Florida Camping Trip

I'll admit the thought of sandy sheets was a bit unnerving. But, oh, this was such a gorgeous state park that it made up for any of the icky camping bits. If you think Florida is beautiful and you've only ever stayed in a condo then you should definitely take an afternoon visit to one of the many wonderful natural areas they have. We did venture out one day to the Gulfarium and had one horrendously over priced seafood lunch so there was some touristy stuff. Mostly we rode our bikes, hiked on sandy trails (awfully hard for the little among us) and spent our afternoons playing in the white sand.  We will definitely be heading back.
slideshow here  and below too ... in case one or the other works better

Juju turns 4

Slideshow here
What a great day she had. After she went to bed the night before, the big girls and Daddy and I decorated the house so she would wake up to a surprise. I did something I haven't done before but would highly recommend, we painted the windows with tempra paint and soap... free and she loved having rainbow windows. In the morning, Daddy went and got birthday donuts and we opened presents. We took the day off of school and let them play all day. And that night since I had the seasons worst cold and didn't feel up to much, we went to Chuck E Cheese. After that it was cake and some skype time. Thank you everyone for all the well wishes and presents.

to quote a fellow bibliophile .. "reading ftw!"

monkey feet

 

His feet are always like this when he eats, I think it is so ridiculously cute. 

littles in the flour

slideshow here

People always ask ... why the flour, why the shaving cream, why the mess? My answer is why not? It's soooo cheap and for now they think it's a treat to get hosed off afterwards. Anything that keeps them occupied for 45 minutes is worth the mess ... as long as it's non staining I'm okay with it.

I know there has to be a better way to do this. I can't keep up with this anymore and I don't even have the time to research what other options I have ... any ideas anyone? For now I am linking to (or trying to) a flickr slideshow of just a bulk upload of unedited pics. You have no idea how many times it crosses my mind that my lovely family often starts their day by checking here and ..... nothing for the past couple of months. Sorry all, I've been just a little busy. If Fletch didn't try and turn the computer off every time I sat down or alternately find every sharp device in the sewing room/office things might be a bit better. But alas, doesn't seem like that is going to happen anytime soon!
So try clicking this text and see if it takes you to the pictures of our winter bike ride adventure at a wildlife preserve not too far away.

I wis I got as excited about the dishes

number 10 for our E

new do's

Rosie got bangs cut again and Evie donated 12 inches to Locks of Love.

sleeping beauty in her slippers and swimsuit

spidey got a 2nd job

Who knew spiderman liked landscaping so much?

Birthday cake!

birthday bash in the woods part 1

busted

bub bubs

Squishy baby in too small sweater. Oh the cuteness. Those perfect little fingers are almost too much.
This sweater was one of the very first baby things I ever bought. Yep, he's dressed in his sisters clothes.

I went to the animal fair....

We attempted to go to the zoo. But alas, it was a free day. Which meant that traffic was backed up out to the interstate exit.  Um, not exactly sure how all those people fit into the zoo? So then we thought we'd keep going and play some mini gold in Sieverville. Again we were stopped by traffic!  Soooo, onward we forged, out to a drive through "safari". Poor baby was awoken from his nap only to be terrified of the animals that kept popping their heads in our car window. The girls loved it! He did enjoy the petting zoo so it wasn't a total fail of  a birthday activity. I will admit that I do not normally enjoy these types of places but this place was sooo clean and the animals all looked extremely well taken care of.  This is the one that is out past Sieverville, not the one closer in to Knoxville.

birthday breakfast

It's a funny thing to be number 4. You're kind of unimportant to the outside world. And we Mama's take our children's slights and multiply them in our hearts. I was so sad that he wasn't special enough to be celebrated by anyone but us. So instead of doing  what I should have done and made a big todo (birthday pancakes, anyone?) I just moped. I literally sat on the couch and was all teary. (And I might have even called my own Mama  and demand they meet us the next day - even if it meant driving 2 hours.) But he, being the awesome, super little dude that he is, had other plans than watching me blubber. He made it very clear he wanted his cheerios in a bowl and with a spoon and with milk! And so he got them. And made me laugh in the process.

braids!

I didn't think we would ever get here. A year ago we were growing out yet another self inflicted "hair do". But, finally! One year later and no more scissors have been used. It's become a bit of a running joke between us, anytime she gets that guilty look I say "did you cut your hair ?" and she responds with "MAAMA. I DIDN'T DO IT" and then she usually proceeds to tell me what she did do instead. Love it.
Girl has got some fluffy hair so you can't ever really tell how long it is. I didn't even realize I could braid it until just the other day. Cuteness, right?

no more nicknames please

She's requested that we call her by her given name. Why does she want to grow up? Make it stop!

Daddy love

Or alternately, attack Daddy. Pretty much the same thing when you are ALMOST ONE.