School Days School Days dear old golden.......

Yesterday we went school supply shopping, even though i only had 4 of the kids with me, it was a CHALLENGE. I think we spent a total of 2 hours and $140 on all the school supplies, i guess we won't be eating out or in this week. Wow i was shocked when i sat down combined all the list and it filled up more than one page with many numbers beside each item. You just don't really think about budgeting that kind of thing in. That was only for 3 kids to, now i'm getting scared. Anyway, ofcourse i threatened them to be good, quiet and let me think before we ever went it. We hadn't even made it past the first aisle before Tessa was pulling stuff off shelves the others were fighting over who was gonna get what and who's was who's and Emma has no concept of price and really didn't want the stuff that was on sale. Backpacks was a whole other issue i think that took about 45 minutes just deciding which one to get and ofcourse Emma had to get hers from a different store completely. At the end when we were ready to pay, i had to trade all the stuff Tessa had picked up throughout the store for a coloring book so there were no tears. Then after a brief intercession we went tennis shoe shopping (note to self never take Gracie shoe shopping again) It was total chaos and finally i just sat on the floor in rackroom and waited until they could find what they wanted because apparently my opinion was not needed. But the funny part is the first pair i tried to get Gracie to try on she hated, then she tried on at least 20 more pair and saw the first ones i saw and "oh mom look at these they are so beautiful" so i said oh they really are let's get those, and she says "thank you thank you i love them". Now that was funny. Emma and Isaiah weren't quiet as difficult, but they still tried on quiet a few, i know the clerks loved us when we finally got out of there. The good news is we are done!!!!

Exciting 2 days

The last 2 days have been exciting. Yesterday we drove to nashville well actually Franklin to see my cousin who had just delivered her baby when we got there. She was so beautiful and tiny, the kids were in aww over her. My cousin is the best she let every one of them hold her, and i think it even made Emma want a baby, but it didn't make craig want one. I said didn't it make you want one just a little tiny bit and he said "NO". So i guess that's that. My other cousin Brittany was big pregnant and she told tessa her baby was in her belly and Tessa started trying to look up under her shirt tilting her head like she could really see the baby, it was so funny. I guess you had to be there to see that one. So then we drove home last night it was a good trip.

So, today the kids had been wanting to have a lemonade stand. So we did. I got scared no one would come so i made a few calls. It was Fantastic so many of our friends showed up it was the best lemonade stand ever and we had such a great time, even the mail man and Ga power men came. I think the total they made was $30 and the lemonade was only 50 cents. Thank you Becky, Jason, Valerie, JohnMarc, Emmy, Michael, Ben, Jarod, Tiffany, Taylor, Jordan, Mackenzie, Amy, Jeff, Christian, Gina, Aunt Joyce, Amy, Caleb, Becca, Avery, the post man, the Ga power men, and Mickey. Yall are the best!!! So that's about it i'll leave you with some pic's of the new arrival!!

Quote of the week

If you look for the negative you will find it.

update on the potty

The pottty training did not work out, maybe i didn't give it long enough i don't know but after many accidents and her saying she will not go potty, i gave up once again. I think there should be a potty training boot camp you can send them to for a week, now that would be a great idea and save my sanity, she has definately been the hardest one yet! OH well, maybe next week we'll try again but i'm going to enjoy the weekend, we have about 4 weeks until she starts preschool surely we can nip it in the bud by then.

Adventures in Potty training

I woke up today, and decided today is the day! Tess turned 3 in may so i know it is way past time, don't get me wrong i have made several attempts at this but we never stay home long enough to be consistant. So anyway today i decided whether we stay or go she is wearing big girl panties. As soon as she woke up i made the announcement, she agreed and used the potty we put on the big girl dora panties which made her really happy. We went on several errands for a couple of hours then headed to nanny's. When we got to nanny's she used the potty so proudly then started playing. This was going to be easier than i thought, then it happened she came running in the room laughing, i said what is so funny? She said i pooped i pooped, well u get the point i won't into detail but it was gross, and she thought it was hilarious. Hmmm, this isn't going to be as easy as i thought. Well, it's 12:45 and no accidents since then, so i guess we'll see.

My Nanny

This is my Nanny. She is 89 years old and still is smarter than anyone i know. She gives the best advice. She doesn't get around that well but she can tell you a story than can give you hope in any situation. She is an unbelievable artist and can draw and paint anything. I love her so much, she is the closest thing i have left to my mother and she is definately in the same category as my mother. She loves us unconditionally like a mother does, and when i go on vacation she doesn't want me to go, and can't wait for us to get back. I love that about her, when i call her and ask her what she's doing she'll say "i'm waiting on you", so we'll usually make a detour in her direction. Anyway, just wanted to pay a tribute to one of the most important people in my life, because she really is the best!!

We're Home

WE are home! We got home last night around 10 after leaving at 9 a.m. Well we left the beach at 9 stopped and ate for an hour, then we rode 4 hours, stopped and ate again, then we stopped and snacked, then we stopped and pottied , and then we stopped and gassed up, in more ways than 1 but i won't go into detail on that one (except that the windows were rolled down most of the rest of the way home), stopped again well u get the point. Anyway, i was so glad to be home. We had a good trip, but wow it feels so good to be home, i missed my friends and family. My grandmother thinks i have been gone for 3 months, i called her on friday and she told me "i know yall are already home" and i said no nanny we really are not but i don't think she believed me. She was so glad to see us today, she said " Now yall have went you don't have to ever go again" that felt really good to be missed.

Last Day.....

Well, here it is the last day. We layed out by the pool, literally all day and craig and i got really tan or burnt orange you might say. Needless to say there is a whole lot of itching going on right now. Anyway, for supper we went to olive garden again, and then came back to watch the sunset and take our family picture, which did not turn out all that great, since no one wanted to pose, tessa was more interested in jumping the waves (that's why i'm holding her arms), ella kept running off to play in the sand and gracie was just trying my patients climbing on the pier like a monkey. So here it is, as best as jonathan could get it. So after the "family picture" we went swimming again and now the kids are in bed and i'm a close second behind them. We'll be home tomorrow!!
Craig and Jonathan, thinking the whole picture day was hilarious.

More pictures from yesterday

Tessa with the princess, she was so excited, she loves to dress up like a princess so this was right up her alley! The elephants were practically right over the fence, you could almost touch them.
Tessa and Ella on a little train ride, Ella is buckeling tessa in.
The crew. Notice Tessa's face, she was very bossy today and didn't want to cooperate for any pictures she wouldn't let anyone stand near her and to actually get a picture of them all together we had to do it in her location, so this is a spot she went and stood on and everyone had to run and follow before she jumped down.
I think this was gracie's favorite part, the monkey's!
We spent half an hour just watching this one in particular he was so funny, he was really showing out, and making faces for us.

Day 5 & 6

Well, yesterday i took absolutely no pictures. For most of the morning we stayed by the pool, then after lunch we played a 3 hour game of monopoly. Then last night we went to karaoke, which was the most fun we have had. I sang rescue me and respect and everyone got all hiped up and this lady got up on stage and danced while i sang, it was hilarious. The joke of the night was that i had my own private dancer. Then today we went to busch gardens, and we all had a really good time, but are dead tired, we have just gotten back and it's 9:15 and now we are going to the pool, whew i'll be glad for this vacation to get over so i can get some rest!!

This was so neat, they actually got to pet the flamingo.This was us waiting on craig and jonathan to ride the big boy rides!well, this just reminded me of craig.....Tessa and ella completely conked out after lunch, thank goodness for strollers.
This was another picture while waiting on craig and jonathan, i think people felt sorry for me trying to get them all to pose at the same time while tessa was running away, so they offered to take a picture of all of us.oh how sweet!Jonathan, notice the background!This was on a train ride around the park.

Day 4

Today was a good day, i am pleased to say. This morning we got up and went to tampa to adventure island, a water park. We had a lot of fun the kids were good and the water felt great. We saw some interesting sights, one being a 9 month pregnant woman in a bikini, and another being a 75 year old man in a speedo, and there was much more in between but those are the two that stick out the most. Ella was very brave with her swimming today and Tessa was a little water shy, and ofcourse everyone else was ready to do almost anything. The perks of the day was anheiser busch employees got a free locker rental, free stroller rental ( which came in very handy) and 30% off all food, drinks and merchandise, and ofcourse we got in free so we spent the whole day and only spent about $25 bucks so i was pleased. Now the men are talking about paracelling, i'll let u know how that comes out. I am a little more worried about supper than chancing my life, personally.
Look at those abs on that boy!!
Tessa does not like water in her face, well unless she is trying to drink it out of the pool.
Ella conked out before we even left the parking lot.
and Tessa right behind her.

3 down.....

The day started, well early.... the kids got up at 7, and we ended up at the pool by 9:30, well we ended up at the pool several times today and the beach only once, we could have saved a lot of money by renting a room at the holiday inn in town. But anyway i digress. Jonathan is burned to a crisp, craig is a close second behind him and me and the kids are getting a nice golden brown (someone has to be responsible) One thing i have learned while sitting at the pool all day is that ANYONE can wear a bikini, just a lot of people shouldn't. After we went out for supper, which by the way always feels like the beverly hillbillies going to town, we went to a shopping strip, where we saw a girl in a thong for shorts, i took her picture but it didn't turn out that great so i'm not posting it. But believe me it was unbelievable i have never seen such in my whole life. Anyway we came back and went swimming again, and got some real excitement when a woman from the 4th floor was going to town screaming at her daughter who was down at the pool for losing her cell phone at the beach. I felt bad when the poor girl had to go up to the room, we didn't see her anymore but i'll bet she won't be out for a while. So, that was pretty much the whole day, 3 down just 4 more to go!!! Sunsetting, waves crashing, cool breeze blowing.... romantic huh? NOT!
This is our shopping spree from behind, i always am amazed when i see them all in front of me, it's sometimes hard to believe they are all mine!
Tessa and Ella shopping, this is what they thought they were going to buy, there were a few tears but ultimately they were ok. Notice the shoes on Tess that's what they got today 3 pair just alike, they found those before the toys, i bet they are regretting that decision right about now.
$40 would have bought these for Gracie and now that i see the smile on her face in a different light, i'm thinking we should forfeit supper tomorrow nite and let her get them!

I guess this just explains it all, should we jump? Or tough out 4 more days........

Day 2 so far...

The morning started off kind of rocky, Craig decides to get up at 7 a.m and slam every door in the condo, unintentional i'm sure. Needless to say by the time he had left, he left me a great surprise everyone awake. So when he got back after 9 he decides to take a nap, so off to the beach me and the kids go, it's now almost 12 and we are back craig just got up and jonathan is still asleep from last night. Anyway here are the pictures from the beach and pool this morning. OH, and here's the clencher now that everyone is dressed again he's ready to go to the beach!!

Day 1 @ the beach

Ok, so here's day 1. We arrived after driving all night about 9:00 in the morning, check in wasn't until 4 so we did some eating and shopping, until about 1:00 when they let us check in. Needless to say everyone was getting gripy and tired by then. We did a little swimming, some of us did a little napping, well me and tess and ella did. Then, we went to eat supper where during dinner Ella announced really loud that she didn't have on any panties ( she had dressed herself). Then we sorta of got lost and didn't get back to our place until almost 10, then did a little more swimming and right now pretty much everyone is in bed except Tessa ofcourse. at the mall

from our balcony....
craig at supper, not much company as u can see!!

We are off to the beach

Picture this cool waves, slight wind blowing, waves crashing, screaming kids..... I can't wait. The ride down will be especially exciting, 8 people in a 7 passenger mini van, large families are so much fun. I can hear it now "He's touching me, she's looking at me", well you get the idea. But seriously it's gonna be fun, i'll try to post some pics when we take some.