Who knew?

Look what we did!

Who knew that when we moved to Alabama there would be so many wonderful places to spend the day hiking & exploring. A couple of years ago we discovered Cathedral Caverns, just 30 minutes away, an emormous cave reaching a mile down into the Earth complete with stalactites & stalagmites! Just right in our own neighborhood, Three Caves, Monte Sano Mountain with gorgeous views & hiking trails.
A couple of weeks ago (on our Veteran's Day holiday), we headed to the Bankhead National Forrest, about an hour and a half away, and discovered the Borden Creek Trail. What a great day! Get ready, here comes LOTS of pictures...

BIG trees....

with BIG leaves!

A rushing river...

Lots of cool stuff to climb on...

How cool are those massive roots??

Rocks, cliffs, and caves, Oh My!
 

There was a fine mist waterfall falling here, that the camera couldn't quite capture...

Photo ops....

Me and my peeps...

A personal fav...

To get those big grins, all I had to do was say, "Whatever you do, DON'T SMILE!!"

I should remember this for the annual Christmas card picture that makes me lose my religion!!

Last one, for posterity....when you gotta go, you gotta go...

What a FUN day! If you live in North Alabama, make a day trip. You won't regret it. There are several trail heads to choose (even camp primitively), this particular trail had the highest family rating.  It was 2.7 miles in. You have to go through a very narrow cave to complete the trail...if you are claustrophobic, stop there. If you like a little adventure...go all the way!

Why I love kindergarten

The boys are away today. They have gone to Oxford to watch the Rebels play some football. Which leaves me & the girls home to just hang out together. It is so incredibly quiet when Gabe is gone! That boy can do some serious talking. Anyway, the beast  Amelia is napping, so it is VERY quiet and Ansley has the opportunity to play a little play-doh uninterrupted. I walked in the room & realized that she's just been hangin' out with her "bat-hat" on for hours. She made it in kindergarten & wears it like crazy. I think it's super cute. She is so loving kindergarten and I think it's all about the arts-n-crafts!

"Mom..stop takin' my picture!"

On to other things, I spent this morning at a John Rosemond conference. Love him. Read lots of his columns...never have bought a book, but so love his style of parenting. His recommendation was..."Pay less attention to your kids & stop micro-managing their every move." Discipline with love & leadership, and we are all been equipped, by God, to parent these children. Those were the ones on the top of my head. Lots of other good stuff too. Go see him, read his thoughts. It's always good to hear a level headed perspective!

Tate Farm, The Mecca....

This post was going to be named, Tate Farm, Part I. You see, this place is the field trip mecca of North Alabama in the fall. Typically I go there about 3 times a season for 3 different field trips for 3 different kids...typically it's not monsoon season in Alabama. Monsoon season has resulted in the cancellation of many flag football games and Tate Farm Field Trips. It has rained, and rained, and rained. I dare not complain though. After many years of drought, I have a hard time wishing it away. (and I must admit, 3 times to Tate Farms is about 2 times too many for me!...don't tell my kids!)

A yearly favorite: The Corn Crib...

It was all I could do not to rip off my boots and hop in there too. Don't think I didn't do it last year! I was the ONLY mom who thought it would be fun apparently. I may have looked silly, but I was quite the hit among the kindergartners!
Let me tell you, THE CORN GETS E-V-E-R-Y-W-H-E-R-E!!!! On the way home I cracked up when Amelia handed me a corn kernal & giggled & said, "Momma, dis corn was in my ear"... And when we got home & everyone went potty before bed & Ansley walked out of the bathroom wondering how corn got in the potty...... I guess you get my point.....

Bunny petting, always a big hit with our little ones. They're critter lovers.

We went at night this year with a group from church. It was super fun. We picked our pumpkins in the dark with the help of flashlights....not sure we made the best pumpkin choices, but it was fun. Ansley & Amelia always want to pick the tiniest pumpkins they can find. Cute.

Till next year Tate Farms!

It's beginning to look alot like....Fall!

I'm into the white pumpkins this year.

I do love my spider votive holders...

Got the Spooky Tree last year at Pier One. It's my favorite!

Ansley made the little sweet gum spider at school. Love that too.

More white pumpkins...

Didn't do much outside. In years past I've had the fake web & spiders...a blue bird got hung in it last year and I had to manually remove him. With Scissors. I was horrified he was going to flog me! No more fake spider webs here. Just mums and pumpkins. Safe for all the flying creatures :)

HAPPY FALL!!!!

Family Photo Shoot

It was a cold and blustery autumn day....

but Mrs. Erin still managed to get us to smile and pull off some great pictures!

My children despise having their picture made! Or should I say they despise posing for us.  For Erin, it's a different story. She has a way of making having your picture made fun. We are thankful to have her for a friend and to know her sweet family. And to have the ease of picking up the phone and saying, "hey, we need a picture made!" She always pulls through for us! Thanks Erin!

The Boys...

"A Man and His Dog ... Cat"

Don't ever let him tell you he doesn't like cats.

On The Farm, Part 2

I know you can't see their faces and the quality is bad, but I just like this picture anyway. This picture reminds me of me and my friend Candy wading in creeks & ditches for hours looking for crawdads, tadpoles or any other kind of creature we could come across. This water was fresh and cold...straight out of the earth. Nice. Did I mention that in my previous "farm post" that I love the country? Especially this particular "Mountain Farm"? ....I do.

I think Janye must have been describing to Gabe what a geode looks like.

This was right after Amelia fell in the creek and her wet clothes had to be removed...I don't think she minded too much, do you?

Umm, yeah, I think she's posing... I don't know where she gets that??

Snack time on the...mower?

One more that I let slip by the other day. Bless her heart. Look at those udders. And that sweet baby calf. Perhaps just born that day? Precious.

Snack Time Babies...

Amelia needs a baby sister people. She's not going to get one. At least not of the biological variety.

As I've mentioned before, when Ansley is away at school (sounds like she's at college...but I mean a mile away at half-day Kindergarten), Amelia takes full advantage of being able to play with sister's stuff...especially the babies. 4 blissful hours of rocking, feeding, changing. And on this special day...a little Noggin....It's like preschool on TV! (?)

I know, I know, it's now Nick Jr., but I refuse to call it that. If they put SpongeBob on there, we're deleting it from the channel list.

God's Country

This my friends, is God's country. We had the priviledge of spending the day on some dear friend's farm just outside of town. Oh my. It was gorgeous and refreshing. My children had so much fun riding Rangers through pastures and between the cows, climbing rocks, wading in creek beds, hunting for geodes and buckeyes...the list goes on and ends with a fire and marshmallows. It is in their blood, you see. I spent alot of my childhood doing similiar things. Roaming countryside. I'm a country girl at heart and long to live on acreage in the middle of nowhere. (Within driving distance of a good school & a Target mind you!) You see, I am not inclined to be a homeschooler. My hats off to you homeschoolers, but it's not for me! And of course, we I chose the town we are in (over another) based on the presence of a Super Target. I know people, it's just one of those things. Roll your eyes if you must. My name is Mandy, and I'm a Target-aholic.

Getting back on track....

Is this creature gorgeous or what? Hundreds of these guys/gals wandering around not minding sharing a little space with the Humans.

Come on Mama's, we know how she feels don't we?

Sweet it is though...

"Moo cow, baby cow!!" is what Amelia always exclaims when we see a baby cow. We saw lots of brand new baby cows that day. I have lots more pictures to share. Till next time! Moooo!!!!

Sweet Dreams

Night-Night everyone!!!! 

If you're a cat lover, then you love this picture...If you're not...well then, I'm sorry! I understand that there are those who can't stand cats...their sneakiness, their shedding hair, their persnickety-ness. Maybe your nose is itching & eyes are watering just looking at it, but Boo Kitty is such a sweet cuddler to all of us. Luckily none of us have fallen victim to pesky cat allergens.  He warms us up on the coldest of nights, and purrs me to sleep nightly. It should be a sound option on the noise machine for sure! May your night be filled with warm furry cuddles & soft purring!  (If you have a cat, that is!)

Has Anybody Seen Amelia?

"Hey, does anybody know where Amelia is?"

look closely....

Oh dear. I have created a little computer monster as well. (Don't worry, it's not the internet....just family photos).

She's a Barbie Girl, In a Barbie World

Ansley's busy today...working on her thesis...

Dinner!

The update is that they killed their limit and had a blast! While Gabe wasn't exactly ready to shoot the big gun, apparently he made a good "retriever" and shell collector.

Once they were cleaned, we rolled the dove breast up with a hunk of cream cheese, a jalapeno and bacon and threw them on the grill. "Birdie Bites" they shall be known as...(taken from Uncle Joey's version of "Bambi Bites").

Everyone agreed that the dove was delish...even the girls. But seriously, anything wrapped in bacon & cream cheese and grilled is delish, right?

He's a natural born hunter.

Open Season

Guess what Gabe's doing today?



If you live in the South, then you know...today opens Dove Season!!

First Father/Son hunting trip...

(pardon the sandwich-fixin's in the background--it's lunch time)

Gabe is so pumped!



He practiced in the backyard alot this summer...

I'll let you know how it went!

Creativity

Ansley is forever more creating some little something special that always manages to put a smile on our face. From time to time we capture it on camera.

This play-doh replica of "lambie" is one of my favorites!

I'm sure this has a name...but I don't know what to call it other than 'pretty'.

Here she took a live flower & glued it to the end of a stick and added leaves. Artisitic genius?

"Nature Collage" --gluing leaves to paper. Many times she has glued flower petals to sticks or different stems on paper. Love these!

And of course, a basic crayon drawing. All of these portray daddy (affectionately) with 4 little stubbles of hair....both kids do it. (I fear by the time Amelia starts these little works of art, da da my just be a round head!)

This was my valentines day surprise :)

I was wrong!

Hey look! I do have pictures of Gabe on his birthday! Okay, the deal is, Christian downloads all of our pictures onto the pc for editing purposes (it's where his photoshop software is). Only edited pics get transferred to the Mac (the only computer I usually get on. Sooo, I had no idea how many pictures we have floating around from the last several months....I will have to catch up now. But for today, here is proof that we acknowledged Gabe's big day.

A birthday card in the mail from Grandmother!

Anybody out there?

Umm...this blog has gotten a little shy (& shameful!) and I am tire of it looming over me silently screaming, "helllooo....are you coming back...ever????" The kids love to look at & read this little recap of our life, and of course they have it's short life memorized by now, so here's to a huge commitment. I hereby promise to blog everyday this week. There. Done. Said it. What I didn't say is that there would be some great material. Just logging in & saying "Hi" counts, right? I have had time to blog, it just seems that the thought of getting my fav pictures on & rehashing all the "good stuff" has seemed a bit overwhelming. Besides, I'm way too busy reading about other people's lives these days! Not to mention our little 'remodel' project from the summer! I'll get to that later. Anywho...it's 3 am & I'm an insomniac tonight, so HELLO BLOGLAND! SOMEBODY'S HERE!!!!

Why you ask am I up at 3am?? Because of this little stinker:

He has not been sleeping good for the first time in 7 years! I mean up twice a night most days for a couple of weeks! Geesh! What is the deal? Next internet venture tonight: Research Melatonin!

I also feel obliged to share a little Gabe, because in my absence of blogging he had a birthday. I generally post lots of great birthday photos, but in hindsight, we have NONE!??? How did I let that happen. For one, our celebration mainly consisted of a family dinner out to Logan's (his choice). Pretty simple. Of course he was showered with fun gifts, and I do recall a "this is the best birthday ever!" coming out of his mouth, but basically it was just a great day because Gabe was Gabe :) I love you even though you are the reason I am up at 3am! But look: You brought back the blog! Hooray!

Those Things You Do!

So from time to time, she has this little obcession with glasses...

Honestly, she wore these for over an hour. Even ate her lunch with them on. She's a funny kid like that.

While the cats away, the mice will play.

Ansley will literally have a cow when she realizes Amelia has free reign in her room while she's at preschool.

I knew she was awfully quiet in the playroom while I was chatting leisurely with my neighbor...

Thank goodness for washable markers...you should have seen the legs of her pajamas!

This one...don't ask...????

Yes, she's standing in the kitchen sink. Again, don't ask...




"What? I didn't do that!?"

Just a little leisure time to read...(note upside down book)

"Oh! Hey Mommy!"

"Enough already...Haven't you ever seen anyone sit on a potty before??"



And this one I just like....

Our little lady had a bee-day....

She's 2!

Sweet baby, just because your #3 doesn't mean your mama's not going to throw you a cutsie party. Well...okay, so I threw it together last minute & called the mommy of your fav-friend to see what they were doing on Sunday afternoon. But don't think it wasn't cutsie! Because your our little lady & you love bees (??...uh, well at least you love the Bee Movie), you had a Lady Bug/Bee Party!

Simple...

Gabe offering some last minute advice on not getting too close to the candle. (Seriously, it happened to Ansley on her 2nd....not pretty.)

Getting ready:


Focus now...

Completely embarrased by all the attention of the singing:

Careful coaching by big brother.

"ooh, Seppy, don't play in it"

"Oh Seppy, you so silly!" as Seth affectionately smears icing on her nose. I can see this in 25 years....with an all white cake!

Oh, and presents. Really the only thing you wanted. When asked what you wanted for your birthday, repeatedly you would say, "pesents". You're precious.


I love you sweet baby. You have more gusto for life than any other baby that has come through this house. Your wild belly laughs and constant attempts to crack me up are unmeasurable! You certainly make our home a more joyous place and I look forward to the fun you bring for years to come!

I love you ,

Mommy

Spring Break '09

For the most part we had a "staycation", however thanks in part to our good friends the Ross', we ventured to Chattanooga for 2 days of good times. If you haven't hung out in downtown Chattanooga for a while, you don't know what your missing! It's the some of the best kid entertainment around. We spent most of day 1 at the Aquarium. The crowds were so tolerable & the kids loved it.

"The Posse"

Together, we have a pretty good slew of kiddos

We saw cool stuff at the aquarium....

I'm not sure what this is all about??
















On day one, we perhaps took in a bit much.... Aquarium, playing at the hotel, playing at the playground, taking in an IMAX, a crazy dinner that took an eternity with 7 starving kids (2 of which were napless that day), 2 tired mama's, and one awesome grandmother (who was a huge help!), and back to the hotel for indoor swimming....phew! Ansley had her 1st spend the night guest...Hope got to stay in our room & they were the cutest all cuddled up & shrieking (yes, shrieking) with wild laughter.

Day #2
Creative Discovery Museum...one word...AWESOME!
Explorer Gabe excavating

Amelia could have stayed in this spot all day.

Gabe passing time, chopping clay. (humor me, I just like the picture)

Amelia works hard stamping clay & turning gears. (I know....this is thrilling stuff...)

Best Buddies!

Proof the Mama's were there:

Thanks Ross family for a great time!

"Piggies"

Just because....I want to remember those sweet little toes, and feet, and baby legs. They make me smile. You make me smile Amelia :)

The "Faux Sleepover" of the year

So here they are: Photos from Ansley's Pretend Sleepover Party!

As I always say, "Every good party starts with a cute invitation".

If you know me well, you know I'm a sucker for paper products!

I couldn't resist this pillowcase invitation with a pull out pillow. It was so frilly, it had Ansley written all over it.

The invitaion list was small...the 5 little girls in her preschool class. They were precious, let me tell you!!

My second favorite part of a party: THE FOOD!!

So big. 5 candles...sigh....

Relaxin' & watchin a Barbie movie.

I couldn't believe how mellow they all were! I guess you get that with a nighttime party with 5 year olds?? It was great. Even little Amelia joined in. She thought she was every bit as big!

Manicures (with nail decals I might add) was a hit. (It was Lydia's first time!!) Her mom graciously agreed to let her share this first experience with us! So sweet & innocent :)

Couldn't have done it without Cousin Lacy & Aunt Lisa. They were rockstars helping out!!

Precious Addy.

Showing off their new mani's.

Then the real party started!! "Princess dancing" to the Goodnight CD mixed for the party & played on Ansley's new CD player. (Her big gift).

I loved it, the girls were adorable, and it will be remembered! And another good part: they all got to go home & sleep in their own beds.

5 years ago....

The sweetest little thing came along....Ansley Claire. You were born around 3:30 am, and as exhausted as I was, I couldn't fall asleep because I was so excited. I watched the clock til 6:30 when I thought I could start calling everyone & sharing the news. I don't know if I have been that giddy since!
Now 5 years later, I know lots about you that I could have never imagined on that day. First of all, your head of wild curly hair! It's so "Ansley" and envied by many. Your independence! Whoa! You can do anything you set your mind to, all by yourself! I can only imagine how well this will serve you in your future. Not to mention your creativity! Your ability to draw perfectly dimensioned pictures with great detail impresses me and your daddy daily. Your sweetness and beauty abound and I look forward to the years ahead to see what great things you become!
I can't wait to post pictures of your fabulously fun birthday party tonight! But right now I am headed to snuggle up in bed with you! Hugs & Sweet Kisses!!! Mommy

Hello 2009!

So sorry 2008! I failed you with a lack of regular blog-posting. I'm ashamed & I admit it. I am not going to talk about it. (But I will place a little blame on a little thing called FACEBOOK!) However, I am about to plague this post with a whirlwind recap of some important (or maybe not so important, but memorable) moments of '08 that I will forever be mad at myself if I don't include on the ol' blog. I think I'll work my way backwards.

Christmas 2008

Reindeer pops was definitely a culinary adventure. They paled in comparison to that of Bakerella, but next time (and fewer kids involved) we'll see what happens. It was actually lots of fun having the Ross' over and watching the kids swoon over the thought of biting into Rudolph's little noggin!

Ansley said her lines proudly as "Angel of the Lord" in her Christmas program at Covenant. (Shhh....Gabe played a little hookey from school in order to be there too.)

Grandmother arrives in time for some favorite Christmas book reading. We sure enjoyed having her!

Enjoying waayyy too many sweets! Thanks to a special someone for these yummy treats!!

Amelia got to participate in decorating the tree for the first time this year.

Our annual Christmas Eve picture :) Say Cheese(y) !

Now get those dishes done so Santa can come!

The Reindeer food was spread thoroughly throughout the front yard. They were trying anything to coax Santa into our yard this year. Ansley even placed herself (willfully) on the naughty column of the naughty/nice list made out by Gabe.

Santa indeed delivered and all in all was a great holiday season for us all, especially having Christian off work so much in December. He's the resident apple cider/spiced tea guy & kept us warm & toasty!

Fall Stuff...

We had an exceptionally beautiful fall here in Huntsville this year so we found lots of photo ops while playing outside in all the leaves!

This was only the beginning....

Gabe must have taken a thousand jumps out of that swing!

It just wouldn't be right to not include Evan (Gabe's friend from school/around the corner neighbor/4th child of mine) and his mad jumping skills!

Do you get the picture??? Lots of leaves=Lots of fun!

Me & my honey...we don't get many of these made.

We even got our Christmas card done early this year!

Amelia got her first major boo-boo. Ouch!!

The kids & I headed to MS for Thanksgiving with Christian's family & left him behind with a grueling week of night call. Sorry Da-da! This sparked Amelia's ongoing obcession with cousin Carlysle. Even this morning, over a month later, she woke up saying, "Cah-lysle! Cah-lysle!?"

She looovves her some Carlysle. (and I do too!)

Ansley made her acting debut as a "poor little kitten who lost her mitten!" How fitting.

Halloween

(i'm tired of blogging...I'll insert later!)

St. Louis!

During fall break we headed out for St. Louis to spend time with the Flemings. The best part was getting to watch all our kids play together! Candy & I were 4 when we became fast friends which is just the age of Ansley & Harrison. I hope they always know each other :) ...and I can't wait to tell them crazy stuff about their momma when they're older :0 !

On our first day we went to the zoo. Phenomenal is all I have to say. I love this picture of Amelia with her zoo map. She kept us right on track.

It was great, until we saw this.......

Warning: Look away if you are an animal activist or have a weak stomach:

Yep, that's a python eating a goat. Yep, a goat. Blood & all.


At this point, I gotta little concerned about the momma to be....so we had a sit-down.

(sorry Candy, I had too)

This one was right before I got in trouble for letting my kids in the penguin exhibit.

Just kiddin', but I did get in trouble for letting them climb on the dangerous rocks. Geesh....what's a fun mom to do??

Proof that we went to the arch:

Because you couldn't see a foot in front of you out those windows, so the kids shall have no recollection of the experience without these photos.


yep...we were the only one's there pretty much.


SOCCER!

Ansley got to play her first season of soccer this year. She was pretty stinkin' cute!

And really stinkin' good! She could hustle with the best of em' and score several goals.

She even developed a little strut after she would score. (I was too busy laughing at her to snap a picture)

She was great until these big ol' boys were too fast & she couldn't kick the ball. Then she cried.
You gotta love 4 year olds and soccer.


Gabe had a great season too. It was a "whole different ballgame" so to speak, for him. He moved to the U8 league, which meant some big ol' boys and some serious soccer playin'.

He did pretty good holding his own and I must say I was proud of him.

At this point, I'm pretty sick of blogging, but I'm going to muttle through and post some great beach pictures. My captions may get a little slack....

The Beach

Beach fairies






That's all for now! 2009, I'll try not to let you down!

My little politician...

For months, we have answered his questions, maybe offering more information than he really needed to know. He has counted almost every McCain sign in town, comparing them to how many Obama signs there were. I didn't worry until he began staying up late to watch the debates. Believe me, I have not encouraged this behavior! Please do not tell me we have a budding politician on our hands! Yikes!
So last week, his school had their mock election. When Gabe got home, I of course asked election results. (McCain 340ish?, Obama 107) I asked Gabe who his best friend (who shall remain nameless) voted for:
"Well, (smirking) he voted for McCain, only after I set him straight. He said he was gonna vote for Baracka Bama (that is how they say it), and I said 'Dude, he's awful!, He will take your five dollars!' So he voted for John McCain. As a matter of fact, I set some others straight too. Except **Jane**(identity protection inserted), and she's just a hard democrat. Her momma said she thinks Baracka Bama is just a good man. ..Mama, how much of our money will John McCain take?"
"Not near as much honey"...
John needs Gabe up in Ohio, Michigan, & Pennsylvania. He could "set some people straight"!

Next week, I guess we'll introduce him to the term 'socialism'......just kiddin'.

VOTE!!!!