good friday with good friends...4.10

look at this beautiful spread! 5 families contributed to this feast!

baby jacob spent lots of time just staring at the craziness around him...

sarah in costume change #1...

sarah in costume change #2...

all the kiddos eating outside together...11 (not counting jacob, of course!)

sweet pic of my oldest and youngest man in my life...

costume change #3...

a picture of the delicious and beautiful cake that mimi helped sarah and drew make at her house...mimi had sarah and drew spend the night with her on thursday night! the list of activities made me exhausted and all i did was listen to it :)

costume change #4...(and the humongous mess the kiddos made in the playroom!)

griffin and drew hiding together in a box. this box was barely 2 feet by 1.5 feet...

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we had a great lunch at alison's house on good friday! we all got there around 11am and stayed til 4pm...it was a very relaxing day! the kiddos entertained themselves so well! of course, the house looked like a tornado had come through by the end of the day!

as you can see, sarah made herself at home in the "dress-up" department! we were laughing SO hard. the first 5 or 6 times she changed, she was wearing princess or bride or superhero costumes, THEN she just started wearing claire and emma's regular clothes! she was in heaven!

little jacob chilled with the "men" mostly and took a little nap on a bed upstairs. i made sure to get a pic of him since i took 9 million pics at the last several events but VERY few of little man.

what a wonderful way to spent a day with the daddies off work!!!

sarah's preschool easter party...4.9

sarah is currently OBSESSED with her friend anna leigh. they have been having weekly playdates. and are completely inseparable at preschool. (they go to church, school, and dance class together!)

well, on the day of sarah's easter party, as i was dressing her, she asked if anna leigh could wear the same dress as her to school. little fashionista that she is, she knew anna leigh had the same dress since she had worn it to church.

so, i called miss amy to ask if that was ok. of course she said YES!!! so, sarah and anna leigh got to wear the same dress and they were OH SO HAPPY!

the party was lots of fun! the kids really enjoyed being outside on such a nice day!

i am so glad i'm able to be a part of sarah's preschool days. i am getting really emotional already about sarah going to kindergarten in TWO years.

i know. i'm pathetic. i have a whole 'nuther year but i'm already stressing about it. i don't want my sweet baby girl to be at school all the time! okay, i'll stop myself before i get all worked up again :)

peas and carrots...4.9

this is what happens when i ask the kids to pose for a picture before school...

so i got a little creative.

i had the kids hold hands and run back and forth on the walk to our front door.

they thought it was the GREATEST idea mommy had ever had!!! i got so many priceless pics! i really had to control myself to just post these few!

anyway...i was happy to have some pics of my kids when they weren't looking at their shoes or turning their heads away from the camera on purpose. little stinkers.

3 and 4 year olds in this house DO NOT like to pose nicely for the camera :)

so cute!!!

boo boo for drew...4.8

amazingly, with over 20 kids at the egg hunt with mops, drew was the only child to sustain an injury. after most of the crowd had left, drew got in front of the swings when sarah and anna leigh were swinging really high and took a foot to the face. ouch!

he recovered really quickly as always. sweet little man. BUT, he was hilarious when everyone asked him what happened to him. he ALWAYS said, sarah and anna leigh hit me! what a ham!

please note, the egg hunt was FOUR days prior to easter sunday. you know, the day we would try to take family pictures. of course. we must always have an injury for picture days :)

mops easter egg hunt...4.8

anna leigh and sarah...

playing in the little creek...

running as far away as possible...

raising their hands if they were being quiet during the hunt instructions...

and they're off...

drew was very serious about his egg hunting...

sarah made sure to keep her hand on the tree when she found her 10 eggs...

sarah and drew found a nice seat to enjoy their candy...

while everyone else was still happily hunting away...

more friends decided to stop for a sugar rush...

miss amy telling the kiddos to use their listening ears to find out the rules for the game...

everyone else eventually decided to run around again, but drew was content to stay on the bench and enjoy his booty...
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on wednesday afternoon, a great group of moms from mops got together at the park with ALL of our kiddos to have a little easter egg hunt. the kids had SO. MUCH. FUN.

we let them play on the playgrounds for a while while the bunny hid all the eggs. of course, the kids wanted to play in the ditch and run towards the woods the whole time. its so nice to have 10 or so moms to watch out for our wild ones!!!

we stayed at the park for 3+ hours. it was the most perfect, beautiful spring day! a nice breeze and gorgeous sunshine! and little jacob just chilled with us the whole time. he spent some time on the ground on a blanket while we read stories...LOVING all the attention from the older kids!

we grabbed some food on the way home and jumped STRAIGHT in the shower when we got home. and then immediately to bed. what a great way to spend the afternoon!

i have a feeling we are all going to be worn out at the end of the day almost every day this summer! what a great feeling!!!

poor little bunny...4.8

drew tortured, err, met amy's rabbits on our way to the park for an egg hunt. poor bunnies! it reminded me of john steinbeck's of mice and men when lennie was always being too rough with the rabbits...(i'm a nerd, i know!)

drew thought the bunnies were AWESOME...i'm sure the bunnies didn't share the same sentiment!!!

[p.s. my crazy friends amy AND mary got their kids bunnies for easter. way to make me look like the slacker mommy!]

even steven easter egg dyeing...4.7

we had easterpalooza at our house on the 7th...we came home from school and colored eggs.

it took me twice as long to set up as it took the kids to dye the eggs. i had to make sure EVERYTHING was exactly the same, but separated for sarah and drew.

sweet little man slept through his first chance at an egg dyeing experience :)

after the kids did their thing with the eggs, we got out the easter cards to decorate for family. sarah was VERY into making each card just right...drew, notsomuch. he was much more concerned with watching tv. shocking, i know...

we had a great time and the kids were worn out by dinnertime. perfect!!!

three over-exhausted kids visit the easter bunny...4.4

after our super fun yet exhausting time at nicholas's birthday party, we headed over to the mall for a visit with the bunny since we were already up in cordova...the kids were pooped! when we got to the bunny, he was going on break...ugh! so, we had 30 additional minutes to kill.

anyway...we eventually got to visit with the bunny. and had abysmal photo results at best. (10 points to whomever can guess where i got the word abysmal from...) anyway. after our great pics with santa, i was okay with less than stellar bunny pics. at least we don't have any screamers...

drew yawning...lovely...

drew in his now trademark move...holding up three fingers for his age in EVERY picture...
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i'm so glad we even had a bunny pic this year...its just so busy! and i was NOT about to attempt to take all three kids to the mall without tim...i'm not stupid :)

nicholas's 5th birthday party...4.4

playdate at the jenkins'...4.1

well, we had so much fun at our playdate after the CAbi show that we decided to make it a weekly event! we did limit the number of children to TEN this time...much more manageable :)

we met at amy's house after school on wednesday afternoon for some outdoor fun! the kids ran and ran and ran...they had such a good time! and, as you can see, sarah had a few costume changes too!

we fed everyone and FINALLY started heading home around 7pm...it was a LONG and FUN playdate! when we got home, we had a quick shower and headed to bed! the kids were so tired! i LOVE it when my kids are worn out from running around and just being kids! i did feel slightly guilty for sending sleep deprived kids to preschool on thursday...slightly.

and, as always, jacob was a little angel...he took 2 naps in mary mcrae's crib while we were there. he just rolled with the punches. what a sweet little man!

all about jacob...3.30

well, this picture taking experience was intended to capture a sweet picture of jacob playing with his newly discovered feet.

i LOVE the progression...babies start out in fetal position, all tight jointed and squished up. then, slowly they start extending their arms and legs away from their bodies. hands find their way into the mouth. feet can kick.

then, babies start staring at their hands as they watch them move in and out of their line of sight...completely amazed at them! next, babies find those precious feet in their line of sight! oh the excitement! FINALLY able to pull those feet up to grab! score!!!

and when the feet make their way INTO the mouth...pure bliss!

(am i just weird and all occupational therapist-y in this analysis and my excitement regarding it?)

back to my point...i was attempting to get a pic of jacob holding onto his feet and "talking" to them. but, as soon as i got out the camera, ALL he would do is stare at me. now, mind you, if i had WANTED him to look my way, it NEVER would have happened.

so, instead of the "foot pics" i ended up with these. still sweet moments with my little man, but not exactly what i was going for...adorable nonetheless, huh?

is this considered child abuse?...3.29

sadly, baby jacob appears to resemble mr. dustin more than either of his parents...

the above picture is how the adults dined...candlelight steak dinner...

the above picture is how the kids ate...we threw them their coats, some lemonade, and some lunchables and told them to have fun!
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p.s. the kids played outside for at least 2 hours while the adults made dinner and visited.

when it was FINALLY time to eat, we decided the kids were too dirty to come inside.

then we decided that we had a greater chance of them eating if we didn't serve them steak, mashed potatoes, and salad.

and THEN we realized it was a tidge chilly outside and they would probably appreciate another layer of clothing.

seriously, though...the kids thought it was FABULOUS to get to spend so much time outside AND then to get to eat out there too!

(and the adults were just brokenhearted about the kids being happily entertained outside for that long too-ha!)

p.p.s. jacob was allowed to stay inside in the warmth during the evening...

the biggest and BEST playdate ever...3.24.09

on tuesday, march 24th, amy and i hosted a CAbi show for our friend and fashion guru, mary. we had the show during preschool hours so jacob and one other little girl (ann lawson) were the only kids.

then, we decided to get c.r.a.z.y! all the families came BACK after preschool pickup! it was so much fun! at one point, there were NINETEEN kids playing in our backyard. (i had said 18 on facebook, but i forgot one...can't imagine why?!?) we ended up getting little caesar's pizzas for dinner and feeding all the kids on the floor.

mary and amy got to my house at 9:30 that morning, and the last people left at 10:30 that night! it was a DAY. but, we all had a blast. we didn't have any fussing or fighting or injuries, so i count it as a HUGE success! i think all the kids were too overwhelmed to misbehave :)

sweet baby jacob was a TROOPER! he hung out with us all day. and barely made a peep!

i LOVE days like that...when its all totally unplanned and ends up being the most fun.

i don't know if ya'll know this about me (wink.wink.), but i'm a little obsessive-compulsive and anal. PLANNING events stresses me out and causes me to lose sleep. seriously. but, when opportunities happen upon us, its always so fun and easy! i would have planned for WEEKS had i know that many people would have been at my house for that long. but, it STILL went off without a hitch with NO planning.

do you think i learned a lesson? you would think...but, i'm sitting here now at 2:25 a.m. writing this post because i have stress induced insomnia about having easter lunch at our house. hmmm...

just another day...3.21

sarah is OBSESSED with high school musical. she is a natural singer/dancer, so i think she LOVES the musical aspect. hope she doesn't understand the drama! anyway. she ALWAYS wants to watch it and dance around. so, tim set her up on a laptop in the WIDE OPEN living room. she was in heaven!!!

jacob and a recent lovie...he's not really particular. as long as its soft and cuddly :)

a little group pic

now THIS is how you celebrate a birthday...3.18

after all the wild and crazy times at the zoo and cici's, we decided to actually celebrate mimi's birthday the night after her birthday at our house...

we had yummy appetizers, dinner, and dessert...

sarah and drew helped mimi blow out her candles again...

and we sang happy birthday to drew...you know, because his birthday was LAST month...

all in all, i think it was the proper way to celebrate our sweet mimi's birthday for real...

oh what fun!!!...3.17

i just thought it was fun to dress two kids in matching clothes...one girl and one boy...

but i was wrong...it is WAY MORE FUN to dress THREE kids in matching clothes...specifically one toddler boy and one baby boy...its like ME and MINI ME...

(again, its sad how neglected baby jacob is...)

i think i may have gone a little overboard on matching pj's for this summer...

but, oh my goodness...the cuteness...its too much!!!

mimi's birthday dinner...3.17

this is going to come as a big surprise, but we spent mimi's birthday night at cici's!!! we are just a classy family, what can i say?!?

i'm pretty sure cici's is the only restaurant jacob has ever been to...and i use the term "restaurant" loosely...

although, i'm pretty sure that blowing out candles placed in warm, fresh-from-the-oven cinnamon rolls...

and then eating those delicious warm gooey cinnamon rolls...

and subsequently going home to a CLEAN kitchen, is about as perfect of a birthday as you can get :)

mimi's birthday at the zoo...3.17

for mimi's birthday, i asked her what ONE thing she would love to do more than anything else in the world...she said spend the day at the zoo with my grandkids!!! (okay, okay...i took MASSIVE liberty with that quote!) well, sweet mimi that she is, she DID in fact spend her birthday with me, my 3 kids, dianna (pregnant with sweet baby girl!), and dianna's 2 kids! what a trooper!!!as you have seen before on my blog, when my friend from high school dianna comes to memphis to visit her parents i steal her as often as i can! she is such a loyal and awesome girl!

her daughter grace and sarah act as though they see each other all the time. whenever they get together, they just pick back up right where they left off a few months before!

we toured the zoo for a while, stopping VERY often to have snack time and to visit with other friends who were enjoying the perfect day at the zoo as well!!!

we ate lunch outside on picnic tables and enjoyed the ever popular back yard burger selection for ridiculous airport type prices :)

we HAD to take a spin on the carousel...

and we must always get a pic with this buddha...especially cute with my kids' fingers up its nose...

and this face is the face of a super exhausted spoiled little 4.5 month old who could not for the life of him figure out how to go to sleep at the zoo. too much to see, too much to do :) he was SO beyond tired, but he stayed awake until we got ALL the way home (about 30 minutes in the car!). what a little stinker!!!

it was jacob's first trip to the zoo. i'm hoping he gets the hang of it...i foresee MANY more trips there in his future...

look what i found on my camera?...3.16

so. i apparently ran a few errands on the night of the 16th.

because i was definitely not a part of this picture taking experience.

i FINALLY figured out how to upload my pics to picasa. (i figured it out on my own, thankyouverymuch.) so, i was uploading quite a few files.

i wasn't really paying too much attention to what i was doing. til i glanced at a picture and noticed laundry.

i thought, hmmm...i don't usually take pictures of laundry. even though i do TONS of laundry. i know no one wants to read about laundry :)

upon closer inspection, i noticed my 4.5 month son perched precariously across the clothes.

WHAT?!?

i immediately went to find my husband. you know, the only one who is capable of operating the camera besides me.

he said he was holding jacob in the laundry room and thought it would be funny to put jacob in the laundry basket.

and apparently to get the camera to capture this proud parenting moment for the ages.

seriously. what are men thinking? and why do they have the same humor as a 4th grader?!?



p.s. no children were hurt during the making of these pictures. a certain husband WAS hurt when his wife kicked him in the shin for putting my precious BABY in a laundry basket.

just jacob...3.15

since memphis is out of the tournament, and calipari has ditched us for kentucky, we are getting jacob ready for football season. he is working hard on his "touchdown" pose :)