I have a fifth new favorite thing....... a hula hoop. Bambi, my boss at the gym, gave me one for my birthday the other day and said to go to hoopgirl.com to check it out. Apparently you can learn to teach a hula workout class. Honestly, I am a little skeptical that one can actually get a good workout from it, but I do know that we have had lots of fun with it this week.














Our neighbor, Emily, will be rejoining our family in a week since her school year is finishing up. Nothing much better than an eleven year old girl who loves to hang out and help me around the house and with the kids!






Here is a little bit of Annabelle cuteness for ya:











Seth and I ran the Ninja 5K at the Asheville Brewing Co. this weekend. I wasn't super thrilled about it because I haven't had a chance to run at all since the last race and no one else we knew would be there. However, we ended up having a great time and considered it a date night. I thought we were supposed to dress as super heroes until about 5 hours before the race when I checked online to see that we were supposed to be Ninjas. We decided to go with our original cape plan anyhow and made some headbands from them to sort of go with the theme.





Gearing up with our shoe chips and numbers.











The race was pretty intense because the course was so hilly. I am pretty sure we didn't run on anything flat for more than 20 yards at a time.




The post race beers were a great treat. Then we walked around downtown for a while before deciding to head home where the beer was cheap and we could play music together.










I did like running with the cape on and think maybe I will wear it from now on when I run.


By the way, this was my 200th post. That is a lot of blogging.

New Favorite Things

I am going to join Courtney in her NEW favorite things list. Her rules were tell everyone about 5 new things that you are enjoying these days with photos. Here it goes:

1. aprons: It is no secret that I don't enjoy cooking. I do it but I just don't like it. Lately I have been making a point to wear my cute apron when I cook which seems to help me enjoy it a little more......like being in character or something. (I will be barefooted as well) I have decided to sew a really cute one in the near future. Here are some inspiration photos for me. You can find all sorts of sassy little aprons at the etsy shop. Maybe I will just buy one from Katie instead.



Here is the pattern I need.








PS Seth doesn't believe this plan will work in the least.








2. Caroline Herring.



She is my newest love in music. I have only downloaded 5 songs so far but I am thinking I will buy more soon. She is from Decatur, GA so I hope she will tour around here.
love her voice...
love her lyrics...
love the banjo in the songs...
love her sound...



3. PiYo which is an "athletic blend of Pilates, Yoga, and strength training". I added this stuff to my classes and have been sore for the entire last month because of it. Sometimes I really hate it mainly because I am not that good at it but I am learning to like it more and more as it gets easier.


















4. Wedding stuff!

My sister, Leslie, and Paul are getting married. SOOON! I cannot tell you how excited I am about this event and all of the planning a preparations that we shall be doing over the next few months. We had a Bartlett girl conference call (mom hooked us up SLAH style) last night to hear the details of the engagement and hear what Leslie had to say about it all. We hopefully will be taking a girl's weekend in June to shop for her gown. Les is getting a flight into Charlotte or Atlanta and we will drive to meet her there.





















Well, I can't think of a 5th thing at this time nothin' new anyways but I will go ahead and publish this. Maybe I will add one more later!

The good news is that my camera is repaired, in the mail, and on the way to me. The other good news is that it was under warranty and there was no charge! I will get a new video up of Annabelle singing for you as soon as it arrives. Her Annie covers have come a long way in the past month or so.


We celebrated my Granny's 80th birthday a few weeks back with a cookout at the 'rent's house. The kids really had a great time playing with my cousin's kids. Grandaddy got the boys busy splitting firewood. They loved that.

The girls played on the swings. At one point they were all dressed up in Mimi's dress-up clothes. I wish I had gotten a picture.....so cute.


Here is the wood splitting action. I can't wait until we move to our next house because we plan on having a wood stove in the basement. I realise that the fun of cutting wood could wear off after a while......but, no, actually it may not because Seth seriously cuts wood for fun. He always has.




Of course there was singing! Granny loves for us to sing for her.


Doesn't Granny look great? She still push mows her yard.


Ah yes, and Leslie was there. How could I forget to mention that. I miss her so badly this week. Her visit was so wonderful!





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We made another trip to Dollywood this past Thursday and Friday.



This time Annabelle rode the flying elephants and a horse on the Merri-go-round.



We soaked them again on the river battle ride.




The best part of the trip this time was definitely the show. It was much better than I had expected it would be (and I had high expectations). I am no theater critic but I think I could say that it was my favorite play ever. Dolly Parton wrote all of the songs and the theme of the play was her love for the Smokey Mountains. Nothing entertains me more than live music with singing and dancing........ and gymnastics too! We watched the show both Thursday and Friday and loved it each time! The boys both said that it was their favorite part of the day. I will admit that the entire time I am watching anything like that I am aching inside to be up there doing it too. I totally missed that calling in my life. .... got married and had babies instead I guess. Maybe when my kids are older I can go be in a musical at Dollywood and you can all come see me!





Saturday morning Annabelle and I had to get up early and drive home so I could teach class. Mimi and Grandaddy took the boys and Kiah "loafing". They found a really great craft fair, went to and arcade, and hiked to a cool waterfall. I hate that I missed out!


I am not sure where this museum with all of the taxidermed animals fell into the picture but Adam told me all about the snakes and foxes and bears and such there.

I have obtained more pictures from the events surrounding Leslie's visit. On that Thursday, Amie called me around 9amish and said sleepily, "uh, do y'all want to got o Dollywood?" I was taken a little off guard, but I truly love spur of the moment plans and told her "absolutely".
In a couple of hours we were all off to the state of Tennessee where the country music is sweet... as is the syrup at the abundant pancake houses throughout the land!

The most significant occurrence of this trip was the advancement Annabelle made in her amusement park riding. Folks, she actually rode a horse on the Merri-go-round this time rather than on the bench in Mimi's lap! The child is not a daredevil in the least, which I have found to be quite helpful in my parenting experience. She and Caleb are both overly cautious and that along with their advanced physical strengths and balance are of little worry for me most of the time in that sense. I rarely have to worry about either of them falling. Adam is another story though! Anyhow, she was so very proud of herself for riding a horse and the teacups. Amie and I had to ride those with them which was pretty uncomfortable for us. We both noticed that we are so much queasier these days after having our kiddos and spending so much of our time barfing from morning sickness. We just tried to focus on something not spinning and push through.


The River Battle still remains to be our favorite ride as a whole. We got Leslie on it and Amie, Dad and I SOAKED her and Chuck from the shore. It is so much fun to shoot those things.


Lanie is showing the girls one of the hundreds of caterpillars she found along the sidewalk that day.



Annabelle and Lucie in the kiddie rides. I think Annabelle rode the ducks 7 times.




Posing for a picture


Riding the tram back to the car.....tired, wet, dirty and hungry. but oh so happy!



How funny, Amie just called and asked if we wanted to go this Thursday.
I think we just might. (remember, we have season passes)


There is a new show that opened this past weekend that I cannot wait to see. Don't worry, I will write all about it for you in a week or two!

Let me set the scene for you. I just got Annabelle down for her nap and told the boys I was taking a shower, so play nicely in their room for fifteen minutes and then we would get to work on school. Of course, then, I thought to myself, "I should probably check in on my facebook" as I am horribly addicted to it. So I sat down and wrote a comment or two to my friends when I heard these little voices and footsteps RIGHT OUTSIDE MY SECOND STORY window! The boys had removed a screen from their bedroom window and were taking a little stroll on the roof. Much to their surprise, Moma was NOT in the shower yet.



Don't worry, they won't ever do it again. I nipped that in the bud. (is it bud or butt....never thought of that)



It is never boring around this house with those guys.





Anyway, I am sure you are wanting to see a few more cute pictures of my children.
Here you go:































































Jonathan and Beth were in charge of the whole egg hunt and he is giving the rules to the children:
1. Everyone has a few special eggs with THEIR names on them. If you find an egg with someone else's name, DO NOT TELL THAT PERSON. Just leave it alone. They could not grasp this concept. especially Lucie!

I guess that was the only rule. That and no punching the Easter Bunny.






The thing I hope I remember the most about that day would have to be the joyful moods all three of my kids were in. They were so happy and jolly and had so much fun. I guess one can't ask for much more than candy, a grandfather dressed as a bunny, a pinata (yep, we had one of those too) a fire in the outdoor fireplace, and of course forgiveness and
eternal life from Jesus dying for our sins and rising from the dead.




















There have been times when I think, "Oh dear, I'll bet that Beth thinks we are the weirdest family ever..."

then I remember that she is in love with Jonathan....the weirdest of us all.











By the way, can everyone see the new background? Isn't it gorgeous?