Fun With Family

We have become some traveling fools. Isn't it crazy how you take it for granted when you have family living close by?? I remember that when I found out that my cousin Zack and his family were moving to Alabama, I started crying. "But Shannon," Zack said, "we never see each other anyway..." He was right, of course, because between general day-to-day life and kids, who has time to actually visit with family?? Well, Jacob and I have decided to not take family for granted anymore. We LOVE going to Alabama and Knoxville!!!  And of course, Morgie Porgie graciously lends her presence to the festivities as well!! We recently went to Alabama for Lily's 2nd birthday, and Kyler's 15th birthday.

When Lily outgrows her toys, she has promised to hand them "up" to Jacob and Morgan...

We were determined to get a pic of Jacob and Anderson together in their glasses (they got them the same week). I am not sure if this last one qualifies as "good" but compared to the first three, I am satisfied. I swear, getting Jacob to look at the camera was just as difficult as getting 1 year old Anderson to....

At Lily's party. Cuties.

We don't know if he fell asleep while talking or if he put the phone on his ear to block out the noise. Whatever the reason, Jacob quickly jumped on the opportunity and tied him up with lacross string. Unfortunately, I didn't get a pic, but just imagine....

Coincidentally, Noah was lacing up his lacrosse stick (sorry, don't know the correct term)...It is possible that he encouraged the above mentioned behavior of Jake...

Morgan's expression is so desperate!!! Seriously though, I was so proud of her-she used to be DEATHLY afraid of balloons popping, which meant she was DEATHLY afraid of balloons in general because of their potential to pop. She was so great at the party, even when some did pop!!

goobers. enough said.

Cousins!

Waiting at the Cheesecake Factory (that's right. I had white chocolate macadamia nut. yummmmmmmm) for Kyler's birthday dinner. They are watching some cartoon on my phone.

So, Saturday night, we hung out at Zack and Amanda's (they actually live together-inside joke) REALLY late, so both kids fell asleep during the drive. Which of course meant they were all giggly once we got back to Nicole's house, where we were sleeping. Morgan had decided she wanted to sleep in our room because the night before she had slept in Grammy's room with her but was kept up all night because Grammy snores (maybe a little exaggeration).  So we borrowed sleeping bags from Zack and Amanda, and they slept in my room. Since they had their 20 minute power nap, they were totally PUMPED by the time I got their sleeping bags ready. Commence MUCH GIGGLING. Which equals no sleep for me. But it was cute. Love them.

Shoes With Bones!!

Jacob and I went shoe shopping-actually it was for me, but the boy LOVES to buy new shoes for himself.  He wanders to his section, pulls out shoes and holds them sole-to-sole to his feet to see if they will fit. Totally cute, or potentially gay, I am not sure which yet... Anyway, I digress. When he pulled these out, I hear him yell "Bones! These shoes have bones!" As I make my way over to him, I realize he is talking about the cardboard shape thingys inside the shoes. I laugh with the worker, then help him try them on (since he does in fact need some summer sandals).  As he is walking around in them, trying them out for comfort, he asks, "if we buy these, do I get to keep the bones?"  Yes, baby, of course you do.

The Week of Glasses

This spring break, Aunt Debbie, Uncle Vince, Melissa, and Anderson came to Memphis for a visit and stayed with us. It was SO MUCH FUN. Jacob literally counted down the days. He helped me clear a space in his room for Anderson's pack 'n play, he made the pack 'n play more comfy by adding a blanket, pillow, stuffed monkey and a book, and helped he dig out toys of his toddler days from the attic.  Thanks to 2nd counsin Melissa's AWESOMENESS, he totally started getting along with her like he sees her everyday. She jumped on the trampoline with him, challenged him to all sorts of crazy contests, and constantly complimented him on his various ideas. And of course he loved Aunt Debbie and Uncle Vince (and the fact that they brought him a present had NOTHING to do with that!).  He graciously gave up his room, sacrificing by having to sleep on an air mattress in our bedroom (it was a tough decision for him, truly).   It was just a great visit!!

That last one we are all going through Jelly Bellies, duh. We can't have a family get together without eating junk. And these next two are of something REALLY nasty on the buffet at the restaurant, where we were of course eating trash (haha, inside joke).  Jacob wanted me to save it for show and tell. I got him to settle on a picture...Thank God...

And finally, what would a get together be among our family if there wasn't a random issue to crop up. This get together's issue was....drum roll please...bad eyesight!! TADA!!!  Of course everyone knows about poor Anderson's ordeal with his cateract (sp?).  Part of the visit for Melissa and Anderson involved going to the Southern College of Optometry, where my mom works, to get Anderson some glasses using her awesome discount. Well, not to be outdone, this past Saturday, 3 days before everyone was coming in town, I noticed Jacob squinting while we were playing "Guess Who."  For those of you who have never played, the game board actually stands up vertically, which means it is really close to your face.  This is important-quiz will follow. I called my mom and told her I thought I should maybe bring him in for a checkup (and to give my mom her due, she has been nagging me to do this since Jacob was born. Babies get free checkups at her place, and many others through the    http://www.infantsee.org    program-check it out, seriously).  Anyway, Sunday, Jacob was reading something from a workbook that was lying on an end table while he was standing above it (again, this will be on the quiz).  This time he did not squint at all, and so I figured the squinting thing the day before was just him being a 6 year old (you know, goofy and random).  So when Mom called me Monday to tell me there was a cancellation at 1:30, I swear if it wasn't going to be free, and if we hadn't been on spring break, I would not have gone. But since it was free, and we were on spring break, I decided, what the heck. Well, in the words of the doctor, it turns out that Jacob is "a good bit far-sighted." Translated this means that he was squinting while playing the game because it was close up, and not squinting while reading from the height of the low end table because it was far away (far-sighted means he can see better far away, not so great close up).  To say the least I was completely shocked. I had not even told my husband that we even had an appointment!!  So on Friday, after Anderson got home in Knoxville, he and his mom picked up his glasses, while coincidentally, Jacob and I were picking up his.  In a couple weeks we will see each other again and get a shot of both of them together. But for right now, you have to settle for this one of Jacob by himself:

He picked out the frames and he LOVES them. You may be thinking, "oh, I guess green is his fave color," but no, red is.  And that, ladies and gentlemen, is the logic of a BOY.  My cutie.

P.S.  He asked me SEVERAL times before everyone arrived if Lily was coming. Can't wait till April 8th!!!!!

Mom of a 6 & 1/2 Year Old Boy Means...

Other than constantly stepping on legos, being the mom of a boy means this:

random action figures hanging from your cabinets.
And this:

random things stuck to decorative tables with magnets.

Abby's Cheer Squad at Nationals in Orlando

Go to this website. There is a bar above the video screen that gives you options like "Varsity" etc. Click on Large Varsity Division II. Then scroll down to the right of the video and look for St. Benedict High School. 


http://www.varsity.com/event/1443/2011_national_hs_cheerleading_championship.aspx

Valentine's Day

Today in Jacob's Sunday School Class, each kid got a rose to give to their moms for v-day. This is how my rose was presented to me (by the way, it doesn't upset me at all-it amuses me.  I could have picked it out as being Jacob's if all the roses had been clumped together! Do you see why?)

LOVE MY LITTLE BOY!!!!!!

MY FAVE TWO LITTLE PEOPLE

From the looks of it, this pic was taken in October (thus the pumpkin in the background), but I just found it on my camera yesterday when I decided to erase some the pics on the card. Morgan came over one day to play, spotted Jacob's handsome (if not worn out), homemade Ghostbuster shirt and proceeded to do what Morgan does best-make you want to give her everything in the world by sounding pitiful: "I wish I had a Ghostbuster shirt..."  By the way, this is why tie-died shirts were made in Knoxville during Thanksgiving break, why she usually comes home from being with Aunt Shae with a new something- I am just weak for it.  I guess it is because my child has a much different tactic when it comes to getting what he wants, and it is, shall we say, less enduring....Anyway, I am a sucker for my Morgie Porgie!! LOVE, LOVE, LOVE both of these two little people!!!

P.S.  Morgan wore this shirt to school a couple days later. That's why I love her. Not afraid to rock it!!!

P.S.S. Free advice: every mom should add some of the "iron on transfer" paper for your printer and a pack of plain white t-shirts to their "back to school" shopping list in August. These items are great for those random days when your child comes home with a note stating he or she is supposed to come dressed as-insert random person here-the next day...and you don't have the time, desire, or money to go out during a non-costume clothing-available month to hunt down something appropriate for your child to wear.