Annabelle's Dance Class

Are you ready for some cuteness? 

 Annabelle has started taking dance from Ms. Kim on Thursdays.  She LOVES it and it is the sweetest, cutest thing you could ever imagine.  Annalee and Lucie are in her class so Amie, Lauren and I get to hang out and watch while they dance. 

The grandparents paid for the dance class as Annabelle's birthday present so a HUGE thank you is in order for them!  Thank you....you are the best and we are so blessed to have you!

September means it is time to go back to Dollywood.  We take the summer off to avoid the heat and crowds but as soon as all those kiddos go back to school, we head back over the smokey mountains for some fun.  Last week, we took a quick day trip with my friend, Lauren, and her two kids, Samuel and Annalee. We practically had the park to ourselves and the weather was perfect.
Also,  it was great to be with them as they saw the shows for the first time.  

Here are a couple of photos:

Annalee said her favorite part of the day was meeting the actors after the show.

You should have seen Lauren squeezing her long legs into this ride.  hilarious.  I like this picture because she is talking in it....you know she had some funny stuff to say as this all was happening! 

Annalee loves the boys and preferred walking with them to riding in the stroller.

riding the ducks....quack, quack

Annalee and Annabelle hanging out in the stroller together....don't they look like sisters!

Quick overview on life over the past few weeks: 

Jonathan and I took the kids to an extended family reunion down near Maggie Valley a few weeks ago. After getting a late start and then getting a bit lost (gasp, can you imagine ME getting lost!?),  we basically missed the reunion itself and arrived as everyone was packing up and heading out.  However, it turned out to be an awesome day because we went to my great Uncle Roy's house and picked his brain for old family stories.  Jonathan got some names and facts straightened out for his genealogy research while the kids and I went with my cousin, Jennifer, and her kids to the cabin that Uncle Roy moved piece by piece from way up on a mountain years ago.  The cabin is well over a hundred years old and was the birthplace of Julius Ball (my great grandfather).  very very cool.   Caleb and Adam played with Jennifer's son Grayson (if she is my third cousin, what does that make them to one another?)  in the huge bank behind the cabin.  When we got back over to Uncle Roy's house, Caleb announced to everyone that he had actually found heaven on earth over there. 

I am not one that ever cares about the kids getting dirty.  It is a good thing. 

 Annabelle was thrilled that she got to give Baby Fara a bottle. so dang sweet. 

 

The next reunion is in a few weeks for just the immediate Ball Family.  I can't wait.  We will revisit that cabin and I will get pictures.  My greatest hope is that Aunt Venie busts out into an old mountain ballad.  She said she had a sore throat this past time and left kinda early.

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Another highlight of the month was the Girl's Night Slumber Party.  My friend, Jen, had all of the moms and daughters over for a night of nail painting, dancing, cupcakes, and chick flicks. There was a lot of screaming and giggling going on as well.   Annabelle and I only stayed from 6-9 which turned out to be perfect. 

We also went up to Graveyard Fields for some blue berry pickin' and waterfall swimmin'. Don't I look like a professional picker with my milk jug on my belt?  Well, I am serious about my berries.  I was on a mission that is always shorter than I would like with whiny kids that just "have to go swimming in the waterfall!" Nah, the kids did pretty well and hung in there for longer than I thought they would.  We were with friends who kindly took the boys to the falls while I harvested just a few more berries for the freezer. Annabelle was an angel as long as I carried her in the backpack. 

We worked a water station at the Cheshire Pump and Run 5K. 

And of course there were more pool days!
One day Amie and I had all of the grandkids together.

Can you believe it is August already?

Thanks to generous friends with boats to share, we've made a few trips to Lake James lately.  Talk about fun times!  One Saturday we went with the Rayments and The Kings and all piled into their boat to shuttle across the lake to a little beach where we played and swam all afternoon.  That night we dropped our kiddos off with Moma and Daddy and then went back for a late evening cookout at the Lauren's house and played music.   It was an awesome day!

Annabelle and Annalee snacking in the shade:

Here we are packed in to the boat as we left.  There were 17 people (9 adults, 8 kids) in all! 

On the ride home after our lake day with the Bobilya's, each person told their favorite part of the day (a little tradition we love).  The boys both said tubing and in particularly when Mr. Dana made them "catch some air", Annabelle said swimming and Seth said wake-boarding.  My favorite part was holding baby Lia while she slept......oh my, baby fever! I adore her.

Next time Ami says I HAVE to try water skiing. I have always shied away from it  and let the boys tube more but I think I just might have a go next time.  I talked her out of doing it that day seeing as she just had a baby 6 weeks ago and I was afraid she'd rip her c-section right open!  Next time we are out though, the moms get a turn!  

Annabelle and me watching the boys tube:

(she is nervous when we ride in the boat but relaxes a bit as the day goes on...)

It was a REALLY unusual 72 degrees that day so the water was warmer than the air.

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Here are a few pictures from our afternoon at the Watering Hole with Amanda, Jude and Abby.  

Look at these guys!  Does it get any cuter!!!??

I am relieved to say that Annabelle is done with her pacifiers!   Yes, I am aware of the fact that 3 1/2 years old  (okay, almost 4) is a ridiculous age to still have a pacie, however, the truth is I let her keep them that long so that you would feel better about how early you made your kids give them up.  All three of my kids took them until they were almost four years old.  Heck, we bribed Adam with a bike to get rid of his!  (no training wheels either) I  tried to reserve them for the bed and car alone and was successful in doing that for the boys, but, I have been lazier with Annabelle and she has been more insistent for them.  In fact, her pacie-use worsened over the past year and their were plenty of times where she had them at the grocery store or other places in town. 

 

A friend told me  they wouldn't let her daughter have gum until she gave up the pacie, so  I decided it might give Annabelle a little motivation if I took something away versus a bribe.   I told her that I found out children can't have gum if they still use a pacie.   She loves gum and always asks Seth for a piece as soon as she sees him in the evenings after work.   She took the news alright and never questioned or got upset about it.  For the next few days, I made sure to buy the boys gum when we were out and by the third day, she decided she was ready.  She threw them in the trashcan and got her piece of gum. 

I would love to say that was the end of the story, but alas, it had only begun. By mid afternoon, she had changed her mind, and by that evening, she was almost hysterical.  I couldn't go back though, and we have pushed through a long, long week of hours of crying to sleep and then waking up again in the middle of the night to cry some more.  (which made me remember the awful times of waking up with a newborn and being thankful not to have one)  With both boys, I was surprised at how easy it was to wean them, but Annabelle has proven to be the scenario I envisioned and dreaded.I have learned a that it is very important for her to be physically exhausted from the day, yet not to let her stay up too late as that makes the crying last longer.  She has taken to sleeping in her closet but hasn't woken up during the night since the first couple of nights.  Yeah, things are better now and soon those little devilish things will be a distant memory for us all.



As I was taking a picture of her sleeping in the closet the other night, I came out to find Caleb sprawled out asleep in the hallway.  He sleepwalks often and ends up in a different room often.  You can still see a couple of the fake tattoos that have stayed on.   

 

Can't forget little Adam who is peacefully sleeping in his bed too.

Waterfalls and Birthdays

 

Caleb turned nine years old yesterday.  Crazy, huh?   

How could I have a nine year old?  

I suppose everyone feels that way when their oldest child has a birthday.  

 

Caleb decided he would like to celebrate by hiking to a waterfall with friends and family.  So yesterday afternoon we all met up and caravaned down to Old Fort to hike to Catawba Falls.  Caleb was so excited and talked non-stop on the ride there with Mimi and Granddaddy.  They were making jokes about needing some duct tape to shut him up when we arrived.  

Can you see Annabelle's fake tattoos in this photo?  They looked awful and hilarious.....we put a ring of flowers around her belly button, one around her arm and a couple on her lower back.  She thought they looked awesome.  The boys had them on their chests, arms and backs but were embarrassed and kept their shirts on during the party.  I will try to get a picture so you can see them later. 

The falls were gorgeous and we all loved climbing on them and playing in the pools.

The "party"  was easy but successful because Caleb had a wonderful time.  I just asked everyone to bring a water bottle for themselves and then packed some snacks and cookies.  We all hiked in together, played at the falls for a couple hours and then left in a couple of shifts for home.  Caleb opened a present from Mimi and Granddaddy on the way there and then a few more on the way home. 

 

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 Last Tuesday, Uncle Jonathan joined us for a hike up to "Skinny Dip Falls" (that is the name of the falls but no one really skinny dips there anymore.....or at least they weren't that day)  We were considering them for the party that weekend but decided Catawba Falls would be better for the littler kids.  These falls are deeper and have a very cool rock where you can jump to the pool below. 

Check out this picture.

 

I didn't even realise how deceiving the angle was until a friend commented on facebook, but it looks like the water is MUCH further down than it is in reality.  

Here I am getting ready to jump into the frigid water.  We couldn't convince the boys to jump from the higher rock.......another reason we decided on Catawba.

a very cool and strange tree on the trail.  Why in the heck did it grow like that?!

 

 

A few more pool pictures:

The boys played with these buckets for hours the other day. 

Emily came with us to the Raquetclub pool last week.