Hail? To The...

Last night Trent and I went out for my birthday dinner...yep, my one chance a year to have good sea food. Let's just say Trent is a big fan of their chicken! While waiting... and waiting... and getting familiar with the lady next to me with her cute daughter and sweet family... and her spiel about her thriving"Slumber Party" business...yeah, can you see the bishops wife throwing one of those lingerie parties???...well, the weather turned a bit scary!

This is a picture from the local news, of one of the earlier storms in Newnan. Looks beautiful, and...fluffy! But it dumped quite a bit of gravel-sized hail and the wind was all scary-like. Of course we are hoping everyone at home is alright. So during dinner (we were skipped from being seated and watched the hail from the waiting area) we called the house and consoled Tarin and Raegan from the thunder that was now hitting them. Then about 20 minutes later, the next storm hit and the same routine of hail and lighting hit. (Personally, I love to watch all of it, but when kids are on the mind, it's not as peaceful.)

After a bit of shopping, we made our way home, and found ourselves in another wave of thunderstorms. It was spectacular watching all the lighting slice its' way through the sky, until it struck close to our truck. We were driving down 34, passing the YMCA toward home, and literally 50 ft from our truck, lightning hit a transformer and threw sparks everywhere! Wow, that was amazing and scary all at the same time!

This morning, the kids wanted to show me the hail that was still left in the yard. I'm sure it melted a lot, but here is what I found. Much of it sticking together, but in big globs.

Raegan thought hers was the biggest of all ;o)

Last I checked Easter is tomorrow...so that makes this APRIL! And we are still getting snow flurries (last wednesday) and hail! Al Gore, would have plenty to say...

Just A Thought...

A friend shared, so now I will share. I've come to find Pres. Dieter F. Uchtdorf's talks my favorite.

A Great Day!

HAPPY BiRtHdAy...TO ME!

Not that I want to be a year older, but it's been a great day so far...aside that Ammon woke up at 6am, and tossed and turned in our bed with us...who wants to get up anyway?

Trent made pancakes for breakfast, which I've always loved! Then later, I took the kids to the soccer fields to play at the park with many others from the Newnan ward. The sun is shinning, the sky is clear, and temperatures are fabulous!

The day is not over yet, I hope for more fun and appreciation (as the kiddos get older, that appreciation part starts to run thin...) =-)

Rian's Quilt

This is Rian putting together her quilt. She's pretty excited to use my sewing machine. Also, she's feeling a bit behind, competative nature inside, so she wants to catch up to Jarom...



So cute to see my oldest creating, and learning something new.


She loves the fabric she was able to pick out!

Spring Break Begins

Well, what to do, what to do...we don't have plans to vacation... Trent decided to take Rian to work...and put her to work. I guess their is a pile of papers that need to be organized and filed and no one wants to do it, so for $3 an hour, Rian is working for daddy.

It will get worse before it gets better.







Now she knows why no one wanted to do it.

Jarom and Rian want to learn how to sew and make a quilt for their bed. They picked out some fabric they liked from Fabric Square Shop

It's so cute to see my boy sewing. (Rian will start hers later. )

He finished a row and was so proud.






I think one row a day (maybe 2) will be the attention limit for now. Little by little.

Later that night, the Bakes invited us over for dinner for some "Cafe' Rio", wow, it really did taste just like the restaurant! But it was the Molten Chocolate Cake that Andrea was inspired to make from our cruise! Wow, it was just as good, w/o our surroundings rocking back and forth...Excellent food with good company.

Cousin Time

This past week was a lot of fun! Denham and Brennin came down from Indiana to spend their spring break with their mom, Missy (Trent's sister). Sadly, our kids' spring break isn't until the next week. But we had fun all the same. A few days we went to Jumping Jellybeans, the library, lots of playing outside, dollar store, Nintendo DSing, and a fun sleepover. Rian loved trying out their cell phone...a whole new world of texting. I think some of you thought it was Denham...but it was Rian. Oh, sorry Gma Wardwell, I think Rian called you early this morning (oops 2 hour difference--would have stopped her if I knew). ^__^ We all had so much fun. The best part is watching them be such good friends. Love you boys, see you this summer!






Here they all are enjoying themselves in our very-messy-play-land-of-a-basement...we didn't need that stuff anyway...right?

This was one picture I had to steal of Denham...he loves those "Wimpy Kid" series. So after the library he sat down and finished the book. Very cute.

Hey, what's a sleepover w/o a fun dinner. Gotta love the good 'ol mac and cheese and hot dog routine!

Call Me Crazy...

I love to get out and do things outside...Yes, we washed the van, the kids' favorite thing to do, even though we knew it was going to rain the next day...the next 4 days...but it hadn't been washed for probably 6 months. It was screaming for a wash. (This is last week) Trent decided he wanted give the camera a shot... ;o)






Everyone helped...

BEFORE...

all grimmy and yucky and "not looking forward to it"...

AFTER...

all shinny and gleaming...nice job (pat myself on the back)

As I was doing the rims (before kids got home from school) "Where's Ammon?"

Oh yeah, of course, wanting a wagon ride. "Help yourself big boy!" He played for a good 10 mins in there.

Good Mor-ning Sunshine!

Ammon's 1st Birthday Celebration

Ammon is the Big 1 as of Thursday, March 19th! (We celebrate it on Sat. with family.) Wow, how fast a year blurs past. There is always something to get done or something to plan for ...the next thing you know, years pass you by. Every now and then I find myself looking through pictures and finding out how much our family really has experienced. It makes me sad that their are so many stresses that get in the way of what really matters...sad that I or any of us need constant reminder to remember our purpose here on this earth. We are to gain knowledge and raise our Heavenly Fathers children in His light.

Ammon is pure joy. He really does have the pure light of Christ, and I hope I can continue to teach him so he can sustain that light in his life. What a gift to raise a perfect child of God. Now here we are a year later and he is a lovable, healthy boy! He completes our family. I love you big, boy!

Here is the big guy opening gifts from Gma Wardwell...Thank you Gma!

Trent, Troy and Kristin had the same idea...great minds think alike!

Ammon was still a bit out of it from his nap, but started to test the cake...

but having 10 people watch him kind of scared him a little....

so daddy decided to help him out...or more like joined in on the fun...I think the plan was to show Ammon how to do it...but I'm thinking Trent wanted an excuse to paint himself with chocolate frosting...we all need to have fun too.

what a cute set of boys!

McIntosh Reserve

The Father and Son's campout was cancelled, so we and the Bake family decided to go camping anyway. McIntosh Reserve is only about 45 mins from our house in Whitesburg, GA next to the Chattahoochee River. We went hiking, Geo Cashing (GPS treasure hunting), practiced some baseball, roasted hot dogs and marshmallows, flashlight wars, and woke up to a chilly low 30's next to a warm fire and good food. Besides a few cold fingers and toes, we woke up to a beautiful canvas and sounds. Everyone had a great time.


And yes, Tarin is the easiest to photograph, but because she didn't want to go GEO cashing with the rest, it was a good time for a photoshoot...

Garden Ready To Go

The Garden is ready to go! I'm so excited to start the seeds and get them transplanted. My only worry are the deer. I've heard so many ways, but not all are full proof...here goes our first trial/error year!

We had some guys from Trent's work come finish the garden and fill in the holes left from the dump truck...during the process, the kids loved assessing the work.


Ammon wanted join in too.




I'm thinking he approves.

Laundry has definitely spiked in record amounts these past warm days!

But can't blame them for wanting to enjoy the great outdoors!

For The Love Of Food

It's no secret that this boy loves food. But this clip shows how much he loves the process of eating. There is no holding back..... Look out birthday cake!

OOOPS!

As you can see we are preparing our lovely, spotted-with-grass side yard to plant a garden... Yep, we are all excited! Saturday the raised sides will be built. In the mean time, we had top soil delivered...

This top soil is the good stuff. With all of the Georgia red clay, we needed some brought in. This much dirt, meant a large dump truck...backing in to dump on our garden...wait, it doesn't look like it made it to the spot...

OOPS! YIKES! and WOW!

I guess it did rain and snow a lot the past couple of weeks. It's actually quite the sight see, so make a drive by and see the Grand Canyon that so recently carved it's way through our yard. Really, it's about 2 feet deep! We weren't sure the dump truck was going to make it out!

We've got our work cut out! Shovels, wheelbarrows, sweat and tears...the kids will do just fine!

Boys And Their Toys

This big boy is ALL boy! He absolutely loves to play with his cars.

He is fascinated with them! In just a few, short weeks,

he will be 1 whole year old.

It's Warming Up

Yep, the snow is almost gone. But the warmth is sooo nice! Not because I'm from Arizona...but so the kids can get out of the house and do something else. We decided to break out the wagon and let the fun begin. Ammon decided he likes getting free rides. Oh if only you knew the drama of how much my girls love their baby brother. As soon as the bus stops, Tarin is the first off and running to see Ammon. Rian is close behind and they fight over who gets to hold him. Here, I found a compromise where Rian gets to pull the wagon and Tarin rides in it with Ammon...believe it or not, they fought over who got to pull him.

Tarin loooves her brother! If he wasn't almost as big as her, she would carry him around like a doll and dress him up...oh wait, they do dress him up...

He barely shows his teeth, but he does have 7 or 8.

This is my favorite expression on his face...it's his cabbage patch face!

This perfectly shows how much Rian mothers her little brother. She will carry him, change diapers and make sure he's apart of things.

Snowy March

Well, it happened again! We got SNOW! Last years' snow I thought, "this is it for a few years..." But here we are again, church cancelled, kids all in a frenzy, and life is exciting! I think the snow is so beautiful and fresh! I'm just glad we don't have it every day! I have a new camera that I'm experimenting with, so this was a perfect first time "photo shoot" (lots to learn on it, so I'm no pro). The kids loved making snowman "Jeff". Nice to have daddy home on Sunday. And yes, Jarom and Raegan were wearing shorts the first part of the day...that soon changed...snow is cold!