Why yes as a matter of fact they ARE talking about me!

Any of y'all who know me know that I LOVE Rick and Bubba (those of you who don't know about Rick and Bubba are seriously missing out). If they're on when I'm in the car I am listening! I've been listening to them for years and I have to tell you I think they're hilarious! Well, recently (like last week) they released their most recent book-it's sort of a biography-called WE BE BIG. They were actually having a book signing at the Books A Million literally one minute from our house last Tuesday night. I knew I had to go! Josh was travelling last week for some job stuff so the kids and I were on our own. The idea of taking four kids to a store on my own where there was likely to be a crowd and time spent waiting in line did give me a moment's pause but I decided it would be totally worth it and with just a little planning we could totally handle it. The book signing was from 5:00 -7:00 and I decided our best shot at a successful book signing would be to be there right at 5:00. Amazingly enough, we got there with no fussing and ended up being one of the first people there so there was NO waiting in line (yep, that's right....NONE!! yay)!! I did get a few strange looks when I walked in pushing the double stroller, holding Annie's hand and wearing Jack in the sling but overall everyone was super helpful (the BAM guy even ran out to open the door when he saw us coming). Rick and Bubba as well as Speedy and THE REAL Greg Burgess were super gracious and I must say a little impressed!! We talked a minute and then I got them to sign a copy of the book for Josh!

The Funmobile!

The book :)

The signing!!! Just in case you can't read it it says "To Josh: Your wife ROCKS!" (I knew there was a reason I liked these guys!) Also, kinda neat-the verse Rick referenced was my memory verse for the week!

All four kids and I along with Rick and Bubba! They were hilarious talking about Jack in the "pouch". :)

After getting our book signed and our picture made, I took the kids to grab a quick dinner at Chick fil a (another favorite) and then headed home thinking our adventure had come to an end so I was shocked the next morning when my phone started buzzing like crazy. It seems that Rick and Bubba had talked about the kids and I (without mentioning our names) on the radio on Wednesday am. Funny enough, some of our friends and family heard and wondered if it was really us (I hadn't told anyone we were going in case I chickened out). A few texts later I assured them that yes, it really was us! I didn't get to hear what they said the first time around but caught it on the afternoon replay! It made me sorta feel bad because they kept talking about how nice it was of me to bring all of the kids out by myself to get a book signed for my husband (which I totally did) but if you know me I totally wanted to be there too! Oh well! All in all I'm so glad the kids and I went....it was definitely a fun adventure for a Tuesday evening. And the book was pretty good too! ::)

SICK!!!

So, spring break has come and gone and while I would love to say that we spent the week enjoying our time together on some wonderful adventure I can't.....instead we spent the week with an unwanted visitor.....the dreaded stomach virus!! YUCK! I don't know about you but I can't think of anything I hate more (at the moment, at least) than the stomach virus and all that comes with it. Throw up is just not my thing!!!

It all started on Friday night...our first taste of freedom....Emma woke up in the middle of the night throwing up and while I wanted with all of my being to dismiss it as something she ate or just a random thing decided better safe than sorry and made her stay at home instead of hanging out with Josh's family on Saturday. (Let me tell you that was one unhappy kiddo!!) Emma perked up pretty quickly and by Saturday afternoon seemed more like herself. I was patting myself on the back (not sure why since it obviously had nothing to do with me) and thinking we were all clear! I even went on a much needed (and super fun) birthday lunch date with my friend Leslie on Sunday! Little did I know that the worst was just around the corner! Only minutes after I walked in the door from lunch....Gracie started throwing up. BOO! And even later on Sunday Annie T. was down for the count!

I have never been one to be particularly worried about my kids being sick....we've never had anything super serious and I'm a big believer in letting things just run their course but my Annie T. really had me scared! The other girls seemed to bounce back pretty quickly but Annie just couldn't quite seem to shake this bug!! She couldn't keep anything down for almost 48 hours...we were pretty certain that we would have to take her to the hospital for IV fluids. Thankfully we never got to that point! She even lost 4 lbs....that doesn't seem like much until you consider that she only weighs about 40 lbs to start with! Finally on Wednesday afternoon she started to turn the corner!

All of those throwing up kiddos made for a super crazy week! Thankfully Josh, Jack and I stayed well and Grandmother came to stay with us for a few days to help hold kiddos or clean up throw up or whatever else needed to be done! Finally by Thursday everyone seemed well-well enough to actually eat so we made a trip to our fave place....Chick fil a! :)

Thankfully we are all stomach virus free...hopefully we'll stay that way!

BEAUTIFUL!

This afternoon the girls were playing quietly in the kitchen (always a bad sign) after eating an as always nutritious lunch of crackers and nutella and popcorn (ha!) when I popped back in to check on them. This is what I found.....


Yep, that's red marker all over my pretty girls face! I asked Emma why she colored all over her face and she and said she was "fixing her face" (what I say when I'm putting on make up)! Hopefully that's a washable marker! :)

31

This Sunday was my 31st birthday (I know, I can't believe it either). Thirty one seems so much older than thirty! It didn't help that when I talked to my brother on the phone that day (from Vienna, no less...lucky duck!) he said "No offense but thirty one is really old"! Thanks mm...love you too! Anyway, my Grandmother always says the truth will stand when the world's on fire and I guess she's right....it is what it is and thirty one is the real deal! Oh well. Despite feeling like an old woman I had an AWESOME (low key) birthday with lots of celebrating!
On Sunday morning I got to sleep in while Josh and the big girls made Grandmother's famous "flat biscuits" and brought it to me IN BED! YAY for birthdays that bring breakfast in bed! Everything was delicious and the company couldn't have been better! After my birthday breakfast, I got to open my present!

The beautiful wrapping...decorated by my sweet Annie T!
Josh and the girls worked really hard and made me a super awesome coupon book.....full of fun things! Like......

I've been going to a Monday night Bible Study for the last several weeks and even though the girls have lots of fun at home with J it seems like someone is always complaining as I walk out the door! Not any more! :) Too bad my Bible study just ended!

This is a GREAT one.....we'll see if it works as promised!

There were lots of other great coupons like a Kindle cover, a new camera bag, some Kindle books I've been wanting and others! What a great (and thoughtful) gift!

We planned to go to church but you know how things go....we spent so much time celebrating that by the time we got dressed church had already started...boo! So, around 11:00 Emma, Gracie, Jack and I loaded up and headed to Gadsden to have lunch and celebrate with Grandmother, Aunt Jane and Mom and Dad......yay! Josh and Annie were of course invited but Annie T. had a friend's birthday party that afternoon and we let her choose what she would rather do....Mommy's party or her friend's. I guess the inflatables tipped the scale in her friend's favor...there were no bounce houses at Mommy's party!
Mom and Dad picked up BBQ and we had a yummy lunch complete with a DQ cake....my fave! :) Emma, Gracie and Jack helped blow out the candles!

Grandmother didn't have any birthday candles so we had to use an advent candle! Ha!

Getting ready to blow out the candle!

Dad changed a few light bulbs for Grandmother while we were there and Gracie and Aunt Jane had fun playing on the "Jolly Roger" (the ladder)!

Gracie and Jack also went for "a ride" in the laundry basket! Too much fun!

When we got back home Daddy and Annie were waiting for us with ANOTHER birthday cake! YUM! I think I ate enough cake to last until next year (32...yikes!)! SO happy I got to spend my birthday with some of my favorite people (MM and DM....you were missed!)!

A girl and her "Gumbo"

Lately Gracie has been playing with a plastic Gumby figurine. She loves it! I'm not even sure where it came from but she is crazy about it. Yesterday she was kept asking me where her Gumbo was....it took me forever to figure out that she was talking about Gumby! ha! I finally figured it out and found him and then went to work trying to convince her that his name was Gumby instead of Gumbo...no dice! Oh well, what can I say this girl loves her Gumbo! :)

FUNNEST. WEEKEND. EVER.

This weekend Josh, Jack and I had to go to Virginia (more about that later....although I will say that Jack was AWESOME on the plane. We have never flown with one of our kiddos before and were a little nervous but he was GREAT!) and the girls stayed with my parents in Chattanooga! They had THE BEST time! They were really excited about spending the weekend with GLeigh and Bo and apparently it did not disappoint.
We dropped the girls off at Mom and Dad's house a little before noon on Friday and headed for the airport. The girls played at home with mom and just enjoyed the day until dad got home. For some reason Emma had decided that she really wanted to go to the Waffle House and that Bo was just the person to take her (seriously, she had been talking about going to Waffle House with Bo for at least a week!) and Annie really wanted to go swim at the YMCA which is also Bo's stomping ground. When dad got home, he loaded up the big girls and took them to swim and then have dinner at the WF (where Annie ate a waffle, eggs and 2 pieces of toast with jelly-she must have told me about her dinner at least 100 times)! They were in heaven-swimming and Waffle House?!?!? Does life get any better?
On Saturday, they played around at home with Uncle Daniel and his friend and made a repeat trip to the YMCA for more swimming...this time even Gracie got to go! Bo's pretty brave to take all three girls swimming by himself if you ask me! They ate hamburgers for dinner (something they rarely eat at home-why are kids always better when they're not at home?!?!?) and watched Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs in their pjs before bed!
On Sunday morning they went to church with GLeigh and Bo and Uncle Daniel-they even made it on time! Josh, Jack and I were supposed to be home on Sunday night but unfortunately our flight was delayed out of Richmond which made us miss our flight out of Charlotte (the last one of the night) so we ended up not making home until Monday! The girls didn't even flinch when mom told them we wouldn't be home....I think they would have stayed all week if we had let them!
When we finally did make it back on Monday, the weather was getting really nasty (our flight into Chattanooga was SUPER bumpy but we made it!) so we decided to hang around a little while and let it pass. We spent the afternoon playing around the house and visiting a little. Since it was almost dinner time by the time the weather cleared up and we were all hungry we decided to stick around and go to "taco night" with mom and dad and Daniel. 75 cent tacos all around! (if we lived in Chattanooga I think we would be there EVERY Monday....you can't beat that deal!) After "taco night" we loaded up and headed home-we finally made it around 10:00 and fell into bed as soon as we walked in the door!
Thanks GLeigh, Bo, and Uncle Daniel for taking such good care of the girls! They had the best. time. ever! They've already told me they wish they were "still at GLeigh and Bo's! We'll start planning another trip asap! :)

Check out Jack's new "trick"!

Yep, that's Jack flipped over in his car seat! I set him down for about 2 minutes which made him MAD! So mad I guess that he flipped himself over and tried to escape! Thankfully I walked back in the room in time to grab him before he slithered out of his seat altogether! Funny! All of my kiddos have rolled over for the first time during fits of anger and Jack's just putting his own twist on things! ha!

Guess who knows her sight words?!?!

ANNIE T!!!!! YAY! I am SO PROUD of my big reading girl! Annie has been working on packet of 100 sight words (words that are hard to sound out so you have to know them "by sight") since the middle of October and this week she got the whole packet checked off! YAY! She is doing so well in Kindergarten and we couldn't be more proud! She got a special surprise from her teacher for knowing all of her words AND a special donut date with her daddy! What a lucky duck! :)

Annie and her prize!

Annie T's "I know my sight words" pencil and smiley face eraser! :)