nap.  We stopped to fill up the propane tank on the way so Paul won't have to worry with that tomorrow before he returns the RV.  The weekend was excellent. Although I don't think we will be renting an RV again anytime in the near future, mainly due to expense, we are toying around with the idea of getting into camping.  The kids loved it and we did, too!

We spent the rest of the afternoon unpacking, doing laundry and doing chores around the house. Mom came over to check out the RV before it goes back tomorrow.  I am trying to get ready for the consignment sale I participate in every season.  It is a lot of work, but it usually pays off.  I got all of Katherine's things organized and on hangers.  Just need to get to Luke's now.

Beautiful Saturday!

Someone might have gotten the fishing line caught in a tree...

JonJon helped Luke put together his "camper" Lego!

Katherine proved to be quite the outdoors girl

Some technical difficulties!

Luke learned how to jump a vehicle!

Absolutely gorgeous!

Family photo

Plus JonJon

She did good hiking for the first part, ha!

Jon, Luke and Lilly went further ahead of us

Luke loved hiking with his own "walking stick"

JonJon and Lilly

They had to test the water out

Katherine is still not a huge fan of dogs...

Today was so pretty!  It was overcast most of the morning, but the sun came out in full force later this afternoon.  Kristen woke up not feeling well.  She laid down after breakfast thinking it would pass. Jon had a stomach bug on Monday.  We thought it seemed like too distant for her to just be getting it.  We all went on a hike at the Falls while she rested.  When we got back she felt even worse and was running a temperature which is exactly what Jon had.  Unfortunately they had to go because Kristen was pretty miserable.  I hate that she got so sick.  After they left Katherine and I took a long nap in the RV while Paul and Luke played. It is such a small world.  We actually ran in to one of Paul's childhood friends and his family.  They went to visit while we were napping.  Will and Joy camp pretty regularly and were packing up to head back to Knoxville ahead of the rain that is heading this way tonight.

Jon and Kristen were in charge of  super tonight and breakfast tomorrow.  They left the groceries for us to cook, but we opted to roast hot dogs again.  We made some noodles for the kids and called it done.  We all got ready for bed and piled in to watch a movie together.  We made friends with the families next to us. They were actually from Hendersonville.  They were very nice and played with Luke and Katherine. Since it is supposed to rain tonight, we packed everything that was outside up so we can head out in the morning.

That There is an RV...

Luke posing with the RV

The kids getting ready for the ride!

Meme and Luke getting the fire going

Luke has been infatuated with RV's for quite some time.  We can't really pinpoint what started this love of the recreational vehicle, but he has become quite obsessed with them.  He has been watching the informational videos online for a couple of months.  He knows everything there is to know about them.  Since we didn't really have any big plans for Spring Break we decided a weekend trip to Fall Creek Falls in an RV was a doable trip.  And, we knew we would have  one happy little boy on our hands.  We haven been counting down the days for about 4 weeks now.  We told Jon and Kristen our plans and they asked if they could join us!  They are avid campers and I was glad to know someone besides us would be on our first camping adventure!

Paul left work early and we went to get the camper about 2:30.  It was all Luke could stand to sit in the truck waiting on Paul to finish the orientation.  We all got settled in and made good time, considering the size and speed limitations of the vehicle.  We got to work right away getting the fire going and everything set up.  I made the beds in the camper before it got dark.  Jon and Kristen got there well before dark, too.  We roasted hot dogs tonight and had s'mores for dessert.  What camping trip would be complete without those two things.  We stayed up pretty late talking around the fire and it was so nice to catch up.  Katherine and I slept in a queen bed while Luke slept on one of the pullouts and Paul slept in the upper bunk.  We are ready to see what tomorrow holds!

A Day with Friends

The boys down in "the hole"

Katherine checking it all out

Hunter and Luke loved navigating with the map

An attempt at a group shot...

All smiles on the train!

Today was Day 2 of my days off with the kids.  This is Luke's Spring Break.  He went to Extended Care Monday and Tuesday.  He loves going and is usually mad at me when I get there to pick him up. Yesterday we had a Luke and Mommy Day while Katherine went to school.  I let Luke pick whatever he wanted to do.  We went to see the Lego Movie and ate at Johnny Rocket's.  He loves that place.  They movie was so good.!  Luke loved it and he is pretty particular about movies.  After that we went to pick up Katherine and got a special treat at Dairy Queen.  Luke had baseball practice tonight so we rushed home so we could get to the field at 5:30.  It is still chilly at night so Katherine and I freeze while he practices.

Today we met Laura, Sara and their kids at the zoo.  Mr. Morris passed away this past Friday after a very long battle with Alzheimer's.  His funeral was Sunday and was a great tribute to his life.  Laura is home for two weeks so we took the opportunity to get together.  It was a gorgeous day, but a bit chilly.  We spent most of the afternoon looking at giraffes, zebras, flamingos and all sorts of other animals.  The highlight for the kids was probably riding the little over priced choo choo train!  I went ahead and got a family membership.  It just makes sense. If we go two more times in the next year it will pay for itself.  I definitely see us going more often now that Katherine is a little older and can enjoy it better.

Hopefully we will get together again with the Boyd's before they leave for Florida.  We had to get home again this afternoon for another baseball practice.  Tonight was 6-7:30.  It is crazy to me how intense this Little League is.  So far Luke is eenjoying it.  We want to encourage him to continue as long as he likes it.

Come On Spring!

This has seemed like the longest winter in a long time.  It has been so cold and we have had a lot of winter weather "events".  When the forecast called for warmer temps and sunny skies we decided to make the most of it!  We started the day  by eating at the Pfunky Griddle in Nashville.  It was fun!  Each table has its own griddle and you cook the food yourself. We had pancakes and french toast.  It was fun to cook it ourselves and the kids had a blast with it.  We went to Home Depot after that.  It was packed.  We weren't the only ones who had Spring Fever!  We went to a park on West End after that to let the kids run around.  It was packed!

We were home early afternoon and did a lot around the house before Luke had baseball practice tonight. Baseball sure has changed a lot in the years since Andrew played.  Luke is in the 5/6 division and it is intense.  They practice 2-3 nights per week for a minimum of 1 hour, most of the time an 1 1/2.  So far Luke is really enjoying it.  We need to work with him on his throwing - he puts way too much thought into it and hesitates throwing it.  I am anxious for the games to start so hopefully the practices will decrease.

One of the highlights of my day was getting my first Made South shipment!  A high school friend of mine has started a business where he highlights 3-4 southern made products a quarter.  You receive one of their products as well as their personal story and discounts on future purchases.  I am proud to say I am an inaugural member!

Take Our Picture, Mommy!

Katherine rarely wants her picture taken.  So, today after church, when she came running in yelling for me to "take our picture" I jumped right to it!  She had some of her babies all lined up in her room and then she plopped down in her chair.  Too cute!  She goes in and out with her baby dolls.  Sometimes she will go a few weeks and not touch them and then turn around and insist on taking them everywhere!

A Great Experience!

Pregame prayer and huddle

Old friends!

Luke has been asking to play basketball for a while.  We decided to try the Upward program at our church. It was a fantastic experience!  The season started in January and wrapped up today.  He had practice every Thursday night and games on Saturdays.  I loved the consistency of the schedule and the laid back approach. He had a great coach who really taught them a lot and showed a lot of patience. Although Luke never scored a goal he showed great improvement during the season.  So far he says it is his favorite sport compared to soccer and tee ball.  We will definitely do it again next year!

Funny story, Katherine thought she was a part of the team.  Every week after the game the team would hold a huddle to hand out stars for various things - best effort, best offense, good sportsmanship.  She would sit right there with the boys and wait for her star (and snack)!

Dr. Seuss Week

Luke's class celebrated Dr. Seuss birthday this week by holding special dress up days.  School was out Monday and Tuesday due to ice/snow so they crammed most everything in toward the end of the week. Today was dress as your favorite Dr. Seuss character.  He chose Cat in the Hat!  I thought he looked great and he seemed to enjoy doing it.  Sometimes he is not much into dressing up and most often chooses not to participate.  Instead of his normal reading homework packet the weekly reading assignment was to read as many Dr. Seuss books as you could.  We had fun doing that, too!  He is really excelling at reading.  He is in the accelerated reading group and on his last assessment he was reading at "almost" a 2nd grade level!  We are very proud of him!

Green Eggs and Ham

This is pretty blurry but that is the best I got today before the kids went to school.  Luke had silly hat day and wear green day all rolled into one today.  Katherine wanted in on the action, too, so she wore all purple! Luke was dressed in green from head to toe!  He had a fun day at school!

Snow Day

Middle Tennessee got hit with another winter weather event overnight.  It was enough to close all public schools and the daycare.  Thankfully, Davidson offers Snow Care.  Since I had to stay home with Katherine I tried to get Luke to stay home with us, but he wouldn't. He loves Snow Care. When Paul dropped him off this morning he was the only child there!  I felt awful so I went to pick him up before lunch.  He was mad at me!  It ended up just being him and one other little boy.  I told him that we would go eat at Chik fil a, but he had already eaten.  I was going to treat Katherine and I anyway, but it was closed!  The roads were pretty icy.  We had to settle for McDonald's which is never my first choice at any meal!  I took some pics of Katherine.  It was fun spending the morning with just her. We played babies, house and dress up.  She wanted to wear one of her princess dresses to pick Luke up. I thought it was cute she accessorized with her new snow boots Nonna got her!  I was glad Nonna went ahead and gave the kids their boots.  She bought them big with the hopes they could wear them next year, but they have gotten some wear out of them already which is great!

I am hoping and praying things are back to normal tomorrow.  I am tired of all these snow days1