Skeet shooting!!!

We did a little skeet shooting at the lake this weekend. Lacey and my husband LOVE hunting and guns, etc, etc. Mac, Lacey's husband, gets really into ANYTHING! That's why we love him! :-)

But he HATED it if we didn't hit all the skeet. Around the 2:15 minute mark in the video, all the girls shoot and none of us hit it and he gets a little upset and makes a sarcastic remark. We all thought it was hysterical!






I love it how my mom is talking about her eyes the whole time! Mom's good at shooting though. One time at a dude ranch in Colorado (Lost Valley to be exact) she won best shot! :-) Go Lovey!!

Our "Babies"

At one point in the weekend, I put Lillian in the sling to walk around the 'beach' at the lake. My sister thought this was funny - acting like she is slinging her "baby" too!! :-)



We look a little rough - but what did we care - we're at the LAKE!!

I love my sister and can't wait for her and her husband to have kids, but let's just say, I'm glad she's starting out with a dog. Her "baby" is Audrey - a Yorkie about 8 months old!! Audrey is also really good at entertaining the children - or the children entertaining her. Either way works! :-)


I think they were playing like Audrey was their 'baby' too. They had her in the bassinet at one point! It was great though. We'd put them in our room to watch a movie, stick Audrey in there too, and the adults could have a quiet dinner!! :-) hehehe

Slideshow of the Lake!!

Lillian's first Lake trip!

We had a lot of fun at the lake this weekend. I'm sure I'll have a few posts highlighting what all we did with the kids. But let us first start with Lillian. I wasn't sure how she was going to do this weekend. New place, new rooms, and lots going on....but she did great during the days! Nights were pretty good. But it was all worth it!

So I had to choose ONE toy to bring along for Lillian. It was between the bouncy seat and the johnny jump up. I decided on the johnny jump up even though she really hadn't gotten the hang of it yet. I knew the lake house had a beam going through the middle of the den that it could probably hang on. So basically, this is what she did all weekend!!





We thought this was so funny that she was going along with the music - especially that rap song, "This is why it's Hot" or something like that.

She loved being in this thing and if she wasn't in it, her legs were bouncing as if she was!!

Here are some more sweet pictures of her!





This is what she did tailgating in Auburn!!


She was enthralled by the HUGE bonfire we had! I don't think any of the kids knew what to think. Landon wouldn't go near it! But I guess that's pretty smart of him!

More to come!! :-)

Auburn, Here We Come!!

We are so excited to be able to attend the Ole Miss vs. Auburn game this weekend with the kids. Well, we're tailgating and then going to watch the game at the lakehouse! But still, to experience that cool, crisp, fall, football-weather air and get pepped up for a game I probably won't get to really watch - I can't wait!

We're also celebrating my mom's 50th birthday! HAPPY BIRTHDAY MOM!!! We're all going to their lakehouse on Lake Martin with my sister and her husband and just going to have a long fun weekend together! I'm sure I'll have some fun stories to share when we get back!

BUT, I have to say, I'm a little anxious about traveling for the first time (by myself - Robert is coming later) with 3 kids. For now, it's been just so much easier to stay home and keep our routine. Let's just say they know when they're not in their own beds. But I know that Robert (and the kids) would have so much fun. And it also means a lot to my mom to get us ALL together!

The lake house is a 3 bedroom/2 bath. And we're a family of FIVE now! Add in FOUR more adults and we've got a tight situation! So we're cramming kids in every corner! I know everything is going to work out but I still have that "mommy worrying" that I'm doing.

I don't want Lillian to wake anyone up in the middle of the night crying. I don't want to put anyone else out, where their stay is uncomfortable. I don't want my parents to have to tiptoe around kiddos sleeping on their floor. I don't want my sister and her husband to take the small room. I don't want anyone to feel burdened by my kids.

But these are NOT good feelings - they're probably really selfish.

My family has worked so hard to make sure this weekend is going to be fun! I need to RECEIVE it and be thankful! I can let my routine go for a few days and take advantage of this time I have with my family - and that my family (sister and brother) have with us! I can maybe get a little less sleep - in order to build some fun memories for the kids.

There are many fun things lined up like pumpkin carving and a bonfire (to do s'mores!) that I'm sure I won't even have time to worry about everything else!

I need to make the most of this weekend. Living it to the fullest! Life is too short to be worrying about things that are so trivial in this crazy world! We are so blessed to even have a lakehouse to go to and have so much fun!! Hey, people used to live smaller houses back then and had WAY more kids!

It'll all work out!!

YAY!! I can't wait!


HOTTY TODDY!!!!!

Boo Boo Lip and Tonka Man

Sometimes I think Robert has a little too much fun playing with the kids toys. He always finds ways to play with toys in TOTALLY opposite ways that they are meant to be played with. Whether he's putting on the kids dress up clothes or scaring the baby with a toy phone.....let's just say he's still a kid at heart. For example, he uses a plastic bowling pin as a golf club or baseball bat many a times! And for a ball....well, that's anything laying around him.

Here is Robert scaring Lillian with a toy phone.


Poor thing, she really couldn't make up her mind whether she liked it or not. I mean, it was playing Twinkle Twinkle or something!!! :-) Actually, I think it was louder than she expected!

Leave it up to our Tonka Man to create new ways to play with toys!!! No wonder the kids like him more!!!!



He's gonna kill me for posting this - but that's what he gets for letting me take a picture. Doesn't he know I have a blog.....hehehehehe?

Squirrel-ly Love!

This is how I feel about Robert!







HAHA! You can't NOT laugh when you watch this! Too bad I can't put our Jibjab heads on them!

The end is my favorite when she "OOOOOoooo's him!"

Love ya babe!

Sweet Friends!

Here is just a cute picture of Olivia and one of her friends. Another mom took this picture at the park - I was still preggers with Lillian. I remember her taking the picture! But it turned out REALLY well!

The other little girl is MorningSong's daughter. We see each other at church and many small groups!



Thanks for the picture Leisha! You're a great photographer - I know it's so hard for me to get a decent picture of Olivia! H is always photogenic!!!

Sweet girlies!!

Newsflash.......I Actually Like My Kids

Since Lillian's been born, getting out and about with all three has been, well, interesting to say the least. Sometimes it's smooth and sometimes I regret leaving the house. But most of the time it's not bad at all! Olivia usually walks with me - she knows not to stray. Landon is strapped into something - whether it's a shopping cart or stroller. And then I sling Lillian on my chest. Not too bad.

But, the thing I find the MOST interesting about going into public by myself with 3 kids 4 and under are the unsolicited insightful comments from strangers on "how full my hands are". These comments are usually accompanied with pity-filled faces and the tone of their voice is one of sympathy!! Do I look that horribly unhappy when I'm with my kids! I think NOT!! I would like to think that we're laughing and smiling the majority of the time we're out. Yes, I only have 2 arms and 3 kids. Yes, I look young for having 3 kids - but they're close together. It's not like I'm 25 with a 15 year old! And yes, they're ALL mine!

Someone asked me about a year ago where my kids went to school. I kindly replied, "Nowhere, I stay home with them." The response I got was, "Oh......." (voice falling as if to say, 'I feel so sorry for you'). I actually said back, "No, I like to, I want to, I choose to!" I view it as a privilege to stay home with my children.

Another day last week, I was packing up the car with a few groceries after putting the kids in the car. Olivia was whining, ok crying, about me not letting her get a coloring book from Publix. (that's another story in itself!) Then all of the sudden, an older woman getting out of her car yelled commented to me, "You're doing a great job, being a mother is tough!" Again, her voice was filled with pity for me. I just smiled and said, "Thanks."

Don't get me wrong, I think being a mother is tough. You have to give up a lot of things you want and give give give to your children. Being a mom is selfless. It's not about what you want anymore - it's about their needs and training their little hearts up the way God teaches us in the Bible.

Believe it or not, I actually LIKE my kids. I want to be around them. I choose not to pawn them off whenever I can. (I only do that when I'm on the verge of a nervous breakdown!) :-) No, seriously...DO NOT pity my choice to be a stay at home mom. I think it's the greatest thing to be the number one influence in their lives! Like I said, most of our days are filled with LAUGHTER!!!

So, this topic came up at my Mom's Notes group the other day. We all laughed about it and started talking about all the comments we get from people. My usual response to these comments is, "It's crazy - but A LOT of fun!" One of my friends (her wonderful blog is MorningSong - check it out sometime, she's awesome!) told me about a similar blog post of a mommyblogger talking about what to say back to people when they give you those looks and comments!! She had some great responses!! Raising Oaks of Righteousness is her blog - she has 2 toddlers and infant twins!! WOW - I love it!! :-)

She came up with several responses to all of the comments she hears. Her favorite response to "My, you've got your hands full" is...."My hands are full.....but so is my heart!"

WOW....I cannot wait to use that with someone. I'll let you know how it goes!

Painting Pumpkins!

It's pumpkin time around here! Or, "Hallowink" as my kids call it! Little does Olivia know that her school doesn't participate whatsoever in Halloween and we only go to a fall festival the church puts on. But that's OK with me! :-) I'm not sure if I'm ready to troll the hills of our neighborhood trick or treating yet!

I saw these baby pumpkins at Walmart the other day. I got a bag with 5 little pumpkins graduated in size...see where I'm going with this. :-) We painted Daddy, Mommy, Olivia, Landon, and Lillian a pumpkin!!
BTW, this was 'one of those pictures' I found on my camera that I didn't take!! hehe

It was so much fun. I even put Lillian at the table to watch what was going on. She seemed a little stressed after a few minutes though.

I painted faces on the mommy and daddy pumpkins. The kids just went to town on theirs! But hey, it kept them occupied for 30 minutes of the day....right!?



Here is a little video - for the relatives out there! Nothing too exciting. I guess I just like posting videos to my blog!! :-)




In the video I tell Landon not to drink the paint water. It looked like he was going to - and I wouldn't put it past him. Crazy boy!

Don't you hate your voice when you hear it! Oh well, I know that's exactly what I sound like to you guys!

Olivia the Photographer, Landon the Pirate

Every once in a while I'll find a bunch of pictures taken on my digital camera that Robert or I definitely didn't take. I guess I don't get too mad because we can delete them! (What did we used to do without digital cameras - do they even sell film anymore??) So these are some I found when I downloaded them the other day!! :-)

Olivia like to dress up once in a while. And sometimes, Landon gets sucked in too. He's worn everything from tutus to cheerleader outfits. But I think he's catching onto the fact that boys don't wear this stuff. Olivia can't get him into any of those outfits anymore. Smart boy! :-) SO.....we're working on getting him some boy dress up clothes. Cowboy hats, capes, you get the picture. Well, Lovey got him a pirate outfit the other day. We want him to wear it to our fall carnival at the church, so she got it early so he could get used to it.

Leave it to Olivia to coax him into one day. Get this - then the girl was smart enough to grab the camera and take pictures!!! I don't know what I was doing then, but I do remember her trying to get him to show me and he kept saying, "Don't look at me!" He apparently couldn't make up his mind whether he like it or not!

Here is a play by play....courtesy of Olivia!!

Olivia: "Ok Landon - stand up and smile!"
Landon: "STOP"

Olivia: "Landon, come on buddy, stand up and smile - you look so cute!"
Landon: "STOP, DON'T LOOK AT ME!!"

Olivia: sternly "Landon, STAND UP, buddy! Let me TAKE a PICTURE!"
Landon: "I'm LEAVING YaYa!" (how he says her name)


And Olivia kept on clicking!!!!!! HAHAHA!

I thought these were hysterical when I found them downloaded with bunch of other pictures! hehehe We've got a smart little girl on our hands!

Bathtime and Sugar Rush

We had a fun weekend. Olivia spent the night with Lovey and Daddy Doc Friday night and went to the play Rumpelstiltskin at the Children's theater Saturday morning! Mom told me the made it nicer than the original. The only part I remembered of the story was when the troll wanted to steal the baby - scary! But she had fun. Then they dropped her off at our friend's house where we watched the Ole Miss game!!! We played ALL DAY outside and even walked to go and get ice cream ::mmmm Bruster's:: after the HORRIBLE call by the ref in the Ole Miss vs. Alabama game in the last 7 seconds! Crazy!!

But it was a beautiful day! At one point, I asked Robert to watch the baby while I did something like help clean up. So.........this is his idea of "watching the baby".


PLAYING FOOTBALL with a 3 month old on his shoulders!!! Then I guess she was "hampering his style" and so he readjusted...........


He just SET HER DOWN!!! HAHA!!! Don't worry, I went right over and picked her up. She wasn't even fussing. She really enjoys the fresh air!

Needless to say, they all needed baths when we got home so they would be clean for church in the morning. It's not the greatest picture - but it is the first picture of bath time with all 3 in the tub! So much easier dragging the baby tub out, setting it in the sink, messing up two areas, dripping water off when you put it away....you get the picture. I think she liked it. And Olivia held her up when I washed her. It was great! Non of them look too thrilled. But like I said, they played so hard, went to bed early last night, and slept great from being so worn out!!


Well, I'm starting off this week with a fast or something. I was SO bad this weekend. I ate a WHOLE slice of COOKIE DOUGH cheesecake from Cheesecake Factory Friday night. And then had a huge bowl of CAKE BATTER ice cream with COOKIE DOUGH topping from Bruster's on Saturday - can we say......... CALORIES!! We won't even count the Mexican food and margarita! :-) HA! Good Gosh! I think I'm regretting canceling my gym membership. I guess I'll just have to nurse it off! hehehe The modern day liposuction!

Most weeks, I do really well eating wise. And then I have those times where I just don't care! Oh well, we can all be bad every once in a while....but that was BAAAADDDDDD.

Can You Spot the REAL Baby??

I'm so glad that toys we've had for so long are still getting so much use!!! If Lillian's not in them, another baby is. I guess they're playing "church nursery" or something. :-) If I had known they would be played with SO much - I would have gotten them out sooner!! HA!

Olivia was setting up all of this one night. After she had all the babies "content" (including the one she had in her baby sling) she came over to me while I was nursing Lillian and so observantly pointed out, "But your baby cries, and mine don't!" With a big smile on her face. (Can't you just hear it!!) :-)

Yes......yes that's right. And crying is putting it nicely - she screams. She's only finding her little voice in our crazy family!

I SLEPT TIL 8:00!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

That's all I had to say! :-)

We LOVE Softball!! I think....

One of Robert's favorite things to do is to play softball for fun. It's a night of the week he gets to cut loose and get some good fellowship time in. He plays for the Highlanders, which is also a small group at church. It's not a church league though - I think someone last night said they were playing on the competitive night. Not sure....I'm no expert.

But I've been watching Robert play softball since way before we were married! Though I can't say I've watch a game all the way through in about....hmmmmm 4.5 years! HA! Kids would rather climb look through the chain link fence, fall off climb on bleachers, and throw make "sand castles" with the red dirt from the field.

Well we decided to "wing it" and take all 3 to Robert's 6:30 game last night. I can do this....right? And risk messing everyone's internal clock up??? I am SUCH a stickler for routine and schedule, especially since Lillian's gotten here. It proves itself everyday when the kids are so much happier (and sleep longer) when I do stick to it.

But we go and it felt great - it's getting COOLER!! The kids had a blast. We got them a happy meal to distract them with eat at the game. Lillian liked it for the first few minutes. Bright lights and people cheering...at first I thought she'd sit there the whole time just in awe of everything! Just takin' everything in! She did....for about 15 minutes. Then she realized, wait, I'm supposed to be swaddled and eating right now. Something is not right.....I'll start acting uncomfortable!! Cue....Mommy walking/bouncing Lillian!!


But we did manage to get some pictures. One even courtesy of Olivia!!! :-)


Not bad for a 4 year old!

Lillian was up to her usually blowing raspberries profusely!


CUTE!! I told the they couldn't go play until I took a picture - Landon is saying "cheese" to get this over with as fast as possible. There is a huge playground right next to the field they were eying the whole time!!

We finally made it home - Lillian cried the whole way home. Poor thing, I messed her up so bad yesterday. The kids got a quick bath. I fed Lillian and she actually slept through the night - THANK GOODNESS!!! That might be the last game we make it to for a while!!

GO HIGHLANDERS!!!

Random

I don't know what's into me. I don't know what to blog about so I'll just put a few random pictures and blurbs. Maybe something more will come flowing out of my fingers... :-)



This was Saturday morning at our house. They're watching cartoons. I just think this is cute because it looks like Lillian is sitting up watching them too. It was kinda cool so we tucked them all in up there under the blankets! Landon looks really into it, HA!!


We dedicated Lillian on Sunday morning. At our church, they dedicate babies and baptize believers!! It was nerve racking up there on stage. There are so many people in the audience and all the lights were on us! AHHH. Not to mention you're on a JUMBO screen when they introduce you! I think the kids did pretty well. Landon tried to sit down one time. I'm just glad Chris didn't ask us how we got the bow to stick on Lillian's head - it's KY Jelly! And I don't think we would have been comfortable sharing that in front of his congregation! :-)
Robert's parents came in town and it was great to see them. They live a state away and it's gotten harder and harder to get over there. Can we say 3 kids 4 and under in a car for 4+ hours??? Ummmm.....nuf said.

But we were THRILLED they made the trek and the kids were very sad to see them leave! Actually, Poppy, they got a jumbo bouncy ball with the quarters you gave them at Publix today. They know how to spend their $$$ ! :-)


Then we had a nice lunch at my parents house with the grandparents and great grandparents! Of course Landon found better things to do.......


That was my brother's horse from 15 years ago. My mom keeps everything - but it's come in handy!!! It still makes noise too!!! So fun!

Well, that's all I got right now.

ENJOY!!

Testing....again.

I'm learning how to compress videos and upload them onto YouTube. I feel as though I am relearning a new language of computer talk. I used to be so "with it" on computers. They change so fast and I'm struggling to keep up!!

Anyway, I'm learning to compress them because YouTube has a 100 MB limit. I couldn't get sound at first but I think I figured it out now!

Please ignore the random chit chat - I have no idea what we're talking about. This is Olivia and Robert tubing at Lake Martin this summer! :-)

Enjoy!

Someone let me know if this works!

Need a Good Laugh????!!!

Ok, it doesn't take much to amuse me. Especially with funny things like Photobooth in iPhoto - I love making fun of myself with my family!!

Well, I discovered a website last night. It's called JibJab. And I have had WAAAYYY too much fun with it today!

I'll let the video speak for itself!!!




See what I mean??

Here's another!!





Ok, had enough???

ONE MORE!!!




Ok, are you crying laughing yet?? Or is it just me? The more you watch them the funnier they get!!

I just can't help myself. I could do this all day. There are lots of funny ones to put heads on! There are some I WON'T put on - for the sake of my family!! :-)

ENJOY!!!!

Ok, Funny Picture!

So, while I was on the computer for a bit, Landon was "being Landon". He's become very interested in Lillian's toys now that she's getting older. For example, saucer - the thing they sit in and there are toys all around them to play with. He gets in it, though too big, but he can also get out of it.

So, today it was the Johnny Jump-up. That funny little contraption that hangs from the door way for them to jump in. Well, he decided to get in it.


AND COULDN'T GET OUT!! HAHAHAHAH


Hmmmm.........maybe I should have left him in it. :-)

A Word from Lillian!

She says hello to everyone! Her favorite activity right now is blowing raspberries. She's gotten it down pretty good. Sometimes she has perfect timing - blowing them at you right when you say hello! It's hysterical!

She's our little doll!! :-)

The Kids Idea of Fun

Well, kids come up with brilliant ideas. Ours discovered the fun of riding down the driveway in anything that has wheels. Here is some of the fun they have!!!




They could do this ALL day long - and they do...when they're outside. Here is another one of Landon 'wrecking' into the neighbors house and Olivia almost taking a spill!!




Sometimes they tie up their toys to the back of the Barbie Jeep or Powerwheels Truck that they have and pull each other. It's hysterical - and sometimes NOT a good idea. They've had a few minor injuries from that brilliant idea - that I'm thinking they got from their father...hmmmmm. :-)

But they come FLYING down this hill sometimes - and crash really hard into the fence. They just giggle and go back up the hill. Landon even goes down backwards on a riding toy when he's feeling brave. Olivia has learned to lean to the left and right to 'steer' the riding toys. It was scary to watch at first but now I now they can handle it!!

Our God is a "High Tech" God...get it...the song! HA!

Sorry for that horribly unfunny title...I just couldn't help myself. When I read it, I hear the music to "Our God is an Awesome God" in my head.

But I think our God has gone a little high tech these days! Let me share.

As you know if you've been reading my blog, Robert's car broke down a few weeks ago. All of the sudden, we're out of our comfort zone and only have ONE car. Ok, that's not too bad...it could be worse. But we prayed about the car and the whole situation. Well, someone gave us a car that we could use but it had to be back Saturday September 29. Total answer to prayer - God was with us! We hoped our car would be fixed by then. But you know mechanics. Everything has taken a little longer.

So we take the car back that was on loan. And Robert's car gets towed to the shop. Now what do we do. I cannot seem to piece together in my head how we are to go the next week with one car. I mean, I partake in carpool, I have to take teachers appreciation lunches this week, not to mention the tons of other errand I run during the week. Not only that but Robert's work is like, I don't know, 25-30 miles away. And yes, you bet, he does it ALL in the city's worst rush hour traffic!! So I couldn't even figure out a mock schedule for us if I do have to take him to work.

But, we weren't worried. We know God has us in his hands. But still...we were really unsure.

So I blogged about it. It's weird, because I write all kinds of crazy things and I have NO idea who reads it. Which I kinda like, but it's still weird to not know who's reading about your life.

Sunday morning, around 7:30 or so, I'm awake before everyone as usual drinking my coffee. Preparing myself for the chaos a Sunday morning brings our household. It's the calm before the storm. And the phone rings. Who is calling? We don't get too many phone calls on a Sunday morning. I answer it and it's my Uncle. He says, "You Aunt read your blog...do you need a car?? I have 2 sitting here and you're welcome to use one!!" My jaw DROPPED!!!!! I just said, "Yes, this is an answer to prayer!" They dropped it off after church at our house for us!

Read my blog?? Crazy how God is working these days!? Then I find out later that my mom had sent an email to some friends about this situation just a few days ago!

please pray for robert and lindsay, roberts car broke down a few weeks ago..so he borrowed a friends car and had to return it today. he bought a new engine and it should be installed next week. so hard to watch them struggle..but what a chance for them to trust their Heavenly Father. i want to fix it for them, and know it's not the thing to do. hard..harder than you think. pray their faith to grow,taste and see God is good, Ps 50:15 -- "And call on Me in the day of trouble; I will deliver you, and you shall honor and glorify Me." they will know Him as their provider.ps 23:1

WOW, so God's into email and blogging! What a cool, hip God we have. He has truly provided for us during this trying time. He has been by our side this whole time and never left us!

Our God is an Awesome God!!