And the partying continues...

With every visit to Georgia we make a visit to Chuck E Cheese because it's awesome! And, we have a hook up! Well, when Walter when to Georgia in November without any kids, they sent him home with a lunch pale FULL of tokens. So, we decided to make good use of a Friday night with Gwen. And it was fun!!


Trae and Winni just about pushed the other kids out of this car so that they could drive it. If I remember correctly, clear back to earlier this month when we went they were terrified and climbed out of this ride soon after it started. Well, apparently they've grown up since then!



Grady LOVES to eat. And Pizza is no exception. He was happy to just sit in that high chair and chow. Until he gave me the all done sign. He's just so cute!



I've said it before that we love Gwen, but we seriously love Gwen. She even rode the merry go round with Winni and Trae over and over and over again!




Ah, Winni. HAPPY BIRTHDAY....again!!

She's 4!!

I was a little worried that I would wake up this morning to find a 16 year old, but thankfully we woke up to this...



She is such a ham! She was so excited that it was finally her birthday. Her preschool class went to the Dinosaur Museum today, so Trae and I came along. She told EVERYBODY that it was her birthday. And Trae did so great with all the attention Winni was getting. Maybe he is used to it! But, all day long he sang "happy birthday to winni!" And I love it when he sings. Anyway, we had a ton of fun at the Dino Museum.






I seriously took a lot of pictures, but there was so much to see and do that I couldn't get my kids to hold still for a second. I have many pictures of the backs of their heads! But, we had a great day!

For dinner Winni requested that we eat the leftovers of Chicken Noodle Soup from the night before...so we did! EASY! Walter is out of town til Saturday, so we are waiting until her birthday party on Monday for the actual cake, but we had some hostess cupcakes, so we pretended there was a candle and we sang. She seemed to love it!

I can't believe she is 4! She brings so much happiness to our family. She is a crack up! The things she comes up with keep me laughing all day long! Love you my Winni Fred!!

Good Night!!

Well, tonight I bathed and put to bed my 3 year old!

before the tubby...


after the tubby...


And, tomorrow she will wake up to this...





I told her that when she wakes up she needs to come and tell me that she is 4! Also, according to her (and yeah for me) once she is 4 she no longer needs me to help her on the potty! She is growing up so fast and is so dang funny!

A Snowy Day Experiment

Yesterday Winni decided that we should walk to church. I thought that was a great idea, since it takes us longer to get in the car and drive than it does to walk. So, we started on our way walking, already about 5 minutes late for church. After a few watch out for dog poop, get your hands out of your pockets so you can keep your balance, be careful on the ice, watch out for the muds, we were to the fence. Those phrases continued as we went through the park, except for the addition of, "Hurry up so we aren't later than we already are!" I also had to add, "Winni, I'm sorry you fell, but please get up and wipe the mud off your dress. No, we can't go back and change." When we finally got to church Winni turned to me and said, "Mom, let's drive next time!" I think that's a great idea, especially since the snow was coming down like crazy as we made our trek back home!

After naps yesterday we decided to make a cake! A few days ago at Target we bought this cute heart shaped silicone cake pan and some heart shaped silicone ice trays. So, we needed to make a heart cake. After filling the cake pan I decided it would be so cute to have some little heart cupcakes. I emptied the ice out of one of the ice trays because, duh, silicone cake pan vs silicone ice trays. It's all good, right?? hahahha I pulled out the "cupcakes" and I found this...



It didn't melt too bad. And I'm going to keep it still and use it for its intended purpose, but it sure was fun finding out the hard way that it doesn't work that way. But, it has got me thinking. For our hot chocolate on Valentine's Day, could I freeze milk or, better yet, Hazelnut Coffee Mate in these bad boys so we have heart shaped goodness in our hot chocolate?? I think I'm gonna go try that right now! So long as I remember that is why I went into the kitchen in the first place!

Details, Details, Details

So, a little while back, just after Christmas when I was back posting, and then stopped, I had mentioned something like this...

Oh, and about the job offers?!? We got one from Northrup Grumman, which we weren't expecting, and the one we were expecting, from Ross Controls, didn't end up happening. So, guess where we are moving to??

And then, I never answered my own question. Although, nobody else bothered to try and guess!!! :) Well, as of May something or other, I will start my mornings out like this...

ooops!

Remember how I'm this good mom who deserves an award for singing Primary songs to my kids at night? Well, I forgot to tell you what we listen to during the day. I have a tenancy to tune out the radio while driving. Sometimes I'll be driving along and all of a sudden I'm like, "why am I listening to the Spanish station?" Nothing wrong with Spanish, I just don't understand it, so I don't usually choose to listen to it. Well, on our way home from Costco today the radio was on and I'm assuming it was on this certain station because there was a song on there earlier that I like and felt was appropriate. However, on the way home I had my mom in the car and was tuning out the radio. We get home and as I am putting my "costco treasures" away I hear Winni singing. I have no doubt that this was only a tiny part of the song, being that it's only 3 words, but it is what she took from the song and chose to sing. It went something like this, "I hate myself!" Yeah, putting a stop to that one. FM 100 here we come!

Sea Turtle Salvation!?!?

While at Mark and Jen's in Nebraska, my kids got into a great routine. Every night before bed we read scriptures, do a family circle and say what our favorite thing of the day was. (Thank you to AJ for teaching Winni and Trae to say, "My favorite thing is what Grady is doing right now! It has been the same thing for the last 3 nights. "My favorite thing is that Grady climbed on my couch!" "No, it's my couch!" "No, mine!" And then we decide it's "our" couch, over and over again!) Then we say prayers and have a family hug. Luckily they forgot about "Kid of the night" where one kid gets to stay up later with Mom and Dad. Probably because when my kids were kid of the night, I sent them to bed anyway. I'm a good mom like that.

Anyway....We have added on to that. After family hug they get in their beds and we sing some songs. One song we learned and practiced in Nebraska because it is the monthly song in Primary was 'I lived in Heaven'. My kids LOVE this song. For those who don't know this song, it goes like this...

I lived in Heaven a long time ago it is true
Lived there and loved there with people I know, so did you
Then Heavenly Father presented a beautiful plan
All about earth and eternal salvation for man

Trae has decided this song is titled 'People I Know' so he asks for it by that name. It's very cute. So, I'll start singing it and I'll stop right at that phrase so he can sing it. He does, and giggles every time. As I would start the 3rd line he would start trying to sing "sea turtle". I couldn't figure out why? He thought I was saying "All about earth and sea turtle salvation for man" If that means when he dies and goes to heaven he gets to be a sea turtle, he was all for that! So, I started singing it slowly. Now Trae does his part, and before I can sing the last line, Winni hurries up and tells me "all about earth and eternal salvation for man!"

I just thought that was cute!

Honey, I'm HOOOOOME!!

We made it home last night! whew! What a trip! We were gone so long that I had to call Walter last night and ask him what our home phone number is! It's nice to be home and to be getting ourselves put back together. Hopefully we can stay that way.

Some of the fun surprises we found when we got here included...

A seatbelt that no longer works
A Gwen who was most excited to see us!
Lots of ice!
It turns out I do have a green thumb...

(Julie and Becky, I told you I was concerned about my potatoes! I gave them one last squeeze when I found them this way, then they found themselves in the garbage!)
Sunshine during the day that actually warms up the air! Something Nebraska knows nothing about! One day, at 3 PM it was 1 degree! Seriously!
Grady likes the dark, Winni and Trae like a little light, and they all share a room! NOT REALLY WORKING!!
And, after cleaning out all the old moldy cheese and nastiness in my fridge, here is what's left...

Looks like it's apples and chocolate for dinner!

the Winstermeister!

I've decided that I can't keep waiting for myself to catch up on the blog before i continue with life, so I'll blog about our trip when I have pictures to prove my hotness and my own computer to save them to. I've come to this conclusion mostly because have stories to tell, and I don't want to forget them. One of which happened tonight is this freezing place we call Nebraska!

As we were heading to Phil and Micaela's house for dinner tonight, Grady was screaming his little head off in the back of the car. The only thing that would get hime to stop was if Winni would sing to him. So, she started singing Twinkle Twinkle. Grady quieted right down. It was perfect. Winni was also kind enough to hold the cartons of ice cream we were taking for dessert. As we were pulling up to their house we looked in the back seat and found Trae happy, Grady happy, and Winni....asleep!! She had sung herself to sleep with ice cream in her lap! What a good little girl!

I know, a good mom would have a picture, but that's not really my goal. I'm not a follower! hahahaha

Grrr.....

So, I've updated some! Although I'm a little ornery about it all. We had a wonderful Christmas/New Years/Vacation, but I have nothing to prove it! OK, maybe a little. But our pictures from Christmas Eve through Dec. 30 are GONE!! Somehow, in a moment of confusion, "somebody" erased all the pictures because they thought they were saved to the computer. And they weren't! So, Christmas Eve (family pictures, and I looked HOT), Christmas Day (and I looked tacky and HOT), Seaworld (I looked wet and HOT), Papa Pete and Granny's (the kids were cute, pretty sure I looked HOT), and the beach in Charleston with the Cole's (I might have looked HOT! :)). Needless to say, I'm a little dissappointed and I keep on praying and the checking the camera, hoping they will somehow just reappear. OK, I'm BUMMED! I'm not so much mad at Walter, oops I mean "somebody", I'm just mad that it happened. So, until Aunt Sherrie and the gang send me their pictures, and Granny gets her film developed and sends me some pictures, and Melinda decides to share what she has, I'm posting without pictures! And I'm not very happy about it! When I do put the pictures in, I'll make sure to make reference so you can all go back and see how HOT I looked! Can you tell my New Years resolution is to talk positive and highly of myself and others? I think I'm off to a good start!

Updating

I'm updating like crazy, but not in the all in one post sort of way. I'm taking my time and telling my story. So, check back soon to see what we have been up to! It's been lots of fun and we have exciting things to share! :)