FTF

I know I will disappoint all five of my readers when I confess that once again we did not leave the house today! So much for Field Trip Fridays. Well, not to make excuses, but it doesn't help when the temperature plummets from 78 degrees yesterday to 50 degrees today! Thankfully, the kiddos played outside yesterday for well over an hour hence my guilt free decision to stay in today! Fortunately, tomorrow is supposed to be 60 degrees and RAINING. Can you feel the excitement?!?


We did enjoy a very well "rounded" breakfast this morning...yummy strawberry pancakes (a gift from Tula from Stonewall Kitchen). Walker and Kathryn were of course not all that excited about my creations, but I thought they were cute. I'll let you be the judge...






We spent the remainder of the day coloring, napping, playing with play dough, and blowing bubbles. Thus, we are renaming this Friday...Fun Time Friday!

P.S. I did post a few new pictures from our cousin playdate several Fridays ago. Check them out under Field Trip Fridays...Playing Catch Up!

Happy Easter!

"He is not here, for He has risen, just as he said." Matthew 28:6

What a wonderful Easter weekend. On Saturday, we held an Easter egg hunt in our backyard. Kathryn had a bag full of eggs, while Walker was mostly interested in eating jelly beans and dunking his eggs in his basketball goal!!

On Sunday morning, the Easter bunny made a very special visit to our house. Leaving a trail of carrots behind, they led Kathyrn and Walker right to two fun-filled Easter baskets! Perhaps the most popular find were two tooth brushes that Pops added to the Easter bunny's loot. The toothbrushes made me feel a little bit better about all of the candy they were eating (but just a little)!

After a wonderful church service, we enjoyed a yummy meal at home--potato casserole, spinach madeline, carrot salad, potato salad, macaroni and cheese (prepared by none other than Uncle Brad), turkey, and ham. And, of course, last but not least, the desserts...strawberry cake and It's Not Yo' Mommas Banana Pudding.

Thanks to Tula, Pops, Unlce Brad and Aunt Makenzi for celebrating Easter with us this year!!

More pictures...

Mobile

We were blessed to spend a week in Mobile with Tula and Pops. Boy, did we stay on the go! We shopped around Mobile and even went to Fairhope one day. As mentioned in an earlier post, Kathryn and Walker (and Mommy) got much needed haircuts. The warmer weather (it was snowing in Memphis the day after we left) was so wonderful!! Pops and I even took the kiddos to the park and then to Sonic for some ice cream (see pictures below). We ended our stay in Mobile with a fun trip downtown to the Battlehouse for breakfast with Nana, Papa, Aunt Amy, Uncle Jason, Mimi, Devon and Gamble who were in town for cousin Julie Busbee's wedding. Kathryn, Walker and Mimi had so much fun exploring and playing in the lobby. It was the perfect end to a perfect visit. Here are a few pictures from the week.

Field Trip Fridays...Playing catch up!

Sorry we were delinquent on the last few installments of Field Trip Friday. The third edition involved Kathryn and Walker having a fun playdate with cousins Mimi and Devon, Aunt Amy and Papa. Cousin Mimi was so sweet to share all of her toys, especially her trunk full of dress up clothes. Kathryn was in heaven!

The following Friday, the fourth edition, we were in Mobile where Kathryn had her very first haircut. Now mind you, Kathryn doesn't have THAT much hair. Her brother surpassed her even in the womb with the amount of hair he had, but she was beginning to sport the toddler mullet. Dee, aka Mrs. Dianne, did a wonderful job shaping up the mullet and giving her the cutest little bob! Kathryn wasn't so sure about getting her haircut...She definitely didn't want to wear the cape, and she kind of liked playing with the curlers. But as soon as Dee finished and Kathryn saw the final product she transformed into the proudest little peacock you ever did see. It's funny how a haircut can do that to us women!! It probably didn't hurt that she was also wearing her glamor girl dress complete with purse, mirror and lipstick smocked on it!

Walker has of course endured several at home haircuts as well as his first professional haircut, but it was definitley time for another. He LOVES sitting in Dee's chair and playing with the curlers and clips. He also looked extra sweet following his haircut. Since this wasn't his first, I didn't take any pictures of him, so I included his first haircut pictures from December. As should be done after any good haircut, we headed to Dick Russell's for breakfast. YUMMY!!

Sadly, we really didn't celebrate Field Trip Friday this week. Tula was in Memphis with us, so we spent most of the day cleaning house and preparing for Pops, Uncle Brad and Aunt Mak to get here for Easter weekend. Kathryn and Walker watched tv, colored and played with their Easter stickers. Maybe now that Spring is here, we can venture outside for our next installment!!

Field Trip Friday

The second installment of Field Trip Friday proved to be more practical than anything. We started the morning at the gym where Mommy enjoyed the 9:30 a.m. step class. Funny thing about our gym, the nursery workers will not change diapers. I understand this is from a safety perspective, and I actually appreciate it. However, if your child has a #2 diaper, they march him/her along with diaper and wipes to find Mommy. So, you can imagine how funny it was to see cute little Walker's reflection in the workout room mirror about 15 minutes into class. I have to admit, I felt like Super Mom running out of class, changing a diaper, kissing a child, running to the bathroom to dispose of diaper and wash hands, and then returning to class picking up quite easily where I had left off!! Fortunately, I made it through the rest of class without another diaper change. Then we headed to Sam's for our every 2 1/2 week Sam's run. Diapers, diapers, frozen chicken, green beans, and Starbuck's coffee. These are our Sam's staples.

Upon returning home, I realized we were going to spend the latter part of the afternoon on a rescue mission, as we had left Kathryn's Quack Quack (her duck puppet that she likes to sleep with) at the gym. Fortunately, she made it through nap without Quack Quack, and he was right where we left him when we returned to the gym that afternoon! I should have taken a picture of Quack Quack, but since I didn't, I thought you would enjoy this funny picture of Kathryn taken several days ago. She's wearing "mama's shoes" as she calls them. Is she a character or what???

So, this is 31!

You are probably wondering what this is? I was too, as I stared at it through the glass at Fresh Market's bakery. It is a St. Patrick's Day cupcake (a half eaten St. Patrick's Day cupcake to be exact!). Is it even March yet? I didn't think so. But this was the only cake-like confection I could find yesterday to celebrate my big 3-1! Before all of you defenders of the Fresh Market stand up in protest over their vast selection of delectable baked goods, I will say they did have some yummy looking petit fors. "Petit" being the key word!! They were about the size of a dime, so I opted for the cupcake. Even my fancy green saucer from England couldn't really make this cupcake look pretty!

So, this is 31! Those of you who know me well, know I love birthday cake. Over the years, I have been pretty creative with my requests. Some of my favorites included: a Tiffany's box, an entire tea set made of cake, a variety of characters and animals including an armadillo, Mrs. Tiggy Winkle , and the Grinch that stole my 21st birthday! I guess when you enter your 30's you have to put a way childish things as Paul advises in 1 Corinthians 13, but was he really talking about cake!! Oh well, add the lovely shamrock cupcake to my list of birthday confections! I guess it counts, since one year I did celebrate with a cookie cake (Red Hot Chili Pepper Cookie Cake courtesy of Vail West. Hope you enjoy the pictures, girls!!).

I have also included other random birthday pictures. Unfortunately, my selection of pictures here in Memphis is mostly limited to the last few years, but I did find a few somewhat oldies but goodies.

In order: 30th birthday, 28th birthday, 23rd birthday, 21st birthday and 19th birthday. Enjoy!!

Next Top Model Watch Out!

I received a flyer in the mail last week advertising a sell at the local Marshalls. Supposedly, they were getting a shipment from "that big store in Manhattan," as the flyer read. So, after Bible Study on Thursday, me and the kiddos made a quick run to Marshalls. There were all of three racks with clothes from Bloomingdales. They did have some top brands: Diane von Furstenburg, Marc Jacobs, Lily Pulitzer, to name a few. Of course, with my kids literally crawling out of their stroller (Did I mention, that our stroller is all but obsolete now? The kids are too big for the straps, and if I stop for more than 5 seconds, they procede to stand up in the seat or attempt to crawl out.), I had to grab and run. I did leave with a shirt and what I think is a really cute purse. Of course, I may not be able to get my shirt back from Kathryn. She models it and the purse in these pictures!