My Annie

Here are some things I'm thinking today on my Annie's 4th birthday! FOUR! Are you kidding me! I cannot believe we have had this little beauty for four whole years! What a joy she has been (and of course continues to be)!
Here are a few of my fave things about my fave four year old:
***I love that EVERY morning when Annie wakes up she says "Good morning, mama!" This girl is ready to face the day! She is always raring to go! Even when my morning has not been so good, she brings a smile to my face.
***I love to watch Annie play with her sisters. She is so sweet and kind and such a good example (most of the time).
***I love to hear Annie pray with her daddy before bedtime each night. She prays for all of her friends and family members and any special prayer requests she's heard at school or church. So sweet!
***I love that when Annie gets afraid all you have to do is remind her why she doesn't have to be afraid of anything (because God is taking care of me) and she is instantly calmed. I love that she already knows that God loves her and takes care of her all the time and that she trusts and feels secure in his provision. I guess this is what having childlike faith really means!
***I love that she loves to sing the Beatles songs with the windows down especially in "daddy's car that used to be our car".
***I love that Annie is already learning to be a good friend. Of course we are still working on sharing, but this girl already understands the importance of being kind and loving others.
***I love Annie's spunk and fiesty little personality. Everyday she is becoming more and more of her own person. I love that she is so brave...she's not afraid to try anything (especially on the playground). I love that she has her own thoughts and opinions and she isn't afraid to share them.
***I love that she loves to dress up in coxtumes and jewelry and wear high heels and boas...such a girly girl!
I could go on and on with the list of things I love about my sweet Annie T but mostly I am just so thankful that she is mine. Thankful that God has given her to Josh and I to love and nurture and just enjoy as she grows into the special young lady he made her to be!

For Uncle Matthew and Uncle Daniel!

Uncle Matthew and Uncle Daniel (my brothers) couldn't make it to the PINKALICIOUS party on Saturday! Boo! We really missed them both! BUT they did send a gift that was the star of the show! Drumroll please.....THE PURPLE TINKERBELL COSTUME!!!
Now, I know most of you are probably not overly impressed with a purple tinkerbell costume BUT Annie T. was thrilled, estatic, excited beyond words! This is the tinkerbell costume that we ask for EVERY single time we walk into Target. I mean EVERYTIME! She has been asking and asking and wanting and waiting for SO long! I think the wait was worth it. She has worn it every waking minute since she got it...she even took off her clothes in the car and wore it home from the party! She LOVES LOVES LOVES the purple tinkerbell costume!
So, Thank you Uncle Matthew and Uncle Daniel for the BEST birthday present EVER!

PINKALICIOUS PARTY!!!

Yesterday was our first attempt at a "REAL" (not just family) birthday party! Annie decided that she wanted to have a PINKALICIOUS party. For those of you who aren't familiar,Pinkalicious is a book about a little girl who eats too many pink cupcakes and turns pink! Cute story. Kinda hard party theme. But I think we did pretty well.
As most of you know, nothing in life is simple...especially our life! We decided that we would have the Pinkalicious party at a local park. We checked around to see if we needed to reserve it for a party or just show up. We were told to just show up unless we wanted to rent the WHOLE park. We didn't need the whole park so we decided we would just show up a little early to set up. That sounds reasonable, right? Well, on Friday (the day before the party) I got an email from my friend Katheryne with the subject "did you know about this?" and a link to a newspaper article attached. I'm thinking to myself "this cannot be good news"! So, I open the link and see that the very same park that we are planning to party at tomorrow has been rented for a birthday/autism awareness party for 5 year old boy AND that the WHOLE town has been invited AND it's at the EXACT same time as Annie's party! YIKES!! Thank you Katheryne for the heads up! What a mess if we had just decided to show up at party time! So, we did a little adjusting and moved Annie's Pinkalicious party to a differnt park in town. The last minute location change put us in a little bit of a scramble but somehow we managed to get everything ready.
The PINKALICIOUS party went off without a hitch! We had the BEST time! The party guests all showed up in their pinkest duds and had a blast making birthday tiaras, icing and decorating their own cupcakes and getting all decked out in some beautiful birthday bling! The birthday girl looked beautiful in her pink dress, pink tiara, pink "diamond" earrings and ring and pink feather boa! We had the cutest cupcake pinata and everyone got to have a turn to take a whack at it! Thank you to Gleigh and Bo, Grace, Sophie, Elise, Anna, Hannah, Rebecca, Amelia, Riley, Zoe, and Ari for helping make the PINKALICIOUS party a HUGE success!

PINKALICIOUS PARTY!

Annie T's first day of school!

Here they are!!! The much anticipated first day of school pictures. Here is Annie headed off to "big school" (4k) for the first time! She picked out her uniform combo..plaid skirt, white shirt and tennis shoes ("not sunday shoes, mom!) and has already made her request for tomorrow (sailor dress)! I will say that these tiny uniforms (and my sweet Annie T in them) are about THE cutest thing EVER! AND so convenient!
So, I was a little nervous (but not really....I knew she was in good hands) and couldn't wait to pick her up! When I asked how her day was she said "really really really really fun"!! AWESOME! I am so glad that she is so glad to be going to school! Let's hope she keeps this up for the next oh 12 or so years! :)

Wedding Weekend!

This weekend we loaded up and and headed to Mobile for Liam and Anna's wedding. We had a great time...a whole weekend full of fun! We left home around 2:00 on Thursday (after Annie's gymnastics)and got to the beach house around midnight! We had a few stops to make on the way...hopefully more to tell about that soon! We dragged ourselves upstairs and crashed!
On Friday morning Mom, Grandmother and I crawled in the car and headed to Mobile for the bridesmaids luncheon. We stopped by Aunt Donna's and picked up Aunt Donna and Christina and headed for the country club. Lunch was beautiful and delicious and we had a great time just visiting and meeting Anna's family and friends. After lunch we went to the florist to pick up a few flowers for the rehearsal dinner. All of this was taking place in the POURING rain! BOO! Things were not looking too promising for a beautiful wedding day but everyone assured us that the forecast was for a PERFECT day!
After picking up the flowers we headed back to Aunt Donna's. This is when things started to get a little hairy! Uncle Bill was running errands. Josh and the girls had arrived at Aunt Donna's. The flower arrangements had to be put together. Someone had to go decorate for the rehearsal dinner. Someone had to go pick up Aunt Donna's dress. Liam was on his way back from picking up a friend in New Orleans. The other boys had to get ready and get to the rehearsal. AND someone had to watch the girls and Elizabeth. If you know me AT ALL, you know that by this time I was going nuts! I cannot handle everyone running in ten different directions with no plan. SO the boys all leave to go to the rehearsal. Mom and Aunt Donna left to decorate. Grandmother went to get the dress. And I stayed home to get the kids ready. A friend was going to come pick up Elizabeth and get her ready so all the little girls and I had to do was get ourselves ready (and be ready to go at 6:15)! As we all know, EVERYTHING takes longer to do than we think it will. Grandmother, Mom and Aunt Donna came racing in to get ready so we could head rehearsal. ***I have to brag for a quick minute...the girls and I were totally ready to go when they came in*** When everyone was ready, Grandmother and Aunt Donna went onto the rehearsal and Mom and I took the girls to the Kids party! What a great idea! Aunt Donna had babysitters at her church to watch the out of town kids. They painted and played and ate pizza and cupcakes and Liam and Anna even stopped by to visit! After we got the girls settled at their party we rushed over to the rehearsal(but not in time for the toasts...so we missed both Josh and Matthew give their toasts. BOO!)
Again, if you know me you know that the fact that the girls and I were ready on time and yet we were still late to dinner made me a crazy person. I hate to admit it but I wasn't on my best behavior. Sorry MOM! So, we finally made it to the rehearsal and the rest of the evening was nice and uneventful. We had fun seeing family and friends and just visiting! After the rehearsal we Mom, Grandmother, Josh the girls and I all headed back to the beach to crash for the night!
***Just a side note....Daniel was playing in his first Varsity football game (he did AWESOME by the way) so he and dad didn't leave home until LATE and got to Aunt Donna's around 3:00 am.***
Saturday morning (a BEAUTIFUL day by the way) we jumped in the car and headed back to Aunt Donna's to get ready for the big event! We made it to the wedding (on time thankfully) and everyone grabbed a seat! Josh and Matthew did AWESOME (Josh was a reader and MM was a groomsman). It seems like eveyting went off without a hitch! Liam and Anna were beaming! Even when the bus didn't show up to take the wedding party to the reception Anna didn't panic, she just had the wedding party catch a ride with the guests! She was the calmest, most laid back bride I have EVER seen. No Bridezilla here!! The reception was lovely and the little girls got to be "Flower Petal Girls" and pass out the rose petals and bubbles at the end! They were thrilled! I think EVERYONE was pleased with the way things turned out and looking forward to some much needed rest this week!
Since we were staying at the beach house, we were also able to squeeze in a little beach time! Josh and the girls had a great time swimming and playing in the water and we ALL hated to leave!

For my less tech savy readers click on the picture to see ALL of the wedding pics!!

Wedding Weekend

Funny funny girls!

This weekend we went to the beach for my Liam and Anna's wedding. On our way (a really long drive) the kids were really good except for a few brief sisterly spats. I thought this one was particularly entertaining.

Annie: Emma, I'm going to hit you.
Emma: I'm going to hit YOU!
Annie: Well, then I'm going to bite you.
Emma: I'm going to bite YOU!
Annie: I'm going to pinch you.
Emma: I'm going to pinch YOU!
Annie: I'm going to pinch you in the eye.
Emma: I'm going to pinch YOU in the eye.
Annie: Then I'm going to hit you in the ear.
Emma: DO NOT hit me in the EAR!

So, funny! I'm not sure what it was about getting hit in the ear that finally made Emma draw the line but that was obviously where she decided that she had had ENOUGH!

Good Luck Uncle Daniel!!!

Today, August 21, 2009 my little brother Daniel is playing in his first Varsity football game! Not only that, he is starting! Not only that, he is only a sophomore!! (He played in the jamboree as well and scored a touchdown and had two carries for 21 yards!!!) We are so proud.
Unfortunately, we can't make it to the game because my cousin Liam is getting married this weekend at the beach (yay for beach weddings! boo for missing the football debut!) I haven't quite finished the girls' McCallie dresses yet either-I promise they will be ready when we come!
Anyway, we will be waiting on pins and needles to hear all about the Blue Tornado tonight and especially #24 our sweet(ish) Uncle Daniel!!! So, Good luck Daniel! We love you and we are SO proud of you! We know you'll do awesome! GO BLUE!!!

Gracie's 1st Tooth!

OK...I know it's kinda hard to see BUT it's there! That cute little tooth sticking up in my cutie's sweet smiling mouth!

Happy Birthday Bo!!!

Today is my dad's 50th birthday! YAY! Since we couldn't see him we thought this would be the best way to say "Happy Birthday"! The girls did call and sing to him. The big girls actually did a great job!
So, This is us saying HAPPY BIRTHDAY BO (DAD)!!! We LOVE you so much! Hope your day is FABULOUS!!!!

We are so proud! Annie can write her name!!!!

Well, we would be proud...if she chose to write it on paper rather than her bedroom wall! You know, I love this girl. I mean I LOVE this girl. Good thing, because otherwise her head would be totally knocked off by now! I walked into her room to get something this afternoon and noticed something blue on Annie's wall. Upon closer inspection, I noticed it was Annie's name written in blue crayon. As I scanned the room, I noticed a large blue A on the wall by Annie's bed. I called Annie to find out what happened. Our converstaion went a little like this:
Me: Annie, what's this on your wall?
Annie: My name.
Me: How did it get there?
Annie: I wrote it.
Me: Oh, I see. Well, what about over there?(talking about the big A over the bed)
Annie: Mom, there wasn't enough room over there!
So, after our talk about things you write on (paper)and things you don't (walls), I put Annie to work cleaning up her pretty penmanship!

Sleeping Beauties

If you have little girls you are probably familiar with the "dress up box", a playtime staple for girls of all ages. If your dress up box is like ours it is FULL! Shoes, hats, tutus, princess dresses, crowns, jewelry...you name it, it's there! Hours of fun! Well, as we all know looking good is hard work (and obviously exhausting)! Here are a few pics of my (sleeping) beauties!

Just what I needed today!

I saw this today and it was just what I needed to hear! Isn't it amazing that God knows the PERFECT way to reassure us of his presence in our lives (even when we don't really want him there and think we know best)! I had just talked to my mom and finished telling her that I just didn't know what to think or do or even pray for and I found this. I love the parts about God not being through with us yet and that we are NEVER alone. We may have hard times but we don't have to face them alone!
And here are the words... such a prayer of surrender:

The pathway is broken
And The signs are unclear
And I don't know the reason
why You brought me here
But just because You love me the way that You do
I'm gonna walk through the valley If You want me to
Cause I'm not who I was
When I took my first step
And I'm clinging to the promise
You're not through with me yet
so if all of these trials bring me closer to you
Then I will walk through the fire
If You want me to
It may not be the way I would have chosen
When you lead me through a world that's not my home
But You never said it would be easy
You only said I'd never go alone
So When the whole world turns against me
And I'm all by myself
And I can't hear You answer my cries for help
I'll remember the suffering
Your love put You through
And I go through the valley
If You want me to

I could have knocked her head off!

Ok, so this afternoon I was on the phone. Gracie was sleeping and the "big" girls were playing quietly in their room. Looking back that should have been the tip off! I was so impressed by how well the girls had entertained themselves while I made my phone call but little did I know what was really happening in the pretty pink room down the hall!
I hung up the phone and went to check on Annie and Emma and couldn't believe what I found! Annie had taken apart her easel. Yes, her big tall white board on one side, chalk board on the other easel! I don't mean she knocked it over or broke a leg on it. I mean she absolutely took it apart! She removed every wingnut (don't be too impressed, I had to ask Josh what the "little screw on part" was called) and screw and then lost them! Then to add insult to injury, when I asked her what happened she blamed it on Emma. As in "Emma broke my easel!" I just couldn't believe it! My sweet (or not) Annie T!
Luckily I got a case of the giggles before I could knock Annie's head off! So we piled the easel neatly in the dining room until we can make a trip to the Home Depot to pick up the appropriate hardware to repair the easel!

Gadsden, Here we come!!!

After leaving Chattanooga on Monday am (the boys were headed to the beach to paint the beach house) the girls and I headed to Gadsden to visit with Grandmother for a few days. We got there on Monday afternoon and had an action packed 2 days before heading home today!
No sooner had we unloaded the car than Aunt Jane popped up for a visit! Yay! As soon as Annie saw Aunt Jane she was just dying to bake a cake! I don't know if you remember or not but Aunt Jane has an Easy Bake (ish) oven that is probably 30 years old and the last several times we have visited she and the girls have had a ball baking! So, Annie and Aunt Jane jumped in the car to run to the store and buy a cake mix! The girls and Aunt Jane mixed up the cake and popped it in the oven! While it was baking, the girls decided to go play in the sprinkler. Remember, they are baking with an oven with the strength of a light bulb...they have PLENTY of time to kill before the cake is ready for eating! When the cake was done we all had a small bite...delicious!
Tuesday was a fun day too! Aunt Jane was heading to Birmingham to meet Billie for lunch and a little shopping and invited all of us to tag along. We had a fun (and yummy) lunch at the Cheesecake Factory and then scoped out a deal or two! The girls were really very good considering we made them ride in the car for over an hour just to shop! What a mean mom they have!
This morning we hoped up at the crack of dawn...I wish these girls would learn to sleep in! Grandmother made bisquits and we licked our plates clean! They were delicious (as always)! AND even Gracie loved them! She at 2 whole bisquits by herself! That Gracie loves to eat! After breakfast, we went to Aunt Jane's for one last visit and then packed up and headed home! We actually timed it pretty well because all three girls slept most of the way home, we missed the traffic AND made it home in time for church!
Even though it was no fun to leave (again!) we were all glad to be home and sleep in our own beds for a change!

Weekend with the Family!

This weekend we went to Chattanooga to spend the weekend with my parents. Grandma (from Indiana) was in town so we wanted to be sure we were able to squeeze in a visit! We headed over on Thursday afternoon and stayed until Monday am. While we were there we were able to visit with Grandma, Gleigh and Bo, Uncle Matthew and Uncle Daniel. Always fun! On Friday, we went to Uncle Daniel's scrimage. He is o nly a sophomore and will be playing Varsity football this year! We think that's pretty cool! (He's #24 in the pics!) I am working on a whole new set of McCallie dresses for the girls (this time they will all be the same)! I am HOPING to get them all done in time for football season...only a week or so left!
We also had fun taking some pics of MM. Mom really wanted a new one of him so I took several (like 100) pictures of him! I think we got some really good ones...especially the ones where he actually smiled!
The girls had a great time just hanging out with Gleigh and Bo and everyone else. Of course they made several trips to the pool. Thanks Bo! Everyone was sad to leave on Monday am but as we all know "all good things must come to an end"! Luckily, we have several birthdays and weddings (yay!) coming up so several opportunites to get together in the near future!