My baby turns TEN!!

I just don't FEEL old enough to have a 10 year old. (I'm often told I don't look old enough to have a ten year old either, but we won't go there.)

Grace officially turns ten tonight at 7pm. Ten years ago today we were living in St. Louis, getting ready to go on Vicarage to Seymour, IN. I remember driving from St. Louis to Seymour with a 6 week old in the car. It took much longer than expected because I had to stop to nurse every two hours or so. As a new mom I was conscious of where I nursed often nursing in the back our small Saturn rather than nurse in public. It was an interesting trip. Anyway I digress...

Grace arrived only a few days past her due date. She was born on a Wednesday and late the week before we had scheduled a induction for Friday, July 2, just in case. Well she must have realized just how hard that would be on her mom cause she made her appearance with a few days to spare. I think her actual due date was June 25, but that was 5 kids ago so the details are all a bit sketchy now. I love my Grace very much. She is a great helper, when she wants to be. She is doing very well in school, all A's and B's, and is very proud of that achievement. She has a new love of horses and small furry animals and would adopt either on in a heart beat. However, don't any one of you send her either. We have no room for a horse and the bunnies would get attacked by the dog I am afraid.
I have included a few of the pictures I could find on my computer of Grace. Although she is the child of which I have the most pictures, very few of them are digital. I don't have a scanner, so I couldn't do it that way either. ;-) I am sure that my dad probably has some in his archives so check his blog too.

On a side note, our vacation went much better than expected. I have a great blog to post soon all about it. Look for it next week. I am still gathering, organizing and resizing pictures from our week at St. Augustine.

Blessings All!!!

OPERATION: This will most likely end badly ~ is a GO!!!

OK, maybe that is a little glass half empty, but if you were leaving for a two day car ride with 5 kids under the age of ten would your glass be half full????

Now, don't get me wrong, I am very excited about this trip. My baby sister is finally getting married. We are going to a great vacation spot and we do need a vacation. St. Augustine is our final destination, but to get there we are going to drive.

I have everything but the kitchen sink ready to go. We have DVD players, MP3 players, books, coloring books, word search books, magnetic games, candy, toys and even books on CD. We should be good to go. Hopefully all that will last at least the first day!!

I don't have pictures yet, but when we come back I am sure to have loads. I will post when I can. Look for me on Facebook, we will have Internet while at the condo.

Yes, I said condo. Thanks to Mom and Dad we were able to rent a condo on the beach right next to where the wedding will take place. So we have access to all the amenities the condos afford. Which may come in handy since Doug says there is a chance of rain just about every day, but then again we are in Florida, doesn't it rain every day there??

We have plans for the beach and a little sight seeing too. There are lots of old Spanish missions and forts to look at. Even the legendary Fountain of Youth. It will be a fun trip. Now if only we didn't have to drive...

It Got up and Danced Away!

The kids have recently found a new favorite show. Phineas and Ferb on the Disney channel. They like it because it is clever and funny and has boys as the main characters and a sister who is constantly trying to get them in trouble is also a plus. Doug and I like it because it is about kids on summer vacation trying to keep busy, but not in front of the TV. They are creative and clever about what they are going to do each day. (Phineas is the orange hair one and does all the talking. Ferb the green and he almost never talks. Candace is the older sister.)

Sarah is, as you will remember from my "Shut the **** door" post, into quoting things she hears on TV. The funny thing about this is that she actually uses the quotes in an appropriate way. Two of my favorite are from this show.

The first is from Phineas and Ferb's friend Isabella. Her catch phrase is "Whatcha doin?" She will walk up to Phineas and Ferb and ask this question at the beginning of each of their builds. Sarah, my clever little pixy, will walk into a room where one of the rest of the family is busy doing some task or another and ask, in almost the same intonation as Isabella, "Whatch doin'?"

The second, and this is my favorite one, she did out of the blue and it made me laugh till it hurt. In one particular episode the boys built a giant TV. As Candace, the big sister, was trying to tell her mom what the boys were doing in the back yard, the giant TV got hit with a dancing beam. The TV danced off just before mom turned the corner. When asked what happened to the giant TV Candace was trying to tell her about, Candace said, "It got up, and danced away!" A few days after the kids watched this episode I was asking Sarah where something of hers was and she replied with a very strait face, "It got up and danced away!"

Admittedly this blog will be funnier if one, you have actually ever watched Phineas and Ferb and two, if you have actually heard Sarah's quotes. So this is for those of you that can answer yes to either or both of these questions. For the rest of you, check out Phineas and Ferb on the Disney Channel, it's on a lot and the episode I reference is called Out of Toon. It has a lot of adult type humor in it too, you know, the one liners that the kids don't really get, but are meant for the adult watching. Don't take my word for it though, watch an episode or two and see what I mean.

Hey, Look! I blogged!!

Yes I know. It has been a very long time since I last decided to dump my thoughts and activities on this blog. I know all you regular readers have been waiting on the edge of your seats. Well here I am so sit back, relax, and enjoy. Hmmm, let's see... Where do I begin?

I suppose I could go all the way back to Easter. This was our first Easter in Britton. It was a great Sunday. There was church at 7am, which we did NOT go to, followed by the Easter Breakfast and then church at 10am. The kids got all dressed up and had a great day.

Each Sunday gets a little better for us in church. Sarah is new to the whole church thing since I religiously used the nursery at St. Paul's. Emmanuel is also a smaller and therefore picks up more of the "kid noise". You know, pencils, clipboards and hymnals dropping, Sarah talking too loud, the boys talking to each other, Daniel trying to talk to his friend three rows up and over, the usual.

The next big event of the year was the Pirate and Princess Party at Britton School. The preschool hosted the party for all the little ones. There was lots to do and see. Daniel and Sarah dressed up in pirate and princess costumes and we began our adventure. The Cafetorium was decorated with lots of pirate and princess stuff. There was dancing and singing on the stage, a pirate ship and princess castle to get your picture taken in and lots of real pirates and princesses to meet. ( The high school kids got dressed up ~ it was great! )

There were crafts to make and cotton candy to eat. The girls could get their hair and nails done and the boys got tattoos. There was even a treasure hunt for gems in the preschool room. They gave away books to all the kids and Daniel even won a pirate CD in a drawing. All in all it was a very fun night, as you can tell by the pictures.

The next big event at Britton School was the opening of the Wax Museum. The fourth grade each became a character in the wax museum. They researched their character, wrote reports, made posters and developed costumes, all in preparation for the grand opening. Each character had a prepared speech that they recited when their "speech button" was pressed. Grace was Clara Barton, the founder of the American Red Cross. Two of her friends featured in the pictures below are Emma or Annie Oakley and Beka or Laura Ingalls Wilder. The kids all did a great job!!






I must say that I have tons more to write, but not enough time tonight. So you will have to come back again soon to hear what else we have been up to in Britton. See ya all soon!!

KID OF THE WEEK #5

Sarah Lynn

July 15, 2005

Sarah is my baby. My bookend. She also came the fastest. She was born less than an hour after we arrived at the hospital and with out an epidural! She was my second biggest weighing in at 9 pounds 2 ounces, only 5 ounces lighter than Daniel. She is a tomboy and a girly girl all at the same time. She loves to play princess and tea party but will wrestle and "fight" with the boys too, in her princess dress!!! She is three going on 16! We often call her the Gestapo. She has a radar for all the things the kids are doing that they shouldn't and loves to let Doug or I know.

She is going to preschool at Britton school. She goes on Monday and Friday from 8-11am. Her teacher is Mrs. Cookie. She is a great teacher. I often see older kids in her room visiting their former teacher. Sarah loves her!

Sarah has her own room now for the first time. She shared with Grace in Hillsdale and when we first moved here to Britton. Now she has a Tinker Bell themed room all her own. She is Tinker Bell. Sassy and smart all at the same time. This picture is her trying to play her "violin" like Grace. It is an electic guitar and a sword.

She is a very good girl though. She is a great sleeper, although she likes to come in my room at like 6am and cuddle. I don't mind, I am usually waking up anyway and she isn't going to be able to cuddle much longer so I take what I can get when I can get it! She loves to hug and give kisses too. She is very sweet, but I am bias, I am her mother and she is my baby!

I am not sure what else to write about her. I have bunches of pictures though and I think that maybe these will say much more than I can write here. I hope you have enjoyed learning a little bit more about my wonderful kids. Next week is back to regular posts about everything and nothing, unless I come up with another grand idea. With school coming to an end and lots of fun adventures planned for the summer I should have an endless list of things to write about. Check back in a few weeks to see what the Adams Clan has been up to. Blessings and Happy Easter to you all!!!!