Monster Truck Show

About the only show that Tate will watch on ESPN is the Monster Truck Rally so Robbie's motto???? "If you can't beat 'em, join 'em." He bought Tate tickets for his birthday, so Papaw, Robbie and Tate headed to UTC to watch the rally. I'm pretty proud of RobBob...he actually managed to get some decent pics...

Tigger Lost His Bounce

We headed to Arcade Bounce to celebrate Tate's 6th birthday...

Look at this pitiful thing. This was the start of Illness #2: strep throat. Poor thing wakes up with laryngitis and by the end of his party was looking like this...


We made the best of it and at least the guests had a great time...

Even Mamaw and Papaw got in on the fun and challenged each other to a rigorous game of air hockey (I think Mamaw won!!!)...

We plugged through it and were able to get through the party...

Right after, he hit the bed and was home from school for a week. Well at least he was surrounded by friends and family...

Pink Cake

Having a son born on Valentines Day is tricky. When I asked Tate what kind of cake he wanted for his birthday, he said strawberry. Well...strawberry cake is pink. Six year old boy taking pink cupcakes to school??? Not really great on the cool factor...enter Valentines Day. Apparently noone notices they are pink cupcakes because its Valentines Day and there is PINK everywhere.

We enjoyed a family night for Tate's actual birthday where Lily insisted that we

must make a cake. So, bake we did.

We munched on nachos (Tate's pick) and just enjoyed spending time as a family.

Lily decided that she was going to be the event photographer. As you can see, she's getting quite good.

This picture sums it up for me...

Happy Birthday to my sweet, inspired, glowing, special 6 year old boy!! Wow, how time flies!!!

The Dog Ate My Memory Stick

There is no excuse...I completely understand that, but if I were to be asked why I haven't blogged in over a month, these would be my "canned, superficial" excuses:

1. Illness: Plain and simple...the men in my life have been repeatedly sick...Strep, pneumonia, flu...you name it...my boys have had it. And to top it all off, our beanut has been diagnosed with asthma.

2. Extracurriculars: Tate started swim and baseball, Lily started ballet, Robbie went in to March Madness mode a few weeks earlier, and I've been cheering (unsuccessfully) my Raiders to the state championship.

3. Remodel: Laundry rooms done, new bath and kids bath needs tile, paint and fixtures and then the fun begins...DEMOLITION...the kitchen and master bedroom...I CAN'T WAIT!!!

So please forgive me and stay tuned to see what happens when I have a few days off.

That Boy...

I could go on and on...

But I won't, other than to say...

That boy...he's gonna change the world someday. Happy 6th birthday Tate! So glad you were born today!

And I Moved Away...Why?

This winter has been exceptionally brutal. Here are some pics from our recent snowstorm:

As you can see, the kids and daddy had a great time playing in the snow (while mommy stayed inside and made some soup). It wasn't long before I had some company...

We're expecting another hit this weekend. Lord help me!!!

Moldy Bread

We have all done it. Found some bread stashed away in the back of the bread box...and what else do we find? The bread is no longer bread. It's lost its freshness and its wonderful smell. It is now all shades of green and blue and harder than a rock. That's right...its been taken over by mold and must be thrown away. It can no longer serve a purpose for you.

Fortunately, memories are not like that. The greatest thing about this blog is that it has no deadline and accepts me as I am...pajama pants and all. Sometime I forget this lack of expectations and think I am letting it down...allowing it to mold and become useless. But thankfully, that is not the case. I can sit here, in Robbie's chair, organizing my pictures from my camera and realize that I have a missed a few blog posts and guess what! I can log on, upload pictures, and tip tap away on the keyboard and its as if it happened yesterday. As if it were never forgotten about in the back of the breadbox. So here we go...

There's nothing like family. There really isn't. I am so tremendously blessed in that area, but it doesn't come with some heartache. That's right...HEARTACHE! You see...the more you love someone, the more your HEART ACHES when they are not around.

That's why this visit was so special. After our trip to NY, we were blessed to have mom and dad ride back with us to visit for 10 days. It has been years since I have been able to spend that much time with them. My kids loved every second of it. They baked cookies, played the Wii and learned about birds with Pops.

About a week into the visit, we headed over to Bobo's to catch some TTU games and celebrate Bobo & Igg's engagement.

Although we were sad to see them go, we felt so lucky to have them visit for so long. Can't wait for wedding month! It's gonna be great!