The Apple Orchard

Well, school is going really well and today we will begin week 4. I really think that Carson and Emilia are enjoying it and I hope that they are learning all they need to be at this point. Emilia did ask me the other day if when she was old enough to have school like Carson was I going to teach her at home??? I thought, that's a good question, I probably won't have an answer to until that time!! :)
Anyway, last week we took our first class field trip! It was so much fun, since we had been studying plants, trees, leaves, then all about apples, including Johnny Appleseed, Mr. McIntosh, etc. We went to visit the Cherry Creek Orchards in Pontotoc, MS. Mr. Jessie, who runs the orchard, was so kind to give us a ride in his gator around the orchard, talk to us some about the trees and how he cares for them and even stop and let us pick a few apples from the trees.
Since the orchard is not far from my parents house, my mom took the trip with us. Thanks Nannie for being our guest!

Another Tooth....

is gone!! Well, the left front tooth has been "hanging" for sometime now but we have a dentist appointment on Tuesday so I was trying to hold out on making a "tooth pulling appt" until then. Thankfully, Carson & Emilia wanted to spend the night with my mom on Tuesday, so they did. On Wednesday, they went to eat lunch at George's (their favorite place in New Albany) and Carson told his Nannie he only wanted to eat french fries b/c of his loose front tooth, he didn't want it to fall out. And guess what??? Yes, his tooth fell out in a french fry! so then he proceeded to eat a cheeseburger.

As you can tell from the pictures, his most recent interest is cowboys. He got boots for his birthday, he wears his pirate pants and vest from his birthday party, along with his gun holster and guns he got last year for his birthday and his daddy took him to Scrugg's yesterday to purchase the new cowboy hat, and boy, is he proud.

The picture of Emilia is just one that we had to take to send in to Calvary for school. She's real big and so excited to be going to school!

Big Day...

Well, today we officially began school.... and it went really well. We had originally planned on getting our first allergy shot this am and then coming home for school, but my sleepy heads didn't get up in time to eat breakfast, get ready and get there by the 11 cut off, so we had school first instead, then went for the allergy shot.

We got a good bit accomplished and this week, we are actually discussing/studying the creation and making "creation" books. Emilia will be involved in this as well and they both did great. Then when Emilia finished she played a computer game while Carson and I worked on math and reading.

I just wanted to post a few pictures of school.

I made cupcakes this morning to help celebrate our first day of school and we had them for a school snack. It was fun.

By-the-way, the allergy shot went well too, no tears. I have a good little patient! I guess he's heard me talk about how bad kids can act and how upset nurses can get when they don't mind their mommies!

Visit to Grandmothers

I only have one grandparent left, this being my mother's mother who lives in Sevierville, TN. She was born and raised there and this is where my mom grew up as well. Growing up my parents made a point to take us to both sets of grandparents 3-4 times a year each. With my daddy being from south Mississippi, this took a good bit of time out of their schedules each year.
After I graduated from college, and got married, I've tried to continue visiting each of them about every 4-6 months until my daddy's mother passed away last August. Now I only have one and so I'll try my best to continue this with her. With all that said, this grandmother, has lived in several different houses in the area since I can remember. Several years ago after my grandfather passed away, she built a new house so that she would have a smaller yard to mow. This house is in the prettiest place and I should take a picture from her front yard . If you have ever vacationed here, I'm sure you've see Smokey Mountain Knife Works, well, her house sits up on the hill, above the river, looking down and the knife works but also that gorgeous view of the mountains. Anyway, we visited her about two weeks ago and since we don't really count this as a vacation, Vince wanted to do something different and vacationy I guess, take the kids camping! I agreed to ONE night of camping. So we called to see about bear activity and what to do if we encountered one, and we were off, to Elkmont Campground, home of only a potty in the bathroom and COLD water, AND NO cell phone signals. Knowing I couldn't take a shower was kind of disturbing to me, especially after getting all hot and sweaty from playing putt putt in Gatlinburg, but since I was only there for one night, I figured I could handle it. It was really pretty but I have to say I ended up at some point in the early morning going to the van to sleep. We forgot one air mattress and sharing a full size with two wiggly kids was not very comfortable.
We did roast hot dogs over a fire for supper, which was Carson's request. Then we made smores and had honey buns for breakfast, went on a short 3/4 mile hike and then were back to mamaw's for baths!!!!!

Happy Birthday To Me....

Yes, I celebrated my 35th birthday today with a group of little kids. I had a fabulous time. One of their mom's asked me where I'd like to go and I knew if they weren't happy and having a good time, we probably wouldn't either, so I chose Chuck E Cheese and we had a blast!
Carson, Emilia and I went to Shipley's this morning for donuts and they were SOOOO good, then we visited the new HealthWorks here in Tupelo and they enjoyed that too. We went to Chuck E Cheese from there and then to week #2 of swimming lessons. They are both doing extremely well and we are really proud of them. Emilia is pooped, and asleep on the couch, which is where I wish I was!!!
I'm blessed to have so many friends and an awesome family, to have good health and to celebrate another year! Thanks everyone for making my day special!

Happy Father's Day

Aren't Daddy's awesome? I know mine is and I'm so thankful for him and all the lessons he's taught me along life's way. Yesterday at our church, our pastor was referring to how important Dad's are in the family and how many families don't have Daddy's. This is so sad, to think that little children don't grow up with their daddy's and to think of what daddy's miss when they don't get to "grow up" with their little children. I'm so thankful that my daddy was always there when I was growing up and still is!

And then when we have kids of our own, to watch our husbands take on the role of "daddy". He amazes me too, and yes, there are times when I have to gently guide him back in the right direction (as I'm sure all wives do) but he does an awesome job and man, Carson and Emilia LOVE their daddy.

I had emphasized to Carson & Emilia that Father's Day was a day set aside to thank God for our Earthly fathers and to thank him for our Heavenly Father too. And that we would let Daddy pick what we did. Of course we started the day off with Sunday School and church and then my parents met us for lunch at Red Lobster. This was actually picked for me b/c on Mother's Day I had wanted to go to Red Lobster but Vince had wanted to go to Outback, since it was Mother's Day, I gave in and we went to Outback, wishing the whole time since then, we had stayed at Red Lobster (I love their biscuits and that new wood grill they have) So, yesterday, he made up for it and picked Red Lobster, which I knew was for me!!! Thanks Vince.

Then we went back home and took naps and since our church was called off for the evening, so we could spend more time with our families, we swam, and then my daddy and I grilled hamburgers that were sooooo good. Thanks Daddy, I enjoyed making hamburgers with you.

It made for a long, enjoyable day and I'm thankful and blessed to have the parents I have and the husband and father to my children I have.

(Thanks also to B. McCoy for finally showing me how to post my pictures in the center on here!!!)

Bye-Bye Sippy Cups

I guess some of you may be wondering if my kids STILL drink out of sippy cups. The answer is sometimes they do. I feel like Carson is way to old to have one and when he does, I try to make sure it's one with the straw but they are so nice when we are traveling to not spill and keep the drink cold that I keep a few around for him. Thank goodness he got a CARS insulated thermos type cup for his birthday that looks way more his age and we try really hard to keep it clean and use it when we're on the go.
Anyway, last week, I was about to scream each time I opened up my "cup" cabinet for the mess, cups everywhere, from every restaurant you could imagine and then every kind of sippy cup they have had for the past six years. Some of them you couldn't even see what the picture once was on the side and not to mention all the teeth marks on the spout. I decided I had to get that cabinet cleaned out and what's the use in keeping them (I know mama) if we don't use them anymore. So, I pulled the trash can over and started cleaning out.
I didn't have an all out come apart but as I was throwing sippy cups in the trash I had that so often reminder that I have now that..... they are growing up! (and too fast) I can remember having a conversation with one of my friends last year about how I think God gradually prepares us for the goal of "letting our children go". Can we even imagine what it would be like if just one day they left??? I can't. So, therefore, we say good-bye a little at a time, their first day of day school - when they are only gone 2 - 3 half days a week, then kindergarten, when for us, they are gone 5 half days a week and then real school and so on. And throwing away sippy cups is just a small step we take in helping them grow up, realizing they are too big for that and they can't be babies forever (although that's what they'll always really be in our hearts!)