Our new "old" swingset

We promised our kids a new swingset for Easter. Then things happen. Like replacing the septic tank. Unforunately, our swingset funds is now in the ground collecting well, you know, stuff! Ha! I had brochures from the Menonites and we had been looking through and deciding what we were gonna get. Our kids were super excited because their old swingset was given to them by our neighbor who's grandkids had outgrown it. Needless to say, it was worn out. Maynad has this special gift of finding things we need or would love to have. He decided to pull in someone's yard one day and ask about their swingset. The owner said his daughter was 17 and no longer used it. So Maynard bought it fairly cheap and broughtW it home the next day. Were my kids dissapointed? Why no! They didn't care if it was used or not. It's new to them. They have spent many hours out there already. I have too though. Amelia is driving me crazy. Please swing me, mommy. All day long. My poor yard. It looks horrible, I know. I wanted to post a cute video of Amelia, but can't figure it out. Maybe next time. Next week: kindergarten graduation.

Teacher Appreciation

Angie Taylor has inspired me. Ha!

Hope I haven't drove you nuts this year! That's what the pic says on the pail of nuts. brilliant, I know. Im trying to blog from my phone. Its not going so great. Maynard got me a new phone for my birthday. Im still trying to figure it out.

Mother's Day 2012 and a bit of randomness

Hello, everyone! I hope you mothers out there had a great Mother's Day.  My little family took me out to eat at our local roadhouse for lunch on Saturday because we had every intention on eating at home on Sunday and skipping the craziness in all the restaraunts.  However, we were dab smack in the middle of graduation craziness instead.

Sunday morning as soon as Josiah's eyes popped open he went to his backpack and handed me a card and drawings he had made for me at school that prior week.  He was so excited to have something special to give his momma on her special day.  Titus seemed a bit jealous and ran to his room and made me some cards too.  It took him about 30 seconds to complete his, ha!  Amelia wouldn't wish me a Happy Mother's Day because she said it was "Muel Mill's birbay".  (Mill Mill's birthday)

My gift from Maynard and the kids were much needed picture frames.  I have pictures piling up and I'm really needing to hang them up sometime soon before the kids are grown.

Sunday School was special because our Sunday School classes got to present their Mother's with something very special.  Two weeks ago the Sunday School classes got to have a fun day.  They got to go to a pottery place and choose something special to make for their Mothers for Mother's Day.  I am one of the teachers so of course I had to go so I had to act suprised yesterday when I opened their gifts.  Here's a few pictures.  You are going to love what Josiah and Titus made for their very own Mother.

                                                           Amelia made me a cupcake.
 

                                       She picked it out all by herself and had a blast painting it.

And now for the boys.  Typical boys, I might should add.

Yep, they just knew that their Momma was going to love a 4-wheeler!  So, I have 2 4-wheelers and a cupcake setting proudly on my dresser.  And you know what, I do love those 4-wheelers! Ya'll want to place a wager on how long they are gonna last?  The kids seem to forget that they belong to me now and they want to play with them.

So here is where the randomness comes in............................................................

I don't have a crafty bone in my body.  I take my kids to the library weekly for story and craft.  Most of the time I have to help (do) Amelia's craft and most of the time it really looks like she did it when I'm done with it.  I'm not good at any craft related thing that most women are really good and interested in.  So, saying all that is because I have had a hankering I guess you would call it for one of those really pretty wreaths to go on my front door.  You know, the kind with the mesh ribbon all over them.  I price checked these babies and they were gonna cost about $35 to buy one.  So I found a huge grapevine wreath at a yardale for like a quarter.  It was begging to be put on my front door.  But like I said, I am craftly challenged.  I clipped a coupon out of the paper and drove right to Hobby Lobby to buy me some mesh ribbon and stuff for my wreath.  I was gonna try it all on my own.  I got to Hobby Lobby and was so overwhelmed that I almost started crying with anxiety.  I sent Maynard and the kids to the car.  I had to concentrate and I didn't know what in the world I was doing.  It didn't help that Josiah kept smelling the fake flowers and exclaiming just how good they smelled.  I tried to tell him they were just fake plastic flowers and they didn't smell.  However, he was so convincing that when no-one was looking I bent down and smelled one anyways.  Yeah, it just smelled like plastic.  LOL

So, here's what I came up with.  Keep in mind that the hot pink flowers have light pink on them closer up, so it really does match, it just doesn't show up too well in the picture.

                                              The mesh ribbon is hung or whatever you call it.

Ta Da!!!  Be brutal! What do you think? I can handle it.  Just don't say something like my sweet sister Melissa said, "Yeah, I think the colors are all wrong.  I would go with Hot Pink and Black." HA!


So here's some more randomness.......................................................

Last night at church Maynard and I were up front singing.  Before we sang he said a little spill about Mother's Day and how he appreciated me and how my job wasn't easy, especially with our 3 kids.  So, I guess Titus and Amelia decided that they wanted to portray a little bit of that uneasiness because "CHAOS" took place ya'll!  Maynard and I were singing away when all of a sudden Titus must have felt something powerful because he kicked his leg out just as far as he could.  The problem was that his shoe didn't stay on his foot.  That shoe when up in the air,onto the platform, and above our dear Pastor's head and hit the wall behind him.  So of course, we are stifling giggles at this point.  When we had our composures together and kept on singing, Amelia must have felt something powerful on her side too.  She was on the platform steps.  She stood straight up, stuck her chest out (I'm not sure why, but she did) and started running around the middle of the aisle.  She was feeling good and their wasn't a thing I could do about it.  So finally after I realized she wasn't going to stop, I layed my microphone down and took a step towards her to get her.  But at the same time I was doing that, Maynard also layed his microphone down and took a step towards her too.  He got to her before I did and grabbed her and sat her on the pulpit while we tried to finish singing.  Let me tell you, it wasn't easy.  We both got tickled and just said, "Forget it"!  Thankfully, it didn't destroy the rest of the service!

My last bit of randomness............................................................................................

Even though I go on and on about my kids being wild and naughty, I really do love them and I thank God everyday for them.  I prayed for 7 long years for God to bless me with a baby.  Here's a little bit of some personal info about me.  lol.  I have PCOS and was told as a young teenager that I probably would never have any children of my own.  I was upfront with Maynard when we got married and he just said we would trust the Lord about that later when we were ready for a family.  I was prophesied to by Henry Sheperd from Alabama that God was gonna fill my basket.  Little did I know, I was already pregnant at that time.  We were so tickled.  When God touched me, he touched me good.  Needless to say, I have had 2 other kids since that first promised child.  Believe you me, my basket is full and running over.  Ha!
I'm not sure why I shared that, but I just felt like I needed to.  If any of you all or dealing with infertility, I know what that feels like and would love to help you pray for God's healing.  Even though I waited 7 years for a child, I look back now and think, was I really ready for a child if I would have been able to have had one when I first wanted one?? God knows what he is doing and I am so glad He is the one in charge of my life.

Cheese Curds Anyone?

Maynard had the privilege of preaching a youth service not too far away from this area.  The service was great, but the preaching was 5 mins short from an hour. (However, it was good preaching too, I must add) So I asked "that preacher" if I had ever told him I could listen to him preach all night. He said <proud grin>, "No, you haven't?"  So I said, "Then what made you think I wanted too?" Ha!!!  This is a joke we've both heard before, but I was kinda letting him know that he is getting a little longwinded lately.  3 kids in a strange church during an hour of preaching, equals disaster for me!  Especially, when the water fountain had been spotted by a certain little 2 yr old.

So after church we stopped by Dairy Queen with a few others.  I noticed on the menu they had something new called "Cheese Curds". (We won't repeat what Maynard called them.  Hint>> It rhymes with "Curd". Ha!  When placing our order the cashier asked if we wanted to substitute fries for cheese curds.  So Maynard asked, "Is there anyway we can maybe sample the Cheese Curds to see if we like them?"
"Of course, let me go get ya'll some."

I kid you not! This really happened to me!!! But does that suprise you?

The cashier came back to the register with his hand stuck out with 4 cheese curds laying in his hand.  Yep, in his hand.  Not in a plate, or a box, or napkin or anything.  Nothing, only his nasty, stinking hand, ya'll.  My mouth just about hit the floor.  My pastor was also standing up there with us.  I noticed He and Maynard just kinda froze.  So, I felt the need to be the spokesperson here.

"Ewww, your kidding, right?  You have them in your hand."
"But my hands are clean, I just washed them."
"But sir, you are running a register, you have been handling money and now you are touching food."
"My hands are clean, I promise.  Here, try them.  I think you will like them."

So, I'm laughing at this point because I always laugh in awkward moments.  Maynard feels the need to jump in and say, "Just go ahead and give us fries, we will pass on these for right now."

I could kick myself because how great would it have been to had a picture of a DQ employee holding cheese curds in his hand? Sorry, I let ya'll down on this one!!!

I'm gonna leave ya with one picture.  I'm trying my best to figure out how this picture of me got out.  If you see it and know who has done this to me, please let me know!!

Cheese Curds Anyone? LOL
I hope this don't offend anyone.  Please don't cut me off if it does.  I won't post anymore naked pics, I promise. 

Titus strikes again

I'm telling ya, there's never a dull moment around here.  Just yesterday Titus and Amelia were playing the WII in the living room so I thought I would take the opportunity to take a much needed relaxing bath.  While soaking in the tub, I could hear Titus laughing.  Well, it's better than hearing them fighting and screaming, right?  Then, I hear keys jingling.  Amelia likes to get our car keys and put them in her cozy coupe so I assumed that is what she was doing.  I finish up my bath and when I get into the hallway, I see a cord wrapped around Maynard's office doorknob.  I follow the cord into Titus's bedroom where he is pulling on the other end.

"Titus, what are you doing?"
"I'm trying to get Millie out."
"Is she in Dad's office, Titus?"
"Yes, and the door is locked."
"How did the door get locked?"
"I did it."
"Why?"
"I don't know."

So, normal families have keys to bedroom doors, right?
Well, this abnormal family doesn't.
I go into panic mode, but yet I am struck with a serious case of giggles. 
I try to coax Amelia into unlocking the door, but she's kind of like her mommy and just didn't understand.
Amelia was as happy as she could be though.  She knows she is not allowed in that office so there were lots of things to explore.  I kept her talking to me though becuase there are tools and nuts, bolts, and screws, and stuff like that in there so I was worried she would get hurt or choke to death on me.  I called Maynard and he was about 30 mins away and told me to take a pipe wrench to the doorknob.

"Amy, use a pipe wrench to pull the doorknob."
"Ok, sure.  What the world does a pipe wrench look like?"
"Good grief, Amy! Do you know what a hammer looks like?"
"Of course I know what a hammer looks like."
"Then get a hammer and beat the doorknob off."
"Ok, where is a hammer at?"
"There's got to be one around there somewhere."
"TITUS, do you know where a hammer is?"
"Sure, Mom! In here."

So Titus finds me a hammer and I start beating the doorknob.  Except, I kind of keep missing the doorknob and at this point the door is looking pretty beat up.

"Amelia, are you ok?"
"I pooped, Mommy." (oh, well, she's ok) Ha!

Finally the door swings open.
"Hi, Mommy!"

So, a locksmith I'm not, but I had to get my baby out of there!!  And was Maynard mad at Titus when he got home? Why no! He was so mad at me for busting his door down.  I'm innocent, the hero and I still get blamed!!!


We also had a spill this weekend in a shopping buggy.  Titus was running around wild so I grabbed him up and put him in the back of the buggy.  While I was putting him in, Amelia was climbing out.  The whole buggy tipped over, and once again I fell right on top of the buggy and onto the kids.  I grabbed my kids and walked straight out to the car in pure embarssment and pain.  My legs were bruised and my toenail had flipped back.  The kiddos were fine, thankfully.  I was scared to death Amelia had broken her leg.

Maynard had a bad attitude yesterday and said, "Put this on your stupid blog."  I was so wounded that he would call my blog stupid, but thankful at the same time for him suggesting what I could put on my blog! HA!!

Amy's absentminded adventures............

For those of you who know me well, know that I am a little, well, confused sometimes about things.  I thought I would share just a few things that has happened to me recently.  I will start with the most current.  Sarah, Please make sure you are sitting down and don't eat or drink while reading this blog today.

What is this? Can anyone guess? I wish I had time to blog again tomorrow because I would leave you all in suspension until then, but I can't.  Here's a hint:

Maynard pulled it out of my brand new sink and pipes.

So here's the story..................

I kinda got tired of my old wax in my tart warmer, so I thought lets go a different scent today.  I grabbed up my melt warmer and I kid you not, I dumped the hot wax down my kitchen sink.  I immediately realized that probably wasn't a good idea.  So I thought, well I'll just turn the hot water on and keep the wax moving on down.  I turned the hot water on, but it never turned hot because I had been washing clothes all day and it ran out. I hoped for the best, but soon realized my water was barely going down the drain on both sides.  I figured I'd keep running hot water down and eventually it would clear up and Maynard would never have to know about this little incident.
BUT, it didn't get any better, but I had made up my mind to boil water on the stove when Maynard left for work the next day and see if that would help.  So, that very night, I fixed a nice supper (Michelle, it was your new recipe and we loved it) and anyways, while I went to give our dog scraps, Maynard had started doing my dishes.  He never does the dishes.  Why was he doing them now? But, I had forgotten about the sinks draining slow and was tickled to death that he was washing our dishes.  A little later I heard him say, hmmm...  "Amy, have you noticed the sinks not draining good."  I was like a deer caught in headlights! My innocent reply was, "yeah, I have noticed it is kind of slow, but it will eventually go down." There maybe he would accept this and forget about it.  But he went in the bathroom and started messing with the tub and sink.  I realized he thought the septic tank (which the whole thing was just replaced) was messing up and I knew I was going to have to come clean.  So I hid my face behind a roll of paper towels and spilled the beans.  I can't even explain the look on his face.  Thankfully, it was anger.  I think he was amused at how embarrased I was to tell him what really happened.  He plunged the sink and all the pipes came loose under the cabinets and we have a flood dear friends!!  So eventually, we got all the water cleaned up and he found the above picture of wax lodged in my pipes! That water goes down the drain without a hitch! Ha! I will never, ever do that again, I promise.

I don't have a picture for this, but I meant too and forgot. This one has to do with Maynar's little junk car he drives around as a gas saver.  It is a white Toyota Camry station wagon.  Poor thing has over 200,000 miles on it, but he loves that car.  Well, yesterday it broke down on him so I had to go bail him out at work and help him finish driving his route.  While on the way back to check his car out, we passed a car on the road that looked just like his.  I screamed, "Someone has stolen your car!"  I jerked the turn signal on and started to pull over and go follow the car.  They were not goning to get away from me, I was in pure Harlow Doyle mode.  Maynard said, "Amy, I have the keys in my pocket.  Not only that, the car is broke down on the side of the road.  It won't even start.  LOL  We got so tickled.  I mean why in the world would anyone steal the car in the first place?

I'm kinda short on time here, but I will add this last one real quick.
Yes, I admit to trying to feed Amelia a sucker that was really an eraser that I bought at the book fair at school!  I even handed her a wet wipe to clean her 'would be" sticky fingers.  I couldn't figure out why she wasn't eating it until she gave a piece to Titus to eat and he refused it too!  Now that was a good laugh too.  Oh well, at least I can laugh at myself!!!!

Bye the way, Today is my hubby's 40th Birthday.  He robbed the cradle, ya'll!!!!!

Spring Break 2012 (another long blog)

This was our 1st Spring Break since Josiah started kindergarten this year, and I decided to make the most out of it.  Every single day, except one day, we had something planned to do.  This will probably end up being one of those long posts, but since I usually only blog once a week, I have a lot to talk about!

Monday afternoon after Titus's speech therapy we headed out for lunch at our favorite local mexican restaraunt.

Amelia comes alive at this restaraunt.  I craved Mexican food while I was pregant and she loves it.

After lunch we were officially on a road trip.  Just me and the kids were headed to spend a few days with their mamaw, papaw, and lot's of cousins.  It was a little over 2 hour drive, but we made it with only 1 bathroom stop.

(CAN I JUMP RIGHT IN HERE AND SAY, I CANNOT FIGURE OUT WHY THIS IS CENTERING EVERYTHING I'M TYPING, PLEASE OVERLOOK THIS, ITS DRIVING ME INSANE)

First thing we had planned was an Easter egg hunt with all their cousins at a local park. Sorry, I have those pictures on an actual camera and not on my phone which is all I have with me right now.  They played for a couple hours at the park and then we went to eat at Texas Roadhouse for supper.  (Remember, it's my favorite restaraunt!)  Kids eat for only .99 cents on Monday Night! yay!!!!  So after supper my nephew Cameron decided he wanted to spend the night with us at Mamaw's.  Cameron is a few years older than my boys, but they played so good together and it was just one of those fun cousin nights at Mamaw and Papaw's house.  I have lots of those kinds of memories, so I hope they will too. 

Saturday morning we were invited over to my sister Christy's house to bring the kids over to play and for lunch.  That ended up being lots of fun too. 

Mamaw's dog, Tanner jumped in our van and refused to get out, so he got to ride along with us to Aunt Christy's house.  Titus, Cameron, and Josiah are all smiles to have a dog in the van.

Tree horse rides, how fun!

After a fancy lunch of Dinosaur chicken nuggets it was time for us to meet up with our other cousins at a fun place called Blazers.  Expensive, but fun.  So thankful for that discounted group rate, Angela!!!  Blazers is kind of like our local inflatable bounce house, but it has arcade games, putt-putt golf, rock climbing, and roller skating.  How fun does that sound?  You pay admission and stay as long as you like.

It's so hard to get a good picture of Titus because he is never still very long!

I think Josiah needed to catch his breath a little on this one!

They had an area marked off for little people.  I would love to tell you that, that is where Amelia stayed and played, but that wasn't the case.  She thought she could do anything her brothers did.

The last hole keeps your ball. Guess who didn't go in order? lol 

After several hours at Blazers, we left and went to Mr. Gattis because, why? Duh, it's kid's day there on Tuesday nights.  Kids eat for $1.99 and 2 and under are free!! yay, again!!! I'm all about getting a good deal!  After supper we made a quick trick to walmart.  Ok, I realized you didn't need to know that.  I could have said, "We went straight home because, we had to get up early the next morning."  But that's not what happened.  We had to go to Walmart then home.  I just wanted you to know that, ok? ha 

Now the kids are back at mamaw's and in the bath-tub and in bed.  We have to be up by 6:45 Wednesday morning because we were invited to go on the homeschool field trip to the Kentucky Horsepark in Lexington.  Which happens to be on our way back home so we had to get ready and pack the van back up and meet the group at 8:15. 

What a great time we had.  My kids loved everything about it!

.25 Horse rides.  More like bucking broncos to me!

This horse was a little slower or maybe about broken.  Just right for Amelia!

Lunch Break. (see, the walmart trip was an important detail, we had to have a picnic)



It was so cold.  We had to borrow jackets.

Around 4 o'clock we headed back to the house.  My kids were in despair that our trip was over and we had to go back home.  We met Maynard out for supper at our local roadhouse during happy hour where appetizers are half price.  And again, Amy strikes cheap again. lol  I was so happy to see Maynard.  This was the longest I had ever been away from him.  But, he got so much work done while I was gone.  He replaced my kitchen sink and faucet, replaced bathroom sink and vanity, and got our septic tank fixed finally.  Believe me, the septic tank thing is a blog all in its self, but I will spare you the details.  When, I first walked in the house every dish I owned was in my kitchen floor.  He just ran out of time and needed another day at least! ha! anyways, we got it all put back away, and I was tickled to death with all his hard work.  I was out playing and having a great time while he worked so hard.  I guess it was easier to get some work done without little people under your feet and a "big" people telling you how to do it! ha!!!

So, we had a few days around the house and the kids played outside all day long in the dirt.  Because, no, we have no grass now.  It is all dirt, and my kids couldn't be happier.  We need to get the yard leveled and plant some grass seed.  There's no need to mow anytime soon though!

Saturday morning Josiah asked Maynard to do something fun with them since he had to work all week and hadn't got to do anything with them.  So after a few questions from Maynard like, "What in the world is considered "fun"?  I threw up the idea of maybe goint to Stearns, KY to go on a 3 hr train ride.  So that's what we did and had an absolute blast.  Don't you just love spur of the moment trips?

If anyone needs something to do one weekend, I recommend this train ride.  Yeah the train is old, but the scenery is nice and it was just an enjoyable trip!

Well, this leaves Sunday! You would think we would go to Sunday School and then lunch and back to bed, right? Nope, spring break wasn't over just yet.  We ate a quick lunch at Steak n Shake (kids eat free on weekends, lol) and headed to Cumberland Falls with my friend and her kiddos.  It was a gorgeous day to be at the falls.

And so you know, this picture was taken right after Amelia ran into me with her stroller.  I tripped and my skirt was caught in the wheel.  I fell onto the stroller and the stroller fell on top of Amelia.  Not a pretty sight, I'm here to tell you.  Amelia had a big knot on her head, but she was more mad than hurt.  I just hurt my pride a little bit!

 Do you really think we needed these chocolate ice-cream cones? yum-yum

Here's our happy crew.

A little rock climbing.

So, sorry guys this was such a long blog, but we had a busy spring break and wanted to share!  Things are slowing down a bit, so I have no idea on what to blog about next week.  Hopefully, Titus don't help me come up with anything!!!!!