Quick Getaway

Katherine showing off her mosquito bite

Anxiously awaiting the train

Mr. Conductor!

So cool seeing the train on a real turn table!

Since we do not have a true family vacation planned for this year we decided to make a quick trip to Chattanooga this weekend.  Paul had to get a crew started this morning at Summitt Hospital so the kids and I dropped him off while we went to get breakfast. By the time we were finished he was ready go.  We took our time getting to Chattanooga.  We realized on the way that we forgot to pack a stroller.  We knew we couldn't make it without one considering the places we were planning to go.  We made a pit stop at Wal-Mart in Manchester where we found a princess umbrella stroller for $15!  We were pleased and Katherine was ecstatic.  She loves anything pink and girlie! 

By the time we got there it was after 2 o'clock eastern time.  We found a neat deli for lunch - Sweet Pepper's. We were not familar with them, but it was very good.  I wish we had one close to us.  After that we headed over to catch the last train ride of the day.  Luke was SO excited.  He anxiously awaited the train.  It was a relatively short ride to the next station where we got out and watched them turn the train around on the turn table.  We also toured the machine shop where they are restoring some old steam engines.  Luke loved it!  It was like Thomas the Train in real life!  Katherine had fun, too.  She loved the ride.  We let each of them pick out a souvenir in the gift shop. Luke picked a train bank and Katherine picked a ball.

Next stop was to check in at our hotel - the Historic Chattanooga Choo-Choo!!!  It is so neat!  The hotel is in need of some updating and repair but it is very nostalgic.  Luke got a kick out of all the train cars. We didn't get to stay in one of those - just had a regular room by the pool but it was great!  After a little rest we went out to explore.  We went to Coolidge Park and let the kids play.  Luke was disappointed there was not a playground, but he had fun running around in the grassy areas.  It was packed so we did not stay a very long time.  There were lots of neat shops and restaurants to look through.  Unfortunately, most of the shops had already closed up for the night.  We ate at the NorthShore Bar and Grill.  It was good and family friendly.  The kids have been fabulous -- no fussing, whining or crying.  Katherine hasn't made a peep except to call everything "yellow". 

We decided to divide and conquer when it came to the sleeping arrangements.  Paul and Luke were together and Katherine and I.  They were both wired!  It was well past their bedtime before they were finally asleep.  I had my nose in a book most of the night.  I finally finished a book I started last week.  It was the first book I read cover to cover in a long time! Oh, how I have missed reading!

Tomorrow is the Children's Museum!

A Most Relaxing Day!

Luke read Katherine all these books this morning!

The boys relaxing

Don't know if we have ever seen Bill this relaxed!

K and I took a break from the pool to swing

Overwhelmed by the dessert options!

Katherine preferred to play with the float outside the pool



I thought J & K's house looked perfectly patriotic!

Paul has several big projects going on right now.  So, he had to go to a job site this morning to let the crew in and check on things.  He was gone for a couple of hours.  While he was gone the kids were so fun!  They played together, read books, "cleaned" the house and watched some cartoons.  I wasn't sure what to do with all my free time.  I made a broccoli salad for today and gave the kitchen a deep clean.  The kids helped me water the flowers before we got ready to leave.  We hit the road to the Boro for a pool party at Jon and Kristen's!

The weather was nice and the pool was even better!  Luke loved having so many people to entertain. It was nice to have all those extra eyes on both kids, which gave us a break.  Katherine didn't really  have much interest in playing in the water.  She and I sat on the edge most of the time.  Like most pool experiences, Luke was just getting comfortable when it was time to get out for lunch.

Jon grilled burgers and dogs while everyone else brought sides and desserts.  It worked perfect.  It is always fun catching up with everyone.  We had a great, relaxing day!


Memorial Sunday

She was much happier than it appears here, promise!

We couldn't quite get them rounded up for church this morning

The hats at Firehouse Subs never get old

Mr. Reynolds giving his annual speech and blessing

Today was another busy day.  Our Sunday School class attendance was down - only 5 kids.  We expected that, but it was the least we have ever had.  After church we went to lunch at Firehouse.  Both kids had good naps while I made the pasta salad for the Reynolds' party tonight. 

The kids slept so long that we had to wake them up to leave for the party.  It was so hot today!  There were so many people at the Presleyterian Camp Meeting this year.  Lots of new faces!  Katherine was clingy again today and Luke was independent. There were some older kids there that he enjoyed playing with. He was also excited that the train came through twice while we were there.  It was fun seeing Virginia - but we weren't able to chat much since she was hostess!

We made a fairly early exit.  I was drained from the heat and keeping an eye on both kids.  So glad to have the day off tomorrow!  Could definitely get used to three day weekends!

Surprise!

Katherine ready for the party

Luke, Anna Marie and Katherine



Everyone enjoyed looking at Papa's medals from WWII



We started our busy holiday weekend with a trip to Tullahoma for Aunt Mattie's 80th birthday!  She did not want anyone to acknowledge this birthday, much less throw a party.  Nanny had other things in mind.  Her birthday s not until June but Nanny knew she would be suspicious closer to the actual day, so we had it this weekend. She was totally surprised!  Once the shock wore off he was excited to see everyone.  Andrew and Mandi were not able to come, but everyone else made it which was great.

We had bbq and the trimmings and lots of desserts, including birthday cake!  Luke enjoyed playing with Sara Beth and Katherine tried to keep up!  We were there most of the afternoon but got home in time to go to the neighborhood pool which opened today.  For some reason, the water was to the top and overflowing. It took some coaxing but Luke finally got in.  Neither of our kids are real excited about the pool, yet. Luke has been talking about it forever, but now that it is finally here he barely got in!

Helping Daddy

I mentioned to Paul last weekend that it would be nice to have a wood panel in between each step.  Inevitably, the kids shoes, hats, sunscreen, etc end up under the stairs and we have dig them out.  This way, nothing can drop between the steps.  Tonight, Paul brought some wood home to do it!  Man, if everything happened that fast that I asked for I don't know what I would do.  Katherine wanted to help Paul so bad.  She would get the screws out of his box and hand them to him one by one.  She and Luke both still enjoy doing whatever Daddy is doing. 

Luke's Train Project

Any time we think Luke's Thomas phase is fading, something happens to bring it back.  He gets the Thomas and Friends magazine which he loves.  This issue had a build-your-own Thomas craft.  Luke is definitely not our crafty child.  He normally could care less about coloring, painting, etc.  He usually does the minimum to get by and then he is off to something else.  As soon as he saw this, though, he has wanted to do it.  He has talked about it non-stop. 

It took us a while to gather all the supplies - mini cereal boxes, bottle tops, toilet paper rolls and so on.  I even had to buy all the appropriate color paint.  Tonight, Paul told him they could start on it.  He was so excited, but ended up letting Paul do most of the work!  Knowing us it will take us a week to get it finished.  But, they got off to a pretty good start.

A Day in the Yard

Since we did not have anything planned for this weekend, we decided to do some long overdue yard work.  We have some areas in the back yard that wash really bad when it rains hard.  We have talked about sodding them for a long time.  But, we finally decided to do it.  We also dug up all the stumps to the bushes Paul cut down earlier this month.  The kids had a blast outside.  They helped us and played on the playground.  Now, we just have to baby this sod for the next several weeks and hope that it roots.  Next, we have to decide what we are going to re-plant by the porch. It will be a few weeks before we can get to it though.  The next few weekends are busy. 

Pebbles?

Today when I picked Katherine up from school she had her hair in a little,tiny ponytail on top of her head.  One of her teachers had done it.  It looked quite silly to me, but she would not let me take it down.  She still does not have enough hair to do much with and she normally won't leave a bow in for longer than a few minutes.  That is way it was so funny to me.  You can barely see it in the pictures even.  Oh -- and she has her shirt off because Luke took his shirt off because he was hot.  Pretty much anything Bubba does she has to try to do. 

Fun With the Kids

Katherine was somewhat excited about Build-A-Bear

Overwhelmed by all the Legos!

The kids and I try to have some fun outings fairly regularly.  This afternoon we decided to go to Opry Mills.  We have not been since they re opened and I knew there were several fun stores the kids would enjoy.  Luke said he wanted to see where Paul and I lived when we got married.  So, we drove through the old neighborhood. It was pretty neat to see it.  Honestly, it has not changed a whole lot.

We started our excursion at Build-A-Bear.  Since Luke and I went in January he has been wanting to go and take Katherine.  He was definitely more in to it than she was.  He picked out her bear and clothes.   She did seem excited once the bear was done.  She would not keep the bows on the bears ears though.  I thought we would surely loose them before we got back home.  Crazy 8's was right across from there so we went to look around.  They had some great things at good prices.  The kids sat and watched the TV in the store while I picked up some things for each of them.  We hit the Lego and toy stores next.  The kids did great the whole time!  They rode in the stroller without a fuss and willingly got back in when I asked them to after a stop.  We spent over two hours keeping ourselves occupied until Paul joined us!  The kids were so excited to see him.  We put our name on the waiting list at Chuy's and strolled around a bit more.  It was such a beautiful night we ate on the patio.  It was really good.  I think that restaurant will do really well there.  It is reasonably priced and family friendly - a good combination for tourists.

We had an excellent afternoon and makes me want to do even more outings with the kids this summer!

Just a Little Behind Schedule

I am way behind  getting our blog book this year.  I finally finished and ordered it while I was off a couple of weeks ago.  It came today!  Mom gets one every year, too.  That way each of the kids will have one. The kids had so much fun looking at it.  Luke wanted to read all of it.  We will take it a little bit at a time.  This book is the largest so far since I have tried to do more entries.  I have to admit, it is pretty neat to read about everything that has happened in the past year.  I often refer to the books when we can't remember what year we did this or that - when Luke hit milestones and so forth. It is also crazy to me how often our kids go to the doctor and how often I blog about where we go to eat!

Mother's Day

Today we celebrated Mother's Day.  We went to church this morning.  Luke wanted to go in to " big church" with us.  He did really well.  He decided he wanted to leave and go home with Nonna instead of going to his class.  We let him since we had plans to go to her house for lunch.  We had planned to go on a picnic after church, but it rained all day.  Instead we picked up soup and salad from Panera and ate at Mom's.  We stayed and visited for a while before coming home for naps.

Both kids (and me) took a long nap while Paul got everything ready for supper.  Bill and Paula were coming over tonight.  Paul told me yesterday that I did not need to worry about doing anything, so I didn't.  He cooked everything and got the house cleaned up, too.  He grilled garlic lemon chicken with veggies.  Paula brought some broccoli slaw and strawberry short cake.  Luke loved having Nene and Pop here.  He has been asking for them to come visit for awhile now.  We had a great day!  So great that I didn't even take any pictures!

A Very Busy Saturday!

Look at all those strawberries!

Tractors are always fun...

especially with Papa!

Luke gave me the Mother's Day present he made at school

The only pic I made all night

Today was super busy.  The three of us slept in a little bit and then Paul cooked pancakes for us!  We decided to go to a few yard sales while we waited to pick Luke up.  There was a miscommunication between Bill and Paul so we ended up going to Gallatin to get him mid-morning.  We stopped by Long Hollow Nursery on the way so I could get some things.  I am way behind on my planting this year. 

Luke did not want to leave when we got there.  Katherine was so excited to see him!  She missed her bubba.  She continued to ask for him this morning.  He was equally as excited to see her.  We went home for awhile to do housework and for the kids to take a nap.  Katherine and I took a nap together, but Luke didn't want to give in.  At 4 o'clock I told him Dad was being serious about not going to the cook out if he didn't take a nap.  He laid in our bed and was asleep in less than 5 minutes.  That put us behind heading back to Gallatin for a cook out at the MacLean's.  We were going to drop my car off at Vic Jenkins because the brake lights are on.  It started to pour down rain and Luke started saying his tummy hurt.

We stopped at a gas station to go to the bathroom. (After we got there he decided he did not have to go anymore and his stomach hurt because the seat belt was too tight).  We had fun at the MacLean's.  The Louws couldn't make it because Hanne was sick, but we enjoyed everyone's company.  It was interesting to see Luke interact with the big kids.  He wanted to be outside playing with them, but Brady who is close to Luke's age wanted to be inside.  Even though the big kids were playing probably age appropriate games for them I thought it was a little rough for Luke.  I told Baylor that I wished Luke would want to play inside and she said she wished Brady wanted to play outside.  She commented that the grass is always greener...so true!  We decided Brady and Katherine would be just fine together.  They like to play quietly and independently.  Luke and Jane are kind of loud and rowdy!  So funny!

The night came to an end all too soon.  I packed Katherine's pj's which was good and wished I had done the same for Luke.  Our next outing with that group is going to be adults only!

National Nene and Pop Day!

Scoping out the strawberry patch

Bill called last night to see if Luke would want to come and spend the night tonight.  We actually couldn't get Luke to talk on the phone. He was too concerned with what his after - dinner treat was going to be.  Of course, when he realized he was getting to go for an overnight he was so excited!  He has been wanting to spend the night for a long time now.

This morning when he woke up he said it was National Nene and Pop Day!  They picked him up from school this afternoon and went to pick strawberries, but the farm was closed. They sent us a picture.  They are going to go back in the morning.  Katherine and I went and picked Paul up from work and went to eat.  We can never decide where to go so we ended up at Jet's Pizza on West End of all places.  We actually have never been there.  It was really good.  After that we went to Southeastern Salvage.  Paul has had to go in there a few times for work lately and he thought I would like it.  It was fine, but I was not overly impressed.  I didn't think there prices were any better than HomeGoods or similar stores.  Paul got a call while we were out and actually had to go out to a job to check on something.  So, I am in bed with the lap top listening to Katherine babble herself to sleep.  Here's to a good start to a hopefully great weekend!

One More Time

Nanny is leaving tomorrow so she, Mom and Thomas came over for supper tonight.  The kids entertained them on the playground.  Luke coaxed Thomas in to playing with him while I finished supper.  I made baked spaghetti which was really good.  I am enjoying the eMeals we signed up for a couple of months ago.  Although, I never do all 7 supper recipes it is good to have some variety. I probably average cooking 3-5 of the recipes a week.

Nanny enjoyed seeing the kids toys, especially their kitchen.  Katherine wanted to get everything out and show it to her.  Nanny was impressed at how well Katherine picks up after herself.  I have to admit, this is a nice trait and I hope it lasts!  We have gotten to spend a lot of time with Nanny this week and it has been so nice.  We had supper with them Tuesday night and then I had lunch with her Wednesday and she went with me to pick the kids up from school and we stopped for Italian Ice on the way home.  She loved  spending time with the kids -- the feeling was mutual!

Lovin' This Weather

We have been spending a lot more time outside since it is so nice lately.  The kids love playing on their playground.  They both love to swing and would do so for hours if we would push them.  Paul cut down some overgrown bushes by the porch this weekend so we spent some of tonight weeding the beds and talking about what we want to do with all this new space he uncovered.  Luke loves to pull weeds which is fabulous!  We pull weeds, load up his wheelbarrow and he carries the load to the back of the yard and dumps it.  Katherine thinks she is a big girl, too and tried to take a load.  She didn't get very far.  We also spent a good bit of time picking up rocks out of the yard.  We had our driveway extended about a month ago.  We have yet to do anything with the portion of the yard the excavated to pour the new drive.  Really, they just uncovered a bunch of rocks which need to be picked up before we can seed and straw the area.  Again, so glad the kids like to pick up rocks.  We carried away a couple of wheelbarrows full.  Right now we are enjoying that they want to do everything we do and they think it is FUN!  These days are numbered so we need to take advantage of it while we can...