Never walk away from a pot on the stove....

I put some syrup (water and sugar and a little maple flavoring) on to warm for breakfast and walked away. I got a little distracted. When the house was filled with smoke, I realized that something was amiss. :) I had turned the heat onto medium instead of low and this is the result. It took a minute to air out the house. I have learned my lesson...or at least I hope I have.

Halloween 2009

We had a busy Halloween this year! First we had a trunk or treat at church, then we had to dress up for school, plus a Halloween party and finally, the actual trick or treating. I have to say, I was glad to see the costumes put away this year. :) Here are some highlights from the trunk or treat. Jacob the Ninja with his friend Sam.
Beth with her friends Emily and Mia

Mickey, me and our little kitty.

My friend, Heather, and Maggie.

Madi and Emma had a fun time trunk or treating together.

All in all, the kids had a lot of fun this year. I am still trying to recover.

Smiles!

Maggie loves her bath but I think she may love being in her towels. I have had to use Emma's princess towel since Maggie seems to be outgrowing the infant towels. It just isn't fair. She is only 3 months old.

Maggie's Photo Shoot

My friend, Becki, offered to take some pictures of Maggie. I am very lucky to have such a talented friend! Thanks for doing these...I just put up a few of my favorites. :)

This is Maggie in her blessing dress. I think she looks like an angel.

Jacob's Baptism and Maggie's Blessing

We had a beautiful baptism for our son Jacob on October 4, 2009. Jacob's Grandma Hansen played the piano, his Aunt Tina led the music, his Aunt Becky gave a great talk on baptism, his Grandpa Hansen gave the talk on the Holy Ghost. The talks and music were so uplifting. At one point during a song, I felt as though the heavenly choirs were singing with us. Since my family had to travel a long distance to be here, we decided to do Maggie's blessing after the baptism. I will never forget that night. The Spirit was so strong. I feel so blessed to be their mother! We had lots of help! I can't say it enough, but Thank You!

Jacob turned 8!

October 3rd was Jacob's 8th birthday. How did my little boy grow up so fast? Jacob wanted an ice cream cake for his birthday. Since we had a lot of family coming into town, we decided not to have a party and gave Jacob the cash buy out option. Good thing since I don't know when we would have fit it in. Happy Birthday Jacob!

Autumn Chase Fun Run

The kids are starting to make the Autumn Chase Fun Run a tradition. They love to go and run this race. Emma didn't have as much fun as last year. Since the kids don't plan on winning, they all run in the same heat. Works for me since it shortens my time to stand around. :) The kids are doing another fun run on Halloween and I hope that Emma enjoys it a little more this time.
Here are the kids before the race!
And they are off!Look who we ran into at the starting line.

Can you see the difference?

I was uploading pictures today and found this picture of Maggie at 5 days. I looked over to see how different Maggie looks today..... She was wearing the same outfit and had the same blanket on her. I thought it was funny. This is her today at 7 weeks. I think she has grown a little. :)

Emma's First Day of Preschool for the Last Time

Emma was so happy to start preschool this year. I can't believe that she will go to kindergarten next year. She is a joy in our home. Right now, she is able to count to 29 without any help. She knows her colors, shapes and some letter sounds. She writes her name and wants to learn how to read. Her new favorite movie is Annie and she can sing everyone of the songs. She told me that she wants to sing just like Annie.

For Allyson and Kevin ;) and anyone else!

Maggie loves the bath. She has grown kind of rolly in the last month. I love everyone of them. :) Don't let this picture fool you. Maggie rarely cries. I was trying to coax a smile out of her and she wasn't in the mood to play that game. I just thought it was cute picture of her. She looks like an old man to me.Can you see the red hair?

Beth and Emma did a photo shoot with Maggie. I was a little irritated that a 10 year old and 4 year old had propped Maggie up at 6 weeks and left her like this. But I do like this picture.

3 Weeks Old

Maggie is 3 weeks today and growing up too fast for me. At her 2 week check up, she was back up to her birth weight and she had grown 2 inches in length. She is still a docile baby and rarely cries. She is a pretty good sleeper and a great eater. Her legs are getting rolls already. I love it!!

First Day of School

Yesterday was the first day for Beth and Jacob. (Not sure why I couldn't get a good shot of them both but this will have to do.) Both of their teachers seem to be really nice. I was a little worried about getting up and getting them ready. Thankfully, the day turned out to be easier then expected. When they got home, I think they talked a mile a minute. It was a wonderful day!

Margret "Maggie" Allyson

July 21st, Maggie made her grand entrance into this world at 10:07am. She weighed 8 pounds 2 ounces and was 19.5 inches long. I made it to 37 weeks before the doctor decided that my blood pressure was unstable. We went in for an induction Tuesday morning and 4 hours later, had our newest addition in our arms. Maggie is a sweet baby. She rarely cries and loves being held. Beth, Jacob and Emma couldn't be any happier about their new little sister. They love to hold her and take care of her!!

Free Bowling*

I found this website that was offering free bowling* for kids under 15 (* you pay for the shoe rental about 13 bucks for my kids). I am thinking that it would be cheaper to buy bowling shoe since you get 2 free games a day until August 30th. So I decided to sign up and took the kids. The kids had a great time. Beth and Jacob even had strikes. Emma loved the bowling shoes and insisted that her socks were pulled up as high as possible. I thought she looked adorable.

Emma's 4th Birthday

June 23rd was Emm'a 4th birthday. I wasn't feeling great on her birthday. Lucky for me, Emma wanted to swim 4 times on her birthday, eat pizza and have a pink cake with pink icing and pink candles. All easily done!!! She gave up her blankie on her birthday and has stopped sucking her thumb. Where did my baby go? She seems so grown up to me now.

Funny story: Emma woke me up on her birthday and the first thing out of her mouth. "Mom, I am 4 today just like Lincoln." One of her friends turned 4 in February and she would constantly start conversations with "when I turn 4 like Lincoln...." I didn't realize that a 3 year old could be so concerned that someone was older than her. :) Emma when she came home from the hospital.

Beth had a photo shoot with Emma.

Emma came out of my bathroom with this beautiful face. She loves to have makeup on.

Nashville

Mickey and I wanted to have some sort of family vacation this summer. We decided to go to Nashville since it is only 2 hours away. We were excited to go. We planned on going to a water park, a children's science center, the zoo, the Parthenon replica and to the Hermitage, Pres. Andrew Jackson's home. I did forget my camera so I don't have any pictures to share. The weather was super hot! I think it was around 100 degrees the whole time we were there. We ended up missing the zoo due to the heat and my swollen feet! (We will go back in the fall!) But the kids enjoyed everything we did. The favorite place was the Hermitage. I was surprised that the kids loved it so much but Jacob was asking to return as soon as possible.

It was so nice to get away and enjoy the time with our family.

Baseball Party!

For Jacob's end of season party, the team and families went to the Stars' game. Jacob's team was able to go on the field and when their positions were called, they got to run to the base/field area. They looked so tiny next to those big players. Jacob ran to home base since he played catcher at the end of the season. In all the pictures, Jacob can be picked out since he is the tallest. I think he had a major growth spurt this spring/summer.

We watched the game and had an awards time during the 7th inning. All in all we had a great time. I was getting a nice sinus infection that night and didn't feel up to taking pictures! This has been a bad season for pictures. Hopefully it will get better!

Blueberries and Baseball

Here is some information on the place that I have been blueberry picking. It has been a few years since we have been in town to pick! So I am looking forward to having blueberries in my freezer again. The kids are given their own small buckets to help pick. If anyone wants to go with me and the kids let me know!

Mary Mac Berry Farm - Blueberries, blackberries

2060 Dug Hill Road, Brownsboro, AL 35741. Phone: (256) 534-5328.

Directions: 4.2 miles north of 431. Two miles south of 72 East.

Open: June 15-August 15 Monday to Saturday, 7 am to 7 pm. Be sure to call ahead.

Now on to baseball. Yesterday, Jacob played a double-header and his team did so well. They have lost more games then they have won. Which is fine...it's the experience that counts, right? Jacob was having a great night. His team won the first game and were very happy. For the second game, the coach moved all the kids to different positions. Jacob has played catcher for the last 2 games and has loved the position but he was moved to 3rd base for that game. During the second game, Jacob even got his first home run! I have rarely seen such a happy face on that boy! (Of all games...I didn't bring a single camera!!!) They ended up losing the second game by 2 runs. Turns out that the team we were playing against hadn't had a win all season. I think our coach is a good man who really wanted to make sure everyone had a good experience. It couldn't have been a better night!

Memorial Day Weekend

We were ready for the long weekend! My parents decided to visit for a few days. Unfortunately, Emma had a fever for whole time they were here. Mickey got the pool filled up and the water was freezing. Of course, Beth and Jacob were sure it would be fine. They swam for a few hours and when they got out, they were freezing. But if you ask them, it was fantastic!

After my parents left on Monday, we headed to the movies with the kids. I didn't want to head home. So we decided to go North to Tennessee and explore. We started out at Falls Mill. They use a century old mill/water wheel to grind wheat and corn. The grounds were beautiful. We bought some multi-grain pancake mix to try and I think it is great.

Mickey wanted to drive farther on to Winchester, TN. Once we got there, we saw signs for Tim's Ford Dam. So we decided to see the dam. It wasn't as big as I thought it was going to be and the grounds were overgrown and a little dirty. Not my favorite site of the day.

I was ready to go home and Mickey thought if we kept on the road we would get to Fayetteville, TN. We didn't take a map and I was getting a little nervous. Prayers are answered and the Holy Ghost does brings things to our remembrance. Suddenly, I remembered that I had picked up a pamphlet at the Mill and it had a useful map in it! Mickey was right...as bad as I hate to admit it. We were headed in the right direction.

In our wanderings, we found Lynchburg, TN. We got there about 4:30 and saw signs for the Jack Daniels Distillery..last tour at 4:30. The staffers were very nice and held the tour for us. The kids loved the smell for the very first part since it smelled like bread. But after that, they kept putting their shirts over their noses. The grounds are beautiful and the tour ended with a glass of lemonade. (The kids favorite part!)

By the time we got home, I was ready for bed. All in all, we had a great weekend.

End of the School Year!

Jacob finished the 1st grade. He was on the A Honor Roll and got a trophy for reading 100 AR books. He had a fantastic year and looks forward to being a 2nd grader. Here he is with his teacher, Ms. Davis and his friend, Arizona.

I don't know why I don't have a decent picture of Beth from her awards day. But she had a good year. Beth earned the AB Honor Roll and looks forward to being a big 5th grader next year.

4th Grade Field Trip to Montgomery

Due to the Swine Flu, Beth's field trip to Montgomery was postponed for 2 weeks. Beth was so excited to go on this trip. The school received a grant to make the trip possible. Beth had to be at the school at 5am and then got home around 9pm that night. They rode charter buses, toured 6 different Alabama history sites and finished with dinner at a buffet. Beth had a great time.

Strawberries!

Earlier this month, I took Emma out to pick strawberries. It had been so rainy at the beginning of the month and we finally had a dry afternoon! Emma lasted about 15 minutes and then she was ready to be done. I finished the gallon and we headed home. That was Thursday. I had hopes of making strawberry jam. But I have fruit addicts and by Friday afternoon, all of the strawberries were gone. I convinced Mickey to head to the strawberry patch at Browns Farm on Saturday. We had planned on picking a few gallons this time. Unfortunately, the rains started about 25 minutes after we got there and we only got a single gallon. This gallon made it until Sunday and then it was gone! Next week, I hope to take the kids to the "pick-your-own" blueberry farm.

Beth and her odd shaped strawberry.

Emma loved to pick and acts like the expert now.

Jacob found this perfect strawberry.

Oh the memories!

When I was a kid, we had a pool in our backyard. I used to live in my swimsuit all summer. Well...we decided to get a (cheap) pool from Sam's and have something for the kids to do since we are not going to be traveling this summer. Yesterday, Mickey set up the pool. Now, we are in the process of filling the pool and I feel just like that kid again. I guess I have never really grown up! I hope that the kids will make the same happy memories.