Gracie Turns Two!!!

Gracie turned two on Saturday! I can hardly believe my little princess is already TWO! Yikes! She is such an amazing blessing to our family and really just completes the picture! She loves playing babies and dress up. She loves to change clothes . . . over and over and over. She has a very sweet loving spirit. When she sees a real baby she always wants to hug or kiss it. We had a small party for her and she LOVED her cake. She proceeded to taste test each and every rose bud on the cake. It was so cute!

Unplugged

Monday morning bright and early I leave for summer camp. Yes, old mama me is off to summer camp with the youth of TSC. I can't wait. Last year we did the Beach Week thing in Florida. This year we are heading to an actual camp on a lake in Kentucky. There is no cell service . . . no internet service . . . we will be completely unplugged. I fear that some of these young teens will be going through with drawl on Tuesday. I expect to see some air-texting because their fingers are so used to texting non-stop. My 8th grade girls today even said that texting doesn't fit into any real category - recreation, eating, family time, church time, work, etc - because you can text 24/7 - some even wake up in the night if they hear the vibrations of their phone. For some this could be the first time in a long time that they go without texting, Facebook, etc. I am sure that we will all survive and have a great time! So off I go on an unplugged adventure with some super kids!
Here is what I will be missing while I am away . . . aren't they precious? Brandon will be at camp with me - mostly avoiding me due to me embarrassing him.

I ain't gonna lie . . .

I am one of "those" parents . . . I am one of those parents that thinks the first day of school is GREAT! I love my kids, but working full time does not allow me to be a very good entertainer in the summer. My kids will be the ones bored this summer . . . wondering what to do . . being forced to go outside and play instead of sitting on the computer or watching TV all day. I will have to become super creative with ways to entertain within hearing distance of me while I work. It can pose quite a challenge. There will be camps and there will be vacation. But in the middle of those times, I will hear "I'm bored". Today, day one of summer, has been okay. Brandon is off making a video for our youth camp next week. Dawson has some friends over. Sophia and Grace are hanging at day care. So I have taken care of Day 1 . . . now what about the rest of the summer days?!?!?!?

Soccer Is Over , Another Graduation, Etc.

Last week we played our final four games for spring soccer season. We have had some busy Tuesday, Friday, and Saturdays with soccer. The summer break is welcome before we get back into it with fall soccer. Sophia and Dawson both did awesome this season. Sophia continues to prove she loves to run and is a tough cookie out there on the field. Dawson has improved greatly as a defender for his team and is looking towards possibly giving soccer a try in middle school. This is our little beach bum whose latest trick is clothes changing. She will disappear and come back in a completely different outfit. This was Sophia's outfit from daycare that day, Gracie found it and put it all on by herself. I thought this was a cute picture of Jeff and Sophia. It has been a while since you have heard a good Sophia quote, so here you go. Saturday we were outside and this lady and her son came up to hand us a flyer. Their cat was missing and they wanted to see if we had seen her. We chatted a bit about our sewer cat collection that is in our hood, and they walked away. As they were walking off, Sophia looks at us and says, "that lady doesn't make much sense." We were like what? "She is out looking for her CAT while walking her DOG, why would the cat come?" Good point sister!

And here our final picture of this post is of our elementary school graduate. They were required to dress up for the occasion. Dawson kept declaring he was in his monkey suit and how terrible it was. He did not have to wear a tie, he did however have dress pants, a real belt, and dress shoes on. Here you see the best picture I was able to capture. We are very proud of him as he did receive the President's Award for his accomplishments in 3rd, 4th, and 5th Grade.

The Art of Dentistry Strikes Again!

As some may recall, I started off 2009 at the dentist. I have always said that I hated the dentist. Yesterday, I decided that wasn't really a fair thing to say. Because my primary dentist is really a hoot, and I do like her. However, I have decided it is the "art of dentistry" that I have a very very strong dislike for. Yesterday I went for one of two appointments to replace my bridge work in the back of my mouth. For a normal mouthed person this does not sound like a lot of fun. But for someone like me who the out of ordinary always seems to take place in relation to my mouth (yes, both in my teeth and quite often the words that I say). Anywhoooo . . . I was weary that this would be an easy two appointment procedure. And boy, was I right? After sawing off the old bridgework . . . yes I said SAWING . . . no amount of music out of the i-pod could keep that sound from bouncing around in my head and making the hair on my arms stand up and my toes curl. It was HORRIBLE! Once the old bridge came out in multiple pieces, it was (of course) discovered that the back tooth . . . the one I had the lovely root canal procedure on at the la-te-da dentist back in January . .. that ole back tooth was pretty well done. After digging . . . and digging . . . and digging . . . on it, Ms Dentist said that there was nothing left of the tooth to make bridge work out of again. So . . . guess what? NOW . . . my two appt procedure became . . . an appointment with an oral surgeon to have said nasty back tooth pulled and consult on if I need an implant back in there. Oh and I probably won't be able to just have an implant because my sinus wall is so close to where the tooth would need to be I will probably need a bone graft to lift my sinus wall before an implant can be placed in. Ms Dentist has had this done . . . her words "No fun!". ERRRRR! And besides my visit to the oral surgeon, I do still get my second visit with Ms Dentist because I have to have the front tooth crowned because it has been living under that bridge work for sometime. So you see, the art of dentistry has bit me in the britches once again. I am thinking of going for the pure redneck look and just having them all pulled and gum my food.

Animal Sounds

Pre-K Graduation and Mother's Day

Okay, so it is not a very clever title . . . but it is what it is. This weekend was spent celebrating Sophia's exit from Pre-K, and celebrating Mom's Day.

Sophia's graduation celebration had a program during it where they represented each of the countries represented by the kids. Sophia agreed to wear her China dress for Ms Beerman (there are shorts under it) which meant Gracie had to wear one too. Aren't they cute?This was Sophia's excited face during the whole ceremony. She looked like she was having the worst time ever the whole time. Afterwards I asked her what was the matter . . . she said "I am just shy."This is Sophia and her "boyfriend" Steven. Steven will stop attending day care in two weeks. He will be attending another elementary school in the fall. This might be the end of our first love!
For Mother's Day, I got a new camera. It has the feature to take multiple shots over and over again while staying in focus. Gracie was blowing bubbles with Grandma on Saturday in the Boro, and I just kept taking photos. This one was one of my favs.Two of Gracie's favorite things are thumb sucking and hair twirling. While in the car on Saturday, she fell asleep while twirling her brothers long locks. CUTENESS!

On Friday, Brandon gave us all good news that he scored a 26 on his ACT's. In our state, this gives him access to the Hope Scholarship next year. We are very proud of him.

And here is a RARE photo of me with all four of my kids! They are a great crew and I am a very blessed mother! I received many homemade cards, breakfast with Dawson, gifts from Brandon, cuddles and loves from the girls, and a great Sunday afternoon nap!

The Sonic Car Hop Says . . .

so my brave SIL, JoJo, went to her local Sonic last night in the Boro. She asked the car hop what she made. She said . . . car hops make $3 an hour because they have tip potential but those that work inside make minimum wage. So, if said car hop is truthful, we should probably start tipping our Sonic car hops. :-)

Another Episode of Random Ramblings

Okay, so it has been a week since I last posted. I wanted to be sure you all got the low down skinny on our trip to Talladega. We are now in process of making plans for our Atlanta Race come Labor Day weekend. We are going to rent an RV and do the weekend up right with the rednecks.
I have no photos to share of the last week as my camera busted while we were at Talladega and I have yet to purchase a new one. So I have missed a week of funny moments. Such as last night when Gracie had three tee-tiny little pony tails in and looked as though she belonged to the Who family. Maybe as Gracie Lou Who?!?!? Or when Sophia was oh so sweetly reading books to Grace? Or how long Dawson's hair is getting? Or Brandon has he was around a bit last week and would wrestle around with his sisters, or how he has convinced Sophia to walk on his back every night? Yes, all pictures I will have to recapture once I purchase a new camera.
I have started a debate of sorts on my Facebook page with my latest status. What is the standard tip rate for a Sonic worker? I googled this and there appears to be much confusion on the issue and more than just I that wonder this. The question of many is if the Sonic wait staff makes minimum wage or not? If they make min wage, then the extra change or $1 or 2 seems appropriate for their troubles of bringing you their food. I mean they do brave the elements and all to bring us the delicous goodness that is Sonic. And if you do stay there and chose to destroy your car, they will ask you if you are okay, if you need ketchup or salt, and if you need refills. I can definately see giving them a bit extra. But consider if each car gave them $1 and they delivered to 25 cars in an hour . . . they are making over $30 an hour now at Sonic. However, if they are not making min wage and depend on our tips . . . then we should probably go with the percent type standard. But what is that percentage when you are not seated at a table and they are not taking your order , getting it right, and bringing you your food? We are up to 18-20% in sit down resteraunts as a standard I believe. So does that now make Sonic a 15% tip? Ah, the things I can consume my brain time with. I am sure there are much more important things to debate . . . but none as fun as the Sonic Tip Debate 09.
Sophia has been up to her usual thinking habits lately. Her latest favorite subjects are God and if he is magic and Wedding Proposals. Her and Dawson talked Jeff into circles last week with saying God was magic to do all that he does. And while magic isn't exactly the word we would want to use . . . I suppose from their perspective it is all pretty magical how God can do all that He has and continues to do. Sophia is also wondering at what age you can ask someone to marry you, why the boy has to ask, why I said yes when Daddy proposed, etc. To the last question, I said, "because I loved him." Her response . . . "hmm, well, why didn't you just say Nah I will wait for someone else to ask me?" Oh the poor blessed man that snags her heart is in for a ride.
We are gearing up for the end of school so we have a busy month ahead. Sophia will graduate from Pre-K. Dawson will graduate from 5th grade. I am all for celebrations and such - but I also tend to lean towards the celebrating smaller milestones make the large ones seem less significant. I am also of the belief that if it is a game you are playing, you should be keeping score and there is always a winner and a loser. Ah, another debate I am sure. Anywhoooo . . . so we will be attending some grad ceremonies in the next few weeks. We will attend grad parties for those seniors that we love. We have two weeks of soccer left. We have field day at Dawson's school. Dawson has two field trips. Brandon will be having finals. Right after school gets out, Brandon and I will head to youth camp, and then after that Dawson will head to Cross Camp and Brandon will be off to Mazatlan for a mission trip. (breathe) Somewhere in there Jeff might be going to India for a week or two with work, but will be installing his huge project at the end of May. Oh, and Grace, well as always poor thing gets to be along for the ride looking just as cute and adorable (and ornery) as ever.
And there you have it . . . another fine blog of random ramblings with a couple debates included.