Before and After.....

Carter received a new summer-do' yesterday. So very needed. His hair is sooooo thick and instead of growing long and flowy, it grows out....it just kept getting bigger and bigger. I finally could take no more and convinced him that soccer workouts would be more tolerable with shorter hair and that if he got a tick in his head while camping, we'd never know til he was sick with disease. (Now that is great parenting). And I promised him new shoes. Whatever works people, don't judge me!!! Anyway, he pulled the trigger and it's done. Praise the Lord! :)No more hair flipping!!!

Long Weekend....

Our weekend in Memphis felt a little bit like this......

and this.....

and this

In reality, the actual time spent in Memphis was a lot of fun. However, the trip to and from was awful and it's hard to forget about that and remember only the good stuff :) Because my beloved van is in the shop for the next few weeks, we have a rental. It's a big SUV, but not nearly big enough for our family. There was fighting...lots and lots of fighting. One boy couldn't open his mouth without the other two jumping down his throat....every.single.time. It was seriously the worst behavior Scott and I have ever seen. Not in public of course...just when the car doors were closed. Terrible! Ok, I'm moving on......but just want to make my point clear...TERRIBLE!!

But and this little angel was perfect in the car and throughout the whole trip. She scored big points this weekend!! Here she is running through the misting sprinklers at the baseball fields.

Bennett played five games over four days....and he played awesome! The games were nicely spaced out, leaving us plenty of time to check out the city. Fran and Mike surprised us on Saturday by arriving a day earlier than planned. We enjoyed a nice dinner and then joined them Sunday morning at the Peabody Hotel to watch the ducks. The kids loved it!
The kids had front row seats....Carter took some great pictures.

My attempt at a group picture....I was kidding myself attempting one this weekend
(Brady is not crying in this picture....he was just a goofy mess all weekend!)

The Memphis Redbirds stadium was across the street and I wish we would have been able to go to a game...maybe next time!

Grammy, Bau Bau, and Papa drove down on Sunday. Everyone stayed in our hotel Sunday night and we had dinner at Corky's BBQ. It was delicious, well worth the wait, and our waitress was definitely one of the best waitresses we've ever had. It was a great time!

Seriously, whose child is this???

Kyan and Bennett

We let the boys bring the XBOX which ended up being a good thing. Some of the players have older brothers that Carter hung out with most of the trip and everynight we had at least 8 boys in our room til about midnight. I stocked up on magazines and sat in bed reading while they all hoot and hollered over xbox baseball. The boys had a great time and are already looking forward to our next tournament in Kansas City in July. Pray that my van is fixed by then :)

How Was Memphis?

This about sums it up! Weekend recap coming soon....

SOS

Help! In Memphis for a baseball tournament. I let the kids bring the XBOX. There are currently 11 boys in my room. Carter has "It's Raining Men" stuck in his head and has been singing it all day long. We have a room with one king and one pull-out couch...six people on two beds! Madness I tell you, MADNESS!!!!!

From Bad to Good....

My weekend review.

Friday was bad. I was involved in a car accident. Not my fault. I feel like I need to verify this even before saying that everyone involved was ok. I had Ben and Cate with me and thankfully they were completely unaffected. In fact, as soon as I shut the car off, Bennett said "why are we stopping? I have a baseball game!". And I replied "because we were just in a car wreck!!!" And he said "but I have baseball!!!". Clearly, he was not hurt. And Cate never dropped her bag of Fruit Loops. However, my car was hurt :( Not that I love my van, but it is my second home and our family is paralyzed without it. So, the short version is that I was stopped at a stop sign and a young girl (21) was making a right turn onto the road I was on and either took the turn too wide or was trying to cut into the gas station next to me...either way, she slammed into my car. I could see it coming, in slow motion, and I was unable to do anything about it (except yell No! No! No!). The cop faulted her and her insurance is taking care of it. I had my car inspected today and the damage is just a bit less than $3000. Obviously it could have been a lot worse. We leave for Memphis on Friday, so I'm hoping our rental is delivered by then (which they say won't be a problem...famous last words). Great big shout out to my favorite Father-In-Law who immediately came and picked Bennett up from the scene and drove him all the way to Chatham for his baseball game. And another thank you to Cody for dropping by and watching Cate and Ben while I chatted with the police. And another thank you to the witness who pulled over and sat with me until the police got there, then gave a full report and has since talked to the insurance. I feel so much better knowing it's not my word vs. theirs.

On Saturday, Ben had two more games in Chatham and Brady had a soccer game and baseball game, so Scott went with Ben and Cate and I stayed home with Brady. But first, I got up super early and Beth and I cheered Jenna on at her first tiny triathlon. She did awesome..finishing 13th in the women's division. It was a lot of fun to watch and I loved being there to encourage her and not being the one competing :) We are going to do a triathlon relay in September...Jeanine is going to swim, Jenna's biking, and I'm running. I'm really looking forward to it!


Sunday called for more baseball in Chatham. We were all able to go this time (plus Aunt Frannie, Grammy, Bau Bau and Papa!). He had one game at 1 and if they won, they'd play again at 3. Through the 4th inning, we were winning 10-3. Then we fell apart. Let's just say we did not play at 3! And finally, Sunday night we had tickets (thanks Fran!) to Bon Jovi. Bow-chicka-wow-wow. Seriously, that man....I don't even know what to say. Simply amazing. Our seats were great and it was a much needed night out.

Here he crushed the ball out to the fence

I'm not a very good concert or movie-goer. I hate sitting still that long. I just can't do it. So, I busied myself by taking lots of pictures. It was probably annoying to those around me, but I can't help it! And besides, now I have some very good memories stored on my computer and framed around my house that I can stare at anytime I want :)
On Monday, Carter had his National Junior Honor Society ceremony welcoming the incoming 8th graders and honoring the current members.

Alina, Carter, and Abbie


Have I mentioned that highschool baseball season is over for Scott?? And Carter, Bennett, and Brady's soccer seasons are finished? And that there are only three more days of school??? I can't even express how grateful I am for this. Bring on summer!

Notice the bird nesting in my hanging plant :( Lots of yardwork/projects to be done once school is out!

Never Give Up

A photo essay.....

Love that she gave me "thumbs up" when she accomplished her goal :)

Today, I told Jill that I was going to pass this dress on to Hadley as soon as I figure out how to sew a new one. Cate immediately put it on and wore it to the park (it's size 18 months).
Hoping for a Prince

tuesday

Bennett had a follow-up podiatrist appt yesterday and walked out of there in an air cast. His Sever's disease hasn't improved with the help of his orthotics, so he will wear the boot on his right foot for three weeks and then switch to his left foot. He can take it off for baseball practice/games, showers, and bed. He said he's never wearing shorts again :)

How funny is this picture of Brady sleeping?!?!

I bought the materials to make a bow-board to match Cate's new room color (light blue) months ago...finally pulled the trigger yesterday and I think it looks great! Coral and light blue polka dots...love it! Anyone need me to make them one? :)

Hadley has been coming over to play three days a week. Cate loves when she's in the bumbo seat! We literally read books to her all day long. Cate makes up a story by looking at the pictures then I'm supposed to finish the story off what she's said. Obviously, Hadley finds us very entertaining!

We have a house guest...Max! Uncle Josh is in NC for business until June 1, and we got custody of the dog (ahem, Duane and Elaine, you owe me big!) I had never seen Max before and from the hair in front of his eyes, I'm guessing he hasn't seen much either!!! The kids are all about Max...he gives high-fives, so they pretty much think he's the greatest dog ever. He and Murphy are getting along just fine and I'm anxious to see how he does with Buddy out back tomorrow. Murphy is very territorial, whereas Buddy is just a running fool, so I don't anticipate many battles. Playing together on the couch. More like, Murphy is holding on for dear life before psycho Max starts jumping up and down and finally off the couch and back on again. Every man for himself when wild Max is in town :) Cate said they're going to be the best buddies ever! Oh, and Carter gets to cut Josh's grass while he's away....I have forgotten to mention this to him. He's going to be thrilled!!!