Don't you wish you had one of these?

I know you are jealous. If you really want to borrow it, email me and we'll see if it can be arranged :) I was cleaning out my closet yesterday and ran across this shirt. It is from the first trip Kelly and I took "together" when we first started dating ("going together" was the actual term--we weren't old enough to "date"). We went on a church youth group spring break trip to Panama City when we were 14. I bet this shirt looked great with the HUGE hair I had at the time. We had started dating a couple of months before, so this shirt is from the early days.

The shirt was one of a couple of things lately that have called my attention to the fact that Kelly and I have been together for a LONG time (17 years together, almost 10 married). We were at church on Sunday and a couple introduced us to their 14 year old daughter. As we were sitting in the service, she was in front of us and I started thinking--you know, that's how old Kelly and I were when we started dating!!! She is so young, and now we are so old :)

For those of you who don't know, we started dating as freshmen in high school. We went to college together (go Dawgs!), got married, Kelly went to medical school and through a surgery residency--and 17 years later we made it to the "real world"--with two kids and lots of school debt! Life hasn't always been easy or perfect but we've always been each other's best friend.

Here's to us, Kelly! God is good!

Sadie's First Trip to the Dentist

Sadie had her first visit with the dentist last week--and did great! When Molly and I went back in the fall, I made an appointment for all three of us. Quite honestly, I did not expect Sadie to be as cooperative as she was. Molly got her teeth cleaned first and showed Sadie the ropes. Then Molly got down and Sadie jumped in the chair and opened her mouth as wide as she could! I was relieved that it went as well as it did. The hardest part was trying to balance all the toys they kept piling on top of me while I was trying to get my cleaning :) I will be making a seperate appointment for myself next time so I don't have to supervise the chaos while I'm in the dentists' chair!

There's nothing like. . . .

a husband that you are crazy in love with. . .




a Daddy that plays Barbies with his daughters. . .




having grandparents that are crazy about you. . .



(sorry Granddaddy I couldn't find a recent picture--we still love you!)



friends you've had since middle school-and your children are now friends!




a sweet baby niece whose smiles and laughter melt your heart. . .




seeing what Sadie will put on if you tell her to go and get dressed by herself. . .




watching your children play a sport that you loved as a child. . .




sisters that are your best friends (and love your kids almost as much as you do). . .





sharing a bed with your sister so you aren't afraid at night. . .

Preschool Field Trip

Last week, Molly's class had a field trip to a local college's "Agriculture" week. Some of the college kids brought out a few farm animals for the class to pet. They saw a sheep, a calf, a horse and its one month old foal, a guinea pig (I was a little puzzled by this also), and a puppy with a broken leg looking for a home (the highlight of my kids trip--because we never see dogs??)

The teachers coordinated "field day" kind of games with the kids, which were a big hit. They had a bean bag toss and played "red light, green light" and "duck, duck, goose". The girls have played "red light, green light" nonstop since the field trip, but they have rules about how it is played. Usually it's just the three of us playing, so one of us has to be the teacher at the starting line, one has to be the teacher at the finish line, so that means that only one person actually gets to play. They were excited when their Daddy got home early one night last week and he and I could be the teachers and they could both play!

My friend and I decided to venture into the student center for lunch with all five of our children. Our children are always noticed not only because there are 5 of them 4 and under, but because her three are triplets and people always think Molly and Sadie are twins. Wow, did I feel old in that student center!!!



Sadie playing tag with R and P


P caught Sadie for a sweet hug. . . .


K in action at the bean bag toss


Molly and the sheep


This is what Sadie thought about the bean bag toss. . .


Playing "hide and seek"--where in the world is K?


All five of the cuties--smiling, no less!

Easter 2008

Easter at our house this year was quite busy! We participated in three Easter egg hunts, not to mention the dozens of times we hid eggs at our house. Both of the girls had their own agendas in hunting the eggs. Molly is old enough that she was focused on the number of eggs she could collect and was competitive. Sadie, on the other hand, was more concerned about what was in the eggs--she would find an egg, pick it up and open it to check out its contents. If it wasn't chocolate (particularly reese cups or M&M's) she would throw it over her shoulder and keep looking!!!

Right before Easter, I finally got my hands on some Resurrection Eggs. These are plastic eggs that tell the story of Easter by their contents. It's a very neat concept and the girls really seemed to understand. We made foam coasters for everyone to use at our Easter dinner. We were writing names on the coasters and Molly said "Mommy, I think we should write "Jesus died on the cross for our sins" on them." I was suprised but thrilled that she understood enough to ask me to do that!

My Mom had her work cut out for her this year with Easter dresses for three little girls! She did a wonderful job and even completed them several days early! They all looked so sweet.

These are from school egg hunts:





Egg hunt and Easter Bunny at the Club:
Reagan is the only one who would sit with the Easter Bunny!



Molly decided it was okay to hold his hand.



Sadie preferred the safety of Daddy's lap!



How cute is this little bunny?


Easter Sunday:
Daddy and his girls


Granna and her girls--look at those dresses she made!!!


As you can see, we had a wonderful time. And now all my holidays are caught up on the blog!

Christmas has been added. . .

If you scroll down, I finally posted Christmas. . . now on to Easter!