yummy biscuits

i made biscuits for the kids and let them try some toppings my dad used to make. white karo syrup mixed with butter and brown sugar mixed with butter. are you noticing a butter theme?luke surprisingly liked all of it.
laney liked licking the toppings off the biscuit.
...then asking me to spread more on

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We had a huge tree branch leaning over our playset from the storm and we were a little concerned it would fall and injure someone. So we had some guys out to cut it down. I left the kids on the back porch and stepped out in the backyard to take a picture of the climber.When I came back to the porch I found Laney like this...
Thanks to the Briarwood Peddler (a weekly flier members list items for sale) we got Laney a used princess tricycle and Dora kitchen. She's loved both of them!
I think the boys enjoy having their sis ride with them.
Sam had another cavity filled this week. He chose a fuzzy mustache for his prize.
I made a stache for the rest of us and took a pic. This is the only one that turned out. I was so focused on getting us all in the picture that I forgot to smile. And somehow Martha White muffin mix ended up in the picture. Laney is good at snatching things out of the pantry without me realizing.
She's still making her "stink eye" face... and trying to pull bows out of her hair.
We went to see B and Pops yesterday for a bit. Pops works out of town 4 days a week, so he gets plenty of hugs and kisses when he returns.

learning lesson...in progress

we inherited a small section on the side of our house that had about 8 different kinds of plants, bushes, and flowers. i had grand plans of making it look pretty.i ended up with a nice slab of dirt after a week of hard work.
i wasn't the only one working hard. sam was my little helper, and learned some lessons along the way.

he decided one day that he wanted to tear up one of laney's bows. he thought it would be funny. well, i didn't laugh. i went and emptied out all three of the piggy banks he owned so that i would have the money to replace the item. he told me that wasn't fair. and so began our little lesson on money. ron thought he should work in the yard to earn his money back. over the course of a week, he earned $4. i wish i had pictures of him helping; he was so diligent in his work. quite sweaty with red cheeks, but determined to do what we asked of him.

after his hard work, we talked to him about tithing. he said it didn't sound like something he wanted to do (ha-ha. so funny). i told him it wasn't really an option. i tried to help him see that everything we have is because God has given it to us. so he counted out 40¢. then he asked if $3.60 was enough to buy a new car from "Cars 2". i then taught him about taxes. how he needed to have more money than what the item actually costs so that the government can get their cut. i retold this story to a friend and she died. "you can't teach him all of this at once" she said. oh well, i did. and i think he now understands how important it is to take care of things.

Another Pinata Moment

We were invited over to the neighbor's house to help smash their newly-made pinata. Sam immediately started telling Ian about the cavity he just had filled. Our poor child has become accustomed to getting cavities filled. He has "soft teeth" according to the professionals...Everyone got a chance to hit it. Sam...
Luke...
even Laney...
The best part about destroying a pinata is getting all the candy!
For the moms, the best part is watching your children truly enjoy the simple things in life.

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Laney has decided she knows best what snacks to put in her diaper bag. She has tried filling it with all the contents from our pantry.Pickles got his first haircut. All they cut was his face and feet, because they didn't want to "traumatize" him. Oh please... he's a dog...

Sam and the kids enjoyed colored waffles the other day. When Luke saw them he said "I love you Mom. You're a good lady. You make me smile." It honestly made my day!
The kids patiently waited to see Anne Madison and Avery head out for Camp Briarwood.
Laney enjoyed the computer games at the library.
Flock of Seagulls anyone?

some family time

Jennifer and Kole met us up at Chick Fil A for breakfast one morning last week. We enjoyed the playground and some mini-chicken biscuits and hashbrowns. After breakfast, we went to see one of Roger Day's last performances at the Hoover Library.
We anxiously awaited the performance for over 30 minutes.

Laney was serenaded by one of Roger's sons...
The kids enjoyed some mosh-pit action.
And after about 4 songs, we were done. Little ones don't last long at these kinds of events. They had fun while there and took great naps once home.

our neighbor's birthday party

little man next door turned 3 and had a water party. there were sprinklers, water guns, and water balloons. it was fun to watch. the husbands decided it takes a really long time to fill up water balloons considering how fast the kids destroy them. 10 minutes of work for about 20 seconds of fun. still worth it...

here's a picture of the kids asking for more water balloons and getting a response something like "what? they're already gone?!" ☺

a visit from Pappy

Pappy spent the night with us last Wednesday and Laney sure enjoyed the visit...

Wilderness at the Smokies

We vacationed with the Philleys in Sevierville at one of the Wyndham resorts. It was called Wilderness at the Smokies and we had a blast. There was an outdoor and indoor water park which included a lazy river, two wave pools, a toddler area, a kid area, and even four big time water slides/rides. We got their Saturday afternoon and settled the kids in for a quick dinner before hitting the water...

This is a picture of the slides from the outside. It was pretty cool; you get on and get off the slides from the indoor water park. So you're never going outside. Although you can still get sunburned (according to the signs), we were able to stay out of direct sunlight. The orange and white ride was a blast. You go through a tunnel for a bit then it drops you into this cone thing. You basically ride the walls going back and forth while on a raft with up to four people. Awesome! By the end of the week, Sam had ridden all slides but the orange one. This trip was a confidence-booster for him.

Laney sported her glasses on the car ride to Fuddruckers. Delicious burgers!

The kids loved sitting on the porch watching people go by. Or should I say "standing on the stairs". There wasn't a lot of sitting going on...

Ron had to go home a day early, so he got some good cuddle time in with the kids before leaving.

...and goodbye kisses

The little Philleys waved goodbye and were ready to go back to the water park 5 minutes later.

Later that evening we had a popcorn snack before bedtime. Laney grabbed Baba Dee's hand and said "Hold my hand, pwease"...