Hot Summer Day in East Tennessee

Whew! It's hot!!! We are having a heat wave in East TN and unfortunately for us the only place the twins want to be is OUTSIDE! We have succumbed to playing baseball in the house (don't tell Grandma). Since the daycare has been closed it has fallen on me to keep them entertained each day. Thats a tall order with these temperatures. For those of you who know me - heat and I are not friends! I can go from zero to "not nice" in mere milliseconds (just ask Randy).

Due to the heat, I have decided that outside play is not acceptable without a way to cool off. This leads me to another dilemma. We don't own a pool and my husband isn't especially fond of running the water hose to slip-n-slide or sprinkle so we have to travel to swimming facilities (or the lake). Problem #2 - GAS PRICES! We have a season pass to Dollywood's Splash Country but can't afford the gas to go. We also like to go to the Oak Ridge pool but that also takes gas.

Today's temperatures required desperate measures so I improvised. I dragged out last year's inflatable kiddie pool, blew it up (with air pump in the garage, of course), scrubbed out last year's mildew, doused all children with sunscreen, threw them in, and filled 'er up. Let the fun begin!

Micah and Carson are always up for a good time with a hose. Corbyn and her friend, Beccah wanted in on the action but had to wait their turn. Micah and Carson had a ton of laughs and were so content as I sat in the shaded garage with sweat rolling down my back. The prep work was well worth the smiles I got in return (and we saved on gas!). There is a final dilemma though. If you look closely at the pics you will notice that when the boys got in there were two levels (tiers) in the pool but by the time Corbyn and Beccah got in, the lower level had deflated. Guess we'll need to spend some of our birthday money...

Vacation Bible School 2008

Although the week isn't over, I wanted to go ahead and submit these few pics on the blog while I had a "free" moment...

The kids and I attended our church's Outrigger Island themed Vacation Bible School (VBS). It was the first year for Micah and Carson to participate. They went to the 2 year old class. They put up a struggle each morning but had a great time each day. They were all smiles when I went to pick them up. Check out their cool little visors they made on Day 1.

Corbyn went to the 3rd grade class since you are placed into the grade recently completed. She had Mrs. Shelley (her AWANA teacher from this year) and really loves her. Corbyn is fascinated with her storytelling ability and had fun with her VBS friends. I hope this experience helps her to grow into the Christian that God meant for her to be and that she learns to walk in His word.

I taught a 4th grade class this year and had an amazing group of children. Preparing for it is exhausting but I always enjoy being with the kids and see them learn about God's truth.

We are thankful that our family has an opportunity to participate in this yearly event as the kids have a super fun time and I learn to serve others.

Corbyn's 9th Birthday

Its hard to believe that Corbyn is 9 years old. She is such a beautiful young lady and seems to have grown about a foot in the last few months. She had already celebrated her birthday earlier in the week with a girl's night out with some friends but her actual birthday was to be spent with family. We began the day with a special breakfast complete with chocolate chip pancakes - Corbyn's favorite (mine too). Then we had birthday gifts. Above is a picture of Corbyn with her special birthday gift from Daddy. Each year Randy has gotten her a piece to the Precious Moments Birthday Train collectible set. This year's piece was a horse and Corbyn was really tickled with it. She is always so anxious to find out what the next piece will be.

Micah and Carson got her a few DVDs to take along on our trip to Destin. We thought they may help to keep her occupied in the car.

Mommy got her a silver bracelet with a prayer box on it. Each year I get her a piece of silver jewelry as a keepsake. Randy and I also bought her first softball glove (I am so excited!) She has been asking me to teach her how to throw. She has gained a new love for softball and baseball by going to ballgames with me and knocking baseballs around in the yard with her brothers. Her batting is pretty good but her throw needs some work.

The original plan for the family birthday was to meet up at the Oak Ridge municipal pool but we found out around noon that it hadn't opened yet (oversight on my part - and don't think I didn't hear about it from several folks).

We hastily rescheduled an impromptu trip up to Dollywood's Splash Country (our first visit this year). Uncle Dave, Aunt Tracy, Elijah, and "baby Matthew" were gracious enough to throw stuff together and make the long drive up there. It meant so much to Corbyn for them to come. Nana also stopped in on her way home from Johnson City (visiting Aunt Mae).

It was a great day and the kids all had a great time (there was minimal grumbling from the adults regarding gas prices, long trip, heat, etc.) Check out the fun pics from Splash Country in the slide show below:

Corbyn's 9th Birthday Party

In an attempt to keep things simple this year we decided to nix the birthday party idea and let Corbyn have a couple of girlfriends go on a girl's night out. Corbyn chose to take two of her best friends, Abby & Jami along. Here is a rundown of the night's events. We began with a shopping trip to Old Navy to purchase new flip-flops ($2.50 a pair). There was a method to my madness in this purchase. I planned on taking the girls to get their tootsies painted next.




After searching for the optimal color and size of flip-flops we headed to N&T Nails to get pedicures (at least the little girl versions). The people working there were great to pamper the girls by letting them sit in the massage chairs and read magazines (but mostly giggle). It was pretty stressful trying to choose just one nail color so we ended up going with tootsies with designs on them. Abby and Corbyn got polka dots and Jami got rainbow toes. Corbyn was pretty ticklish and wasn't wild about having her arches scrubbed.



After the pedicures we ventured to West Town Mall to visit Build-a-Bear. The girls had been looking forward to this part of the trip all day. Corbyn selected a Panda Bear and named her "Jesica"; Jamie chose a Cheetah and named her "Sassy"; and Abby picked out a husky and named him "Mark". The girls had a great time dressing up their new friends.




Following Build-a-Bear we went to the Food Court at the mall and everyone chose where they wanted to eat. For dessert we enjoyed a cookie cake from Great American Cookie Company and it was delicious.


After the long evening of shopping and eating we headed to Putt-Putt for some outdoor fun. The girls didn't know we were going so they were so excited when I turned in there. We played 18 (stressful) holes. Abby took the game very seriously and didn't appreciate Corbyn and Jami goofing around. Jami scared anyone within a mile as she drove the ball each time like she was trying to hit it to the moon. Corbyn tried at most of the holes and ended up winning the game.

What a fun-filled evening! Corbyn had a great time with her very good friends. See more pics from the girl's night out below:

Fun Day at the Cove

Summer time is finally here! The kids and I headed to the Cove at Concord Park which is one of their favorite places to hang out in summer. It has a really neat beach area as well as a playground. The water was a little murky yet but the kids didn't seem to notice. Without hesitation they all run right in regardless of water temperature.

You can notice from the pics that Carson rarely puts his baseball down even when swimming. The boys mostly splash and chase one another while Corbyn plays with anyone she can make friends with. She is really good to play with the boys as well. I like taking the children here to swim because the boys can come and go without my needing to get into the water. Another benefit is the sand available for digging and building and the playground for after swimming. We always go home worn out after playing at the Cove.

Check out the slide show for more fun pics:

Championship Rings are Here

Our state championship rings finally arrived. Here are Wilson and me showing them off. The school board presented them to us last Thursday after the in-school band concert. The players were thrilled to finally receive them. The school board also unveiled our enormous team photo and championship banner that will be displayed on the wall outside the gym forever. Go Lady Panthers!! (my face looks like a lobster because the gym was an oven).

Winding Down

I wanted to share this picture with you so you could have a peek into a typical evening at our house. This is what we do every night to wind down. The boys love to lie on Mommy and Daddy's bed, have a snack & milk, and watch the Wiggles. This isn't exactly a mind-boggling experience but thought you could see how much the boys have grown from this picture if nothing else.

Sleeping with Brother

I have always been a fan of sleeping baby pics and couldn't help but shoot these a few weeks ago. I went in to check on the boys before heading to bed myself and they were fast asleep spooning in Micah's bed. Carson has been rather whiny lately at bedtime and waking often during the night so I suppose he chose to snuggle up with Micah for extra security. It seems that he is afraid of the dark all of a sudden and is suffering from a mild case of separation anxiety.

I had to sneak in and capture at least one picture of Corbyn too so my collection would be complete. She has no idea and probably wouldn't like my sharing it, but oh well...privilege of being the grown-up lets me share it anyway.