Survivor Camp 101

I dont know how many of you are familiar with the Discovery program called Survivor Man but my girls are good fans of the man on that show. Is it his accent or the mere fact that he does everything cool in the mindset of surviving, who knows? Well this is the result of the girls survival hut/Indian hut. The only problem with their hut is that they constructed it right before we were scheduled for a showing on the house. I sure hope the lookers were impressed and not turned off by my survival plantation.

Here is a close up of the tying of the branches they used to hold the thing up. Now where did they find strong enough grass to tie all those branches together? If it was in our yard, I feel sorry for the next mowing adventure.

A Premature Visit to the Water Park

This was a great playground for Little "O" except for the fact that the water was seen as an enemy to him. He walked right up to the water as soon as we got there but when the fountain shot up in the air he was done. That was just too weird for him. He enjoyed playing on the sidelines and drinking all of the sprite that the girls had.

"H" was not one bit put off by the freezing cold water. Instead she quickly made new friends and was off to a water gun war while her sisters sat wrapped up in their towels shivering.

"K" must have very thin blood....She was out of the water and wrapping up in her towel before anyone else. She shook from the cold the entire time we were there. I guess thats what you get when you go to the water park before it is even time for it to officially open.

And then there was "B" who seemed to love the water almost as much as "H"... minus the desire to make friends with the boys who brought the water guns for war. "B" only deals with boys when she has too, or unless they are the "W" boys, and who can resist those sweet fellows.

Strike a pose....that seems to be "F"s motto lately. I simply called her name to get her to turn around for the camera and suddenly she drops to the ground and pulls out her most pretzeled pose. She and cousin "M&M" must be sharing modeling secrets when they are together.

....and who can resist that face? It was that sweet Little "D"s face that landed us at the water park in the first place. She bats those deep brown eyes and plants on that sweet "you know I'm too cute to say no to" smile and the next thing you know you are there wondering how in the world did I get conned into this. And then you pull out the camera and there right in front of you is that little face that started it all.

The Amazement of Technology

Today we had another ultrasound to check the babies heart and all went well. Can you believe I took all 6 of my children with me and they were a perfect companion for excitement. Their behavior was excellent and their faces were priceless as they began to see their baby brother begin to interact with the ultrasound technicians manipulation. However nothing could have prepared me for what came last....the tech switched the machine into 3-D mode and we were all about to cry. There on that screen was the actual face of our little baby. He looks like Little "O" dont you think? Scooter I wish you could have been there, it was breathtaking.

Who Dat Baby Daddy?!?

Can anyone guess who this cutie might be? I'll give you a little hint his name rhymes with the word Pooter. That's right....that's my babies' daddy! Wasnt he a cutie pie? I found this picture and was trying to remaster it and when I zoomed a little closer to his face I saw my children hidden in that face, especially "H", "B", and Little "O". Nana and Papa Dick, I thought you would get a kick out of opening the blog and finding your sweet little Scooter. Happy Memories!!!!

Now Thats a Good Daddy

Now how many Daddies do you know that will sit and let his little girls doll him up in their wigs and bonnets? What is even better than that is he will occasionally allow them to adorn him with their princess makeup and fingernail polish. When he just cant handle the thought of makeup he will lay on his stomach and they each section off his back to create tattoos on him. He secretly uses this as a sleep/play time together (he sleeps, they play). Dont worry Scooter, Little "O" will be big enough soon to let you play guy stuff. I promise his first birthday will be nothing but all boy toys. We may even score a tonka truck!

A Very Stinky Fieldtrip

Last week when Scooter had a few days off from work we decided to use one of the mornings to give our girls a little grip on the reality of trash and the waste it causes. We took them to our county landfill. The smell was about more than I could handle! I am a smell phobic anyway so this sent me nearly over the edge. What was funny about the whole trip was the fact that the girls thought the pile of trash was cool. And of course "H" saw a poor abandoned teddy bear and was dead set on rescuing this little trashy treasure. She was quite offended with the "No Scavenging" rule. She is always the one we can count on finding a cause to fight for in any situation even if it is not the cause you set out to instill in her. Instead of rallying against needless waste she has rallied against needless tossing of poor defenseless toys. Thats my "freedom fighter!"

Pickled Puckers

What is better than giving your new baby new things to taste? The faces they make when they taste them of course!! Scooter gave in to Little "O"s insistence of sharing his pickle at lunch the other day and this is what happens when you get what you want. Sometimes it may make you pucker! I will use this as a minor life lesson....Getting what you want doesnt always mean its a good thing, sometimes you may get a pickle instead.

Guess What? "D" is 4!!!!! WOO HOO!!!!!

Saturday we all celebrated Sweet "D"s 4th birthday. I woke up that morning remembering that day 4 years prior when we were trying to beat the timing of natural delivery. You see Scooter was officially on orders to begin his tour for Iraq and I was not going to have a baby without him by my side making me laugh my way through the contractions. We set forth to be induced without my regular OB but I couldnt wait for his vacation to end, I needed this delivery today! Being that "D" was #5 the doctors new my record of quick deliveries and off we were to have a baby. From the day she was born she was born she just exuded sweetness (except for the smell of soy spitup). She loved me, but boy did she love her daddy. That man took off to Iraq when she was 3 1/2 weeks old and when he returned she gazed at him like she had been waiting for him the whole time he was gone. To this day, he is the one she loves. She climbs in bed with me in the morning and lays on his pillow so she can smell him before she goes downstairs for her morning dose of orange juice. If only he knew how much this little girl loves him.

Anyway, all that is to say Saturday we celebrated that God has given us 4 great years with our little "D" and we pray that He will bless us with her increasing sweetness as the years go on.

First, we started the morning with "D" making her own cake. All the girls like this tradition. I think they secretly love the fact that for once they are in charge while I sit back and supervise.....

....next, we took a trip to the Chic fil a in town upon "D"s request and we had a lovely lunch followed by lots of playtime on the playground.....

.....then, it was back to the house for candles and cake. My girl loves cake and she couldnt wait to get back to eat it......

....finally, it was present time and "D" was super excited to open her swimming baby. She has been diligently asking for this doll for 4 months straight. Hey persistence can pay off sometimes in this household.

I'm Proud to be an American.....

How do you get angry with your children for going into the garage after you told them to stay out when you look out and this is the scene you see? They went in and seized the American flags and were outside in the yard singing to the top of their lungs "I'm Proud to be an American, Where At least I Know I'm Free" ......

.....my heart just melted and I forgot that they had infringed upon the rules of no garage entry. You gotta lovem'!!!!

Happy Birthday "M&M".....

....guess where we went this weekend. Thats right, "M&M's" birthday party. (AKA Princess Aurora or America's Next Top Model) The kids had a blast and I even think the adults had a good time too. I know I always love to get together when I know I am going to see the kids being kids.

Memaw and Pepaw have the cutest toy poodle as a pet and "M&M" loves to play with him, so it only seemed appropriate that she would receive a FurrReal Poodle of her own from them. Clever thinking Memaw and Pepaw.

Here you are witnessing the scavengers filling their bags with loot that was knocked out of the poor little pony piniatta. You would think my kids have never had candy before in their lives. It was glutteny at its purest.


I just had to add this video to my post. It is a classic home video involving a piniatta. You go "H" take that pony down.