We finally made it down to Georgia to visit with the Harrison side of our family this past weekend. Uncle Johnny and Seth spent the weekend building a little garage type building for Prather Electric to use as their shop, the kids played tirelessly with their cousins and I just hung around the house and talked "homeschool" with one of my greatest mentors, Aunt Angie, for a few days.

Walker, who is going to be 12 next month, grew about 6 inches since Christmas and his voice changed! In the words of Annabelle (parroting me earlier). "Walkah talks like a MAN!"







We had a birthday party for Amy who turned EIGHT on Thursday. Another very cool family came over and hung out with us. Annabelle and their 2 year old son hit it off and were just about the cutest thing ever to watch. It was making Seth a nervous wreck! Their mom home schools and I loved hearing about her up-and-coming business endeavors she has created. One of the things she does is runs a travel agency that caters to homeschooling families making trips that incorporate educational stuff along the way. Her company takes advantage of off times and discounts for them to make an affordable trip. This summer they are doing "home school cruise" where there are all sorts of activities on the boat itself and the stops include things like the Mayan Ruins and such. How neat is that? Too bad it isn't quite in our "range" of affordable...... maybe we could work in the kitchen as our fair.

Oh well, we are going to do it someday. That is the goal.

































We had a big ol' ragamuffin Easter Egg Hunt on Saturday afternoon. Annabelle just had to wear that headband all day Saturday. She and Aaron did really well finding the eggs.

Nana made Easter baskets for the kids full of all kinds of good stuff!

We went to church on Sunday morning and saw the rest of our family and friends. Then we loaded up three worn out kids and way to much Easter candy and made the drive home. Thankfully no one threw up (though they threatened to a few times) and they all slept a little along the way.

Have I mentioned lately how much I adore our minivan?

But, guess what......Easter is far from over. We still have the Bartlett side to go. We wanted to wait until Aunt Leslie and Paul arrive on THURSDAY!!!!

So stay tuned for lots of funny (a little strange) and entertaining pictures of the Easter bunny (aka "Gran-granny").

Now, I gotta get this house cleaned up and get Adam out of bed!

I have been putting off posting because I really don't know where to begin......not that too much has happened here.....I just haven't written in a while.....so here it is.....
We had a lovely Christmas. We normally go down to Georgia to see the Harrison side of the family for a few days before Christmas and drive home Christmas Eve to celebrate here on Christmas morning. This year was a little different because Seth really needed to work so we went down the day after instead for the weekend. So it went like this:

Christmas morning here: The kids got up around 8 and we had a relaxing time opening presents. One of my favorite parts was watching Annabelle get her kitchen mainly because the boys were just as excited FOR her as they have known for a while she would be getting it. Adam was the most interested in the aquarium Seth got for them. He can't wait to fill it with fish and spent the day preparing the tank for them with Seth.



Christmas Evening: We went to my family's house for dinner and presents. It was delicious and we got Season passes to Dollywood again from them. Thank you!!!! Aunt Leslie didn't get to make it this year because of work so we were all in mourning over that. We sure did miss her. Mimi worked herself to death with everything and ended up sick with .......you guessed it........pneumonia, the next day. She got some meds and is on the mend now. Talk about super woman who can prepare a feast and gathering like that despite being that sick. (BTW, we didn't realise how bad off she was or we would have put her to bed right away)

Annabelle got a huge kick out of wearing a dress that matched Kiah.
Thank you Aunt Angie for the awesome hand-me-downs!

Aunt Leslie sent the boys marshmallow guns. They love them!

Granny, Papaw, Aunt Karen and Uncle Gary all come to dinner as well.

Friday: Headed off to GA and had dinner and present time with the Harrisons that evening. The weekend was relaxing and fun. When we go down there for a visit, the boys are literally off and gone for the weekend playing nicely with their cousins. Walker and Caleb pair off and play while Amy and Adam are together somewhere else. It is so nice for them to be so happy and occupied. Annabelle spent her time entertaining everyone with singing, dancing and other funny stuff. She is quite the entertainer and loves to be the center of attention!

The kids table

Have I mentioned how cute Aaron is? 18 months old, all boy and reminds me SOOOOO much of Caleb and Adam.



Annabelle LOOOVES her Uncle Johnny! She immediately took her presents that needed to be put together to him so he could help her out. See that face she is making? She does that all of the time. I have to get a better picture of it.

Disco Style this time- I love these things!

Make sure you set it to full screen and let it load completely for a better view.

We spent Thanksgiving here this year rather than traveling to Georgia. We had a delicious meal at Mimi's house with Granny, Pawpaw, Aunt Karen, Uncle Gary, Aunt Lorie and Kiah. I got to spend some good quality time with my mom and Lorie before the meal cooking together while Seth watched the boys outside and Annabelle napped. Nowadays when I am with my mom, I try to soak up all of her wisdom and learn as much as I can from her. I feel like I am making up for all of the time I didn't spend with her in high school learning things like how to cook and such. I was just too busy with my retarded social life during that time period and wasn't interested all the things I regard so highly now. Thankfully I still live close enough for that now....though it is harder to do with three rowdy children in tow. Anyhow, I think I may put roasting a turkey on our menu plan since it really isn't all that complicated and provides a lot of meat for a decent price.

After we ate, we all went outside to enjoy the first fire in the fireplace that Grandaddy built on their new outdoor living patio/deck place. They have been working for a long time on that and it was great to enjoy the fruits of their labor. I can't wait for the hot tub to go in! The fire was lovely and kept us quite warm despite the cold weather.

You can't imagine how much these guys miss each other now that Kiah is in Boone. They are so darn giddy when they get together now that I can hardly stand them. Nah, it is too sweet. Do you remember how wonderful I think siblings can be? I truly believe that my kids will not only have one another for that bond, but will also have cousins in the same manner.

I played some of my songs for everyone (Granny and Pawpaw are my second biggest fans right after Mom and Dad)and then we took our tired children home to get to bed.

I am stuffed and looking forward to our annual post Thanksgiving class at the gym called "Burn the Bird" in the morning. I am only teaching part of it but I get to do kickboxing which is my favorite thing to lead these days.

Halloween '08

I realised the other day that the bad thing about blogging is you say everything interesting (that is not offensive) within the first six months or so blogging.........and not many people read it then anyways.......and then you go to write a post and think "I am pretty sure I have said that at one point or another". For example, Halloween, I wrote my thoughts on this holiday last year with all the slutty costumes and glorification of gore and guts.

I thought I would have nothing much to say this year but let me tell you about our night anyway. We began by missing out on our morning activities because Annabelle ran a fever all last night. I had to get Kelly to sub my step aerobics class (that I was VERY excited about wearing a costume for and playing Thriller) and cancel the geography co-op class that I was suppose to teach. In turn, we missed the Halloween parties at both places. I told the boys that we would make up for it by trick or treating in another neighborhood along with ours. We got all dressed up and made the rounds in our neighborhood before dark so that Annabelle would not be too scared or cranky. It was a nice time to visit with the neighbors and the kids got a lot of yummy candy. Then Seth stayed with Annabelle and the boys and I headed to the Biltmore Lake community for our second round of trick or treating. That place was PACKED! I could not believe the amount of cars and people lining the streets. One house even had a haunted tour you could take. We parked and began the walk. The first two houses the boys deemed "too scary" to approach so we continued on to the next house where it appeared the DEVIL himself was in the yard staring us down. Then some guy in a creepy clown costume started chasing some kids through the yard with a machete. If you know anything about my boys, you probably can guess that they were pretty scared. I asked them if they just wanted to leave and they said yes....because I sure wanted to get out of there myself. As we hurried to the car we passed 4 or 5 adults in REALLY scary costumes that put the boys in tears.

Thankfully I had seen on the Kid Friendly Asheville blog earlier today that there was a fall festival at West Asheville Baptist Church and we still had an hour before that all ended, so we headed that way. It was wonderful! Caleb and Adam had tons of fun playing all of the games and hanging out with some of our favorite neighbors. That is what we will be doing next year for sure.

The best news is that Seth and I get to dress up tomorrow night and go a few places to hang out with some friends. I love to dress up. I love that Seth will dress up right along with me.

I'm pregnant

I have always wanted to get pregnant somewhere around the end of March so I could announce the news to everyone on April Fool's Day, and then no one would believe me. But then the next day I would tell them again that I am pregnant and it would really be true. Alas, I am not pregnant folks. (If I am Seth will be getting some paternity tests asap cause he is "fixed"....We would definitely go on Montel for that)





My neighbor kids really got into April Fools Day last year and played a few pranks on the boys. Emily came over and told them they were invited to come inside their house for a special prize. They were excited because they don't get to go in their house often, and they waited patiently until the designated time. When we got over there Em had left a note on the door saying to not ring her doorbell because her Dad was asleep. So we knocked and waited and waited. Then she came outside and said April Fools. Caleb and Adam were heartbroken. It occurred to me that April Fools is kinda cruel and not usually funny to anyone except the person playing the prank. Suddenly I felt bad for all of the times I called Seth or my Dad and told them I had a flat tire or that I was pregnant. or both. (I am not very original)

By the way, Happy Birthday Nana! She turns 107 this year!

April Fools!






By the way, we got Emily back last year. Adam ran over to her house and said that their cat, Sister, (yep, that is the cat's name) was in our basement and had a dead mouse in her mouth. She freaked out and came running over and then we poured pig's blood on her head.

EASTER BUNNY

After church last Sunday, everyone came to our house for Easter lunch and egg hunt. For the past three years, Jonathan and Beth have taken it upon themselves to put together a superb egg hunt for the grandkids. They are so sweet and thoughtful because they always spend a lot of time and money filling the eggs with candies, stickers, little toys, and Adam's favorite....tattoos!

Enough words, let's get to the pictures!

Mimi bought the girls all matching Easter dresses. They were so precious when they greeted on another that morning and admired them together! Thank you Mimi and I look forward to seeing Annabelle in this dress for the next 5 years!

While they hid eggs and the Easter Bunny got ready, I kept the kids busy with Annabelle's favorite songs. Lucie especially liked my version of "Bringing Home a Baby Bumblebee" because I like to sing about throwing up after you eat the squished bee. That version is so much more interesting.

Then we had a photo shoot in the porch. Annabelle was not liking the fact that I made her stay put. I learned later that she was also about ready for another nap . Oh well, it makes for a pretty interesting picture and I always think you should get some of your kids crying as well as smiling so you'll remember how they were not always happy and cheerful.

Here we are waiting for that Easter Bunny.

You may be wondering why my father dresses up as the Easter Bunny each year. I am not exactly sure where this tradition originated, but I think it started a few years back when Jonathan thought it would be a hilarious idea. I don't think he realised that Granddaddy would actually follow through and get himself a real costume and everything. The plan began as pure entertainment for the adults, but the kids loved it so much that he has done it ever since.

There was only one problem. Lucie was scared of him,

and Annabelle was TERRIFIED!

And let's face it, he was pretty creepy this year.
And last year too. They were in a hurry when painting his face, so Jonathan and Dad convinced Mimi to just paint the entire thing white.

Last year she did this:
Yeah, that is creepy too. But hilarious.

This year he looked more like some sort of Abdominal Snowman-creature thing.



Before the hunt, the Abdominal Snowman...I mean Easter Bunny, went over the Resurrection Easter story to make sure they were up on their theology.

Lucie stayed clear of him and carried on with the hunt, but I had to hold Annabelle the entire time. Eventually I realised that she was still pretty tired and put her down for a nap. I let Dad go and wake her up later though....just kidding.

Each kids had a special egg with their name on it to find.
Annabelle's had the cutest little duck inside that she sleeps with now.

"Chuck, I hope that one day Randy will let me dress up as the Easter Bunny!
I just love that costume."
"That's right Lanie, Jesus didn't hunt Easter Eggs on the third day."

So there you have it! We have decided that next year there will be no need for the Easter Bunny to paint his face. The big kids aren't fooled anymore and the babies are probably scarred for life now.

The day was fun and relaxing ...........and funny.

Oh yeah, that Saturday night, Caleb and Adam said something about what was the Easter Bunny bringing them in the morning?....something along those lines. I was bewildered by this because I surely hadn't said anything like that. I think they must have heard it from some other kids. ANYWAYS, I said, "look, we do not believe in the darn Easter Bunny you guys! (Santa is quite enough of that crap) Your Grandparents always get you Easter goodies. (Nana gets them little gifts for EVERY holiday)" They looked at one another and exclaimed, "OH YEAH, Granddaddy is the Easter Bunny!

I will leave you with this:

Can you believe how much she has changed in a year?!

They all have!

Happy Easter!