The Warrens

Boys will be boys......

2012-01-10T17:06:00.001-06:00

On the second night of VBS, Christian and his friend were goofing off outside and Christian jumped on Michael's back, which caused him to loose his balance and they both fell backwards. Christian reached out to break his fall.....and instead broke his wrist! We didn't take him to the ER that night but checked on it in the morning and were pretty sure we needed to take him in.So we are becoming quite friendly with Dr. Cutright, the orthopedic doctor in Springfield. He has now assisted us with Matthew's broken thumb (due to the nail gun), Rebecca's broken finger (due to volleyball) and now Christian's wrist. Oh well, at least he's a nice guys.However this definitely puts a damper on our upcoming lake vacation!!

Christian and Madisyn at VBS- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Father's Day 2011

2012-01-10T16:37:00.001-06:00

My kids have the greatest Father in the world (well, it's a close race with my own Dad of course). Here are our annual pictures.

As I have previously blogged, there are a few of my family members that have blinking issues. A quick solution is to close yours eyes until the count of three and then open them. However as the photographer, it's a funny sight so I thought I would show you what they look like on the count of two!

Christian had to get his picture taken on Dad's lap if the girls did!

The father of my children with his awesome wife!!! (that would be me)

We gave him the DVD set of The Pacific. It's sort of a sequel to Band of Brothers which he loved. He had a grandfather that served over in the south pacific in the war. He was thrilled.

Test

2012-01-09T14:08:00.001-06:00

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

A visit from the Tooth Fairy

2011-11-05T22:03:00.000-05:00

Our silly little girl has wiggly teeth much sooner than the big kids did. She does not want to wiggle or pull or do anything to make them looser. Her first front tooth was just hanging - there was so much room between the teeth and we MADE her pull it one night. There was much tears & crying but in the end, it was worth it....you'll see at the end!

Silly Girl

So pathetic.... see the tears!

Okay - not so bad now!

Yep - there was a bribe involved

Not only ice cream but you can do your own sprinkles. Guess it was worth it!

Meeting Reese Payne

2011-10-25T08:00:00.001-05:00

The newest addition to the Payne family is Reese Payne, born May 27th to my brother, Justin & his wife Mandy. We took a day trip to Memphis in early June to meet her and visit the family. We wish we could have stayed longer but we took full advantage of the day with them. Sweet little Reese was an angel and we all enjoyed our turn with her.

Christian with Reese

Rebecca's turn

Reese was stretching for Julianna

My turn!!!

So pretty....with her new blankie from Aunt Katie

My friend Susan (Aunt Su-Su) came over to visit with us and had to have her turn with Reese too.

Me & sweet Susan

My 2 nephews.....James & Kramer

We took advantage of a family photo shoot

All of us

My sweet Brothers Family - we love you guys!

Goodbye Hutchesons

2011-10-24T08:00:00.000-05:00

We have some sweet friend that moved to New Jersey. We were very excited for them because it's a great opportunity for them, but they are so far away!!! We had a little get together with them and unfortunately, I didn't take too many pictures,but I was too busy visiting. This is the family that invited us over to their house for Easter Sunday lunch on our first day as new staff at our church.

We will miss them greatly.

Some of the girls - Becky is the 2nd from the left!

Me & Becky - I miss you already!

Great Fall Pictures

2011-10-23T08:00:00.003-05:00

Tubing Fun

2011-10-22T08:00:00.000-05:00

Tubing was their favorite - so we spent a lot of time tubing them. Here are some of the good shots I got:

Success!

2011-10-21T20:00:00.000-05:00

Out of the 4 boys Christian took with him, not a single one could ski, kneeboard, wakeboard, etc. So we had the great opportunity to teach them. Some of them had a harder time than others, but in the end, every single one of the boys had mastered something they hadn't done before the weekend, including Christian, who figured out how to switch his feet on the wakeboard. I can't find a picture of it, but I think I got a video of it. Anyway, here are some "success" pictures.

CJ actually popped up on his first try...here it is....although don't be fooled - he was never able to get up again.

Christian enjoying the wakeboard

Michael got the kneeboard pretty quickly and was jumping the wake by the end of our time there.

It took Cameron a while but he loved the knee board once he got up on it!

Tristan was awesome - he worked SO HARD to get up and once he did (our final day there) you'd have thought he conquered the world. It was awesome!

Water fun!

2011-10-21T08:00:00.000-05:00

I took over 850 pictures on these 3 days so it's very difficult to pick out my favorites. Plus I know you don't want to see that many pictures of ANY kids on the water. So I broke it down into a few different posts. Hopefully they are good ones you'll enjoy looking at.

Lean back, boys!

Christian showing off his slaloming skills

Tristan worked so hard to get up on that knee board

CJ with some kneeboarding success

What a great group of guys

Good thing Michael had on some shorts under his swim suit or this would not be as nearly cute of a picture!!!

Michael decided to get fancy and try a 360 on the kneeboard....he made it 180 and got stuck!

You will notice a theme in these next few pictures......

Boys at the Lake

2011-10-18T08:00:00.001-05:00

For Christian's 13th birthday,he got to take 4 friends to the lake for a couple of days. It happened the first week of June, which fell exactly on Rebecca's 12th birthday, but due to her mandatory volleyball tryouts, she had to be at home. Gigi came and stayed in Nashville with the girls while Matthew and I took these boys to the lake.

We had a great time and they all had so much fun on the water. They are all great kids and we thoroughly enjoyed our time with them.

Serious boys

Silly boys

Wow - a mustache so quickly after you turned 13??

Tristan, Michael & Christian

Cameron & CJ on the tube

Matthew drove the boys around on the sea-do

Ready for a wild ride!

Whipping up the water a bit!

Christian & Tristan

Advertising What's To Come......

2011-10-17T20:00:00.002-05:00

Happy Birthday Rebecca!

2011-10-17T08:00:00.002-05:00

Happy 12th Birthday, Rebecca.

We were out of town but someone took this picture of her at church on her "real" birthday!

Memorial Day & Birthday fun

2011-10-16T20:00:00.001-05:00

These are some pictures of our Memorial Day celebration other than just focusing on Rebecca's birthday! We are so thankful for our friends!

Julianna & Angela

Rebecca with Faith & Hope...... that's Shadow swimming in the background!

Mark & Matt playing cornhole!

Faith & Christian

Doreen takes a turn!

Marjorie gave me quite the competition!

Kurt enjoyed the game too


A bunch of goofies....Christian, Hope, Rebecca & Faith

Typical boy!

Celebrating Rebecca's 12th Birthday (Surprise)

2011-10-16T08:00:00.000-05:00

Rebecca turned 12 on June first but we were going to be out of town that day so we wanted to celebrate with her early. We decided to surprise her, so we planned a get together for Memorial Day with some of our friends and turned it into a Birthday celebration for her. She was completely surprised and loved it. You'll be able to tell from these pictures!

My sweet friend Doreen made Rebecca the Chocolate cake she wanted and then even decorated it for her!

We even had a few decorations

Rebecca - the birthday girl

Of course I forgot the candles so you can see a 1 and a ? which is close to a 2..... so she had to hold up her hands for good measure!! (Sorry sweetie)

Not sure what this face is about!

So excited! I think those were the home made earrings her friend Faith made her.

So excited!

So Happy! (I actually have more pictures of her with her mouth wide open!)

A Mosaic t-shirt. That's the Christian singing group we know and she loves!

Ms. Doreen got her a pretty frame and candle that uses batteries - of course she likes the bow too!


She wanted to get her hair dyed but we went with a clip in first....

Happy Birthday, Sweetie! We love you!

GMS Sports Banquet

2011-10-15T15:08:00.000-05:00

Christian & Rebecca were honored at the Sports banquet for their participation in the Greenbrier Middle School Athletics Program:

Christian - Basketball

Rebecca - Volleyball

Preschool Graduation

2011-10-15T15:04:00.000-05:00

We could not have asked for a better preschool. Julianna had just the most wonderful experience at Christian Community School.

They had a precious graduation ceremony and Julianna loved every bit of it. She'd been practicing for the songs and the Bible verses so she was thrilled when the night came.

Marching in...

There's her sweet friend Angela

Saying the pledge

All of their hats were just too big, so Ms. Kim had to help her out

Singing!

Proud of her diploma

Julianna with Ms. Kim

Best Friends!

Julianna & me

The Family

Our kiddos

The Locke's came and Julianna had to have a picture with Mr. Chris, her "Lovie"

The best teachers in the world - they adore her and she loves them!

One of her friends from school. Isn't that a great picture?!

Our silly girl

Our silly boy!!!

Our Young Graduate

2011-09-06T08:00:00.001-05:00

This is one of my favorite pictures ever of Julianna!!! Graduation post to follow. Just enjoy this picture for now!

Tennessee State Soccer Tournament

2011-09-05T08:00:00.000-05:00

In May, our soccer team qualified to play in the State Soccer Tournament which was held in Chattanooga. Our boys played hard and made it to the semi-final round and lost to Brentwood in a somewhat controversial game. However, we were very proud of how hard they fought and know we are truly in the top 3 teams in the State in our Division.

I didn't get too many pictures - too busy cheering I suppose. But I posted some I got.

My awesome #8

Thought that was a cool backdrop!


You can see the size difference!


Rebecca took the following pictures: Here's Julianna & Zeke

Still posing!

Love this picture - it's a little sister from one of the players - she's darling!!!

Since we were in Chattanooga, Grumps & Gigi came to the games.

I took this last picture - I mentioned our last game was a bit controversial. The refereeing was bad that we had parents go get the head of the refs to come watch our guy. It was bad.... but oh well. That's life!

Julianna's Field Day

2011-09-04T08:00:00.003-05:00

Julianna's preschool had a field day, so I came to help and take some pictures. She's had such a great year at this school and made some extremely sweet friends. I'm so glad she had this opportunity!

Julianna with her friends Maddie & Hannah

Showing off her Colts Tatoo

Ms. Christy uses Julianna's head to write her name on her bag!!

Foot ball toss - she actually made this one!

Such a silly girl!

At the candy walk

She looks so serious!

Ms. Doreen was manning the bubble stations - apparently she was doing a great job!

This is Julianna with Ms. Elizabeth, the director - what a precious lady who works hard to run a wonderful preschool!

Bowling Green Soccer Tournament

2011-09-03T08:00:00.000-05:00

This was the soccer tournament that went on Mother's Day - I didn't get many playing pictures, but here's one of Christian - check out those bright cleats. It's easy to find him on the field!

Julianna loved the playground!

The boys hanging out at the playground waiting on their trophies!!

Our boys - the White House Revolution 98 Boys - So proud of them!

Love this picture of my boys!

Enjoying the trophies!

Mother's Day 2011

2011-09-02T08:00:00.001-05:00

This year, we had a soccer tournament that fell over Mother's Day. We sent Christian on to it and then once they won, we were able to make it to the Championship game. So between church and the game, the girls and I got our Mother's Day pictures together!

Me with my beautiful daughters

Silly picture of course!

With Rebecca - isn't she growing up and so beautiful?!?

And of course my sweet little goofy Julianna!!

My picture with Christian after the soccer game - he was proud to tell me my gift was their winning the tournament!

Pictures from PEO Convention

2011-09-01T08:00:00.000-05:00

I went to the PEO Convention for the Tennessee State Chapter as a delegate from my chapter. I got to go to the banquet with both Mom and Dad so I had to share some of the pictures we took together!

Mom & me

Mom & Dad

The 3 of us together

Had to share this story - Our Board Buddy (Mom is my chapter's) left us goodies at our tables. Mom knew I was being health conscience so i got some Sugar Snap Peas and Laughing Cow cheese - isn't that awesome?!?! I've got the best Board Buddy (& Mommy) ever!!!

Easter Pictures

2011-08-31T08:00:00.001-05:00

The Warrens & the McDonalds

Our family picture

Ryan's sisters came to visit and had lunch with us on Easter Sunday - here's a group of all of them

Those cutie little McDonald kids!

My 3 beautiful children

We were under tornado warnings for a while and had the sirens going off. Once that passed, Matthew went out in the rain to prepare our yummy Easter kabob lunch. Thanks honey!

Yummy!!!

Easter Basket Hunt

2011-08-30T08:00:00.000-05:00

Last year when the McDonald's visited, the Easter Bunny made the kids find their baskets. This year, he was a bit more creative. All 9 of the kids woke to a note from the Easter Bunny telling them they were on a hunt for their baskets. They had to work together and go place to place with each other to find the next clue. It had rained the night before so some of the clues got wet and the grass was quite wet while they were searching, but had fun and found their baskets!!

The letter the kids woke up to

Most of the kids (minus Carter) ready for the hunt

Christian reading his clue (he found in the fridge)

Under Rebecca's tree

In the back of the car

Under the porch

Under the welcome mat

Under the trampoline

In the mailbox

Here they are!!!

Julianna with her basket

Christian with his basket

Rebecca and her basket

The McDonald's with their baskets!

Decorating Easter Eggs

2011-08-29T08:00:00.000-05:00

The kids were so excited to decorate eggs again this year!!!

Owen can hardly wait

Julianna & Caleb

Dylan concentrating hard

Tiffany & I had fun with the egg wraps!

Doesn't that look good? Way to go, Tiff!

Christian found these stickers stuck on his arm - so they are no his eyes....get it?

Rebecca with her eggs

Jordan made some cops & robber eggs. Here's the cop!

Here's the robber!!!

Julianna with her eggs

Christian's Ninja egg

Owen had so much fun

Gabby was proud of hers, too

Caleb - what a cutie!

The big boy eggs

Our set of Veggie Tales eggs

Owen snuck one and I had to chase him down to get this picture. Too cute!

New Responsibilities!

2011-08-27T08:00:00.001-05:00

Matthew took Christian out and taught him how to drive the riding lawn mower. He has great hopes that Christian will take over this job for the summer!

He doesn't look real thrilled, does he? Man, I tried to tell him that not only did I have to push the mower in my days, I also had to rake up the clippings and bag them! You would think he'd appreciate it....oh but if you've read my previous blogs, he's now 13....'nuff said!

A Surprise Gift!

2011-08-26T20:00:00.001-05:00

I have not blogged about the personal journey I've been on and won't necessarily go into it now, although many of my readers (ha - I know it's just my family who reads this, if I'm lucky!) already know what I've been doing. But since November, I have been changing my diet and exercise habits. I have a personal trainer, who just happens to be a friend of mine and she's my own little miracle worker.

I showed up for my work out and weekly weigh in in April and much to my surprise, my sweet friend had a 20 pound gift for me. That's not how much the gift weighed, but a gift to me for losing my first 20 pounds! I was so overwhelmed with her sweet gesture. So I had to take pictures and do a short blog on it. I had to share with you!

Isn't just the package the prettiest?!?


I got a Gatorade, a hand held fan (because I'm always complaining about how hot I am), a cold pack for when I get too hot, a soft towel to get wet & drape over me when I'm too sweaty for my liking and a wonderful set of ponytail holders that have major gripping and hold my hair back. Isn't this the greatest?!?

Thanks to Rachel, my trainer & more importantly my friend!

Easter weekend Visitors

2011-08-26T08:00:00.003-05:00

The McDonald family came to visit us again this year over Easter. They are friends who moved here from Ohio and we got to know them from church and then they moved back to Ohio. But we love having them come visit us.....especially on Easter weekend.

The usually arrive on Thursday evening and then spend Good Friday with Family as we usually go to Leiper's Fork with my family. But our plans changed this year, so we stayed home while they went to visit with Ryan's sister. It ended up being a really good thing for us to stay here and get a few things done.

Julianna ended up with a fever that Friday and took a nap (without being told!)

The house seemed awfully quiet and this is how we found Christian - sound asleep on the couch (that never happens!)


Matthew got the chance to work on his message while Julianna napped & I worked out!

This is Carter - the baby of the family - what a cutie!

As always, we love a bit of friendly competition

Ryan is one serious player, regardless of what it is we're playing

Gabby & Carter watching

Sweet little Maggie

This is Owen - the only Tennessee born McDonald - see the hat???

Julianna with Dylan & Caleb

Christian's First Job

2011-08-26T08:00:00.001-05:00

Christian took a Referee Certification Class during the winter. Based on his passing this class, he is able to be a soccer referee for both recreational and select teams. On Easter weekend, Christian had his first games to ref.

Christian in his uniform

As fun as he thinks it would be, I don't think he'll be actually giving a red card anytime soon (at least I hope not!)

He wasn't thrilled with his parents taking his pictures on the side line, but we did anyway!

Coach John was the center ref and he and Gage were the sidelines refs. During half time, Coach talks them and gives them tips!


This coach talks to Christian and asks for some verification of the rules - this was his first year for the girls to play at this level so a few of the rules were changed. Good thing Christian could answer his questions.

Christian refereed other games through the season but I didn't take my camera. I wish I would have - he was the center (& only ref) for some of the U8 games and he really liked those. But I've learned my lesson and I'll make sure I take my camera with me next season when it starts up again!

Christian's Birthday Party

2011-08-25T20:40:00.000-05:00

Christian asked if he could have a birthday party with friends from school because it was his 13th. We were a little hesitant since we'd already decided that part of his birthday gift was going to be taking some of his buddies to the lake in June. But we decided it would be okay. He invited a bunch of people from school, one friend from church and one from soccer. He had quite a turnout, too,

We had the party at the church and started with a great game of Star Wars - no matter what, kids LOVE that game. The only way we got them to come inside was when the pizza was ready. After pizza, we played some other "youth" type games and then had great intentions of showing them a movie. Regardless of what movie it was, most of the kids were not interested in sitting quietly and watching it. :-) Oh well, they still had a great evening and I think he really enjoyed this time with his friends!

Lined up to play Star Wars

The Birthday Boy

The others ready to start!

Christian is the Jedi for his team

This is Kayla, Christian's friend

Julianna liked the girls!

Dakota was one of the victims of the game!

(OKay - my pictures are out of order - that's Dakota trying to figure out the game)

A portion of the crew

The party crew

Christian & Michael

And of course the "silly picture"

Our first Teenager.....

2011-07-21T08:00:00.001-05:00

April 1st, 2011 - we now have a teenager in the house. Christian turns 13. Hard to believe. Before school, we had to have our traditional present opening so we grabbed a couple of pictures. We had a party for him that evening, so I'll get more pictures of those up soon.

Our Teenager

We got him a couple of Xara soccer shirts

Matthew did something very special for Christian. He had all of the men in the family to write a letter to Christian and then he complied these letters into a book for him. He specifically asked each man to write on a certain character quality. We were beyond thrilled with what values these Christian men wrote about to Christian.

Julianna spent her own money to get Christian a present. Notice HER excitement

Notice Christian's excitement (and the little red extra gift)

She'd added her little Sonic Toy as a bonus gift and thought it was SOOO funny!

So sweet

USA Soccer

2011-07-20T08:00:00.000-05:00

The USA National Soccer Team came to Nashville to play an exhibition game against Paraguay a couple of days before Christian's birthday so we surprised him with tickets to the game as part of his gift. Matthew, Christian & I went and I was thrilled because I'd not been to a professional soccer game before and I'd never been to the Titan's Stadium before, which is where it was held.

It was a cold night and it ended up raining a little on us but it was worth it. Sadly, however, USA lost 0-1, but we got to see some great soccer and some great players that we had watched for a solid month last summer during the World Cup!

USA & Paraguay before the National Anthems


A bunch of enthusiastic fans!

Landon Donovan

Jozy Altidore

Cold & wet but having a great time

Clint Dempsey

Michael Bradley

Proud of the Tennessee support to the game!

Soccer Champs

2011-07-19T15:00:00.000-05:00

Our boys won 1st place in the Smyrna Soccer Tournament at the end of March. We played hard and came out on top. It was awesome - it was FREEZING, but worth it!!! Way to go, Revs!

The White House Revolution Boys

Christian & Coach Matt

Matching Cuties

2011-07-19T08:00:00.001-05:00

Gigi ordered Julianna and her American Girl Bitty Twins matching outfits. They were back ordered and when they came in, she was so excited. These two pictures are just too cute to pass up putting on here! Don't you love the tights???

Twister Fun

2011-07-18T15:00:00.001-05:00

Over Spring Break, the kids were dying to get together with Michael & Morgan, so in the busy schedules, they got together over night. They had to leave mid morning the next day so they went outside to play a game while waiting to be picked up.

Rebecca got a new game for Christmas and it's a twist on Twister. They decided to play every variation of the game. It was soooo funny and they had the best time. Here are a few of the funny pictures we got!

Here was a game where putting the color over the body part and then touching another body part.

Obviously this was Christian's ear to Michael's shoulder

Elbows & Ears


Elbow to Elbow - Knees to knees

Tossing to arms & legs

My Children have problems.......

2011-07-18T08:00:00.001-05:00

This is a goofy post, I know, but I have a couple of children who have problems. As much as their mother enjoys pictures and they've known since birth when to smile, we have a blinking problem. I don't know if it's the camera or just them, but with Christian & Julianna, it take MANY, MANY, MANY tries to even get a decent pictures. So I had to post these. These are just a few of the pictures we took to get a shot of Christian before his braces and then later with Julianna and her first lost tooth. Goofy Children!!!

We usually have quite a few of these!!

Then it usually ends up just hilarious for them (and frustrating for me)

First Lost Tooth!!!

2011-07-17T08:00:00.001-05:00

Our sweet little Julianna has had wiggly teeth much sooner than either of the big kids did. As much as I love toothless children, it made Mommy a little sad that she's growing up too fast. Well, after that little tooth dangling, Mommy had to pull it out. Can't believe she's lost a tooth before Kindergarten!!

Photo time

Another cute picture

With the tooth fairy pillow for the first time

Happy Mardi Gras!!

2011-07-16T16:53:00.000-05:00

In the midst of a busy schedule, I tried to have a little family fun for Mardi Gras. I had a Weight Watchers recipe for Red Beans & Rice that we all liked so we had that and a King cake.

King Cake from Kroger

My red beans & rice (healthy version)

And much to everyone else's dismay, it was Daddy who got the baby!

Rachel's Visit - Final Photos

2011-07-16T09:08:00.000-05:00

Here are the final photos from our time with Rachel and her kids. We went to church together on Sunday morning and then we drove them down to Mom's house in Franklin where her next stay was. We had such a wonderful time with them and it made us miss them more and wish they were closer.....one day!!

The cousins

Sisters

Rachel & her kiddos with me and my kiddos!

Uncle Matthew with the girls!

Got to see Cassie very briefly while at Mom's so we grabbed a sister picture!

Mom and her girls!

The only picture I had with Payne - such a sweethart!

Rachel's Visit - Tea Time & More

2011-07-13T17:15:00.000-05:00

We had a rainy Saturday that cancelled soccer games so we all had to get a little creative inside our little house. The kids did a great job though and everyone did great!

Sweet Addelyn

Rebecca decided to put on a real tea party for the little girls.

Sweet Princess Addelyn

After the tea party, it was time for fort building!

Here's the fort, with a little help from the big kids

Rebecca wanted to feed Payne


What funny girls!

Payne was preoccupied with the TV and after 3 of these photos......

Uncle Matthew finally caught on - how funny

Addelyn got stuck between the mattress and the footboard of our bed

Mommy, I'm stuck! (in a sing-songy voice of course)

It ended up taking Uncle Matthew to lift & move the mattress to rescue sweet Adde...

Rachel's Visit - Cousin Fun

2011-07-01T08:00:00.004-05:00

During the weekend that Rachel was in town, the weather wasn't so great, so we stayed inside a lot. But that didn't stop the kids from being creative & having a lot of fun. Here's how the kiddos entertained themselves!

Sweet Julianna with her Aunt Rachel

Christian is thrilled there's another boy cousin!

Rebecca played dollhouse with them all

Christian & Addelyn. Can you tell who just woke up?

Watching TV together

Christian & Payne

Rachel cuddling with the girlies

Rebecca loved smiling Payne

Rebecca was so great pulling out so many toys for Addelyn

Rachel's Visit - Fun Outside

2011-06-30T22:09:00.000-05:00

On Rachel's first full day in Greenbrier, the big kids were at school and Uncle Matthew was working. So Julianna & I took full advantage of Rachel & the kids. The weather was cool and cloudy but we enjoyed some outdoor fun.

I bought the girls a matching outfit - good thing they had their white t-shirts underneath because it was cool! Aren't they cute?

You gotta have a silly pose!

Addelyn trying!

Addelyn enjoyed the trampoline with Julianna

Big Bounce!

More Fun

Always fun with Aunt Rachel / Mommy on there!

Aunt Katie's Job was to pull in the wagon!

Sliding fun!

Wheeeee

Our neighbor has a hammock between two trees and they let us swing in it. It's a bit woobly but fun for the kids!

Later Addelyn decided she'd try it on her own - this is a series of pictures of her doing it by herself - of course we are hee-hawing at her!! So cute

Julianna & Payne before our walk!!! What fun!

Rachel's Visit - Bathtime Fun

2011-06-28T11:38:00.012-05:00

My sister, Rachel & her two kids came from Washington to spend a little time in Tennessee. I got her first, which means, I got to pick her and the kids up from the airport and she hung in Greenbrier for a few days before she headed south of Nashville to visit with the rest of the family.

We had so much fun with them and took so many pictures that of course I will have to make multiple blogs.... so here we go!

After Chick-fil-a on the way home from the airport, we played a little and then had bath time. The kids were too cute so here of course is a blog just with bath time pictures!!!

Addelyn & Julianna

Sweet Payne - this was our first time to meet him!!

Julianna gives Payne a Mohawk!

Dumping Water on Addelyn - not sure she liked it at first!

Getting Payne to smile - it's not that hard

Holy Cow - what a cutie patootie!!

Playing around - you can tell these girls are gonna have fun together!

Beta Club Induction #2

2011-04-19T17:59:00.010-05:00

Rebecca was invited to join the Beta Club at school. We are very proud of her as this is for grades and character.

Rebecca receiving her certificate & pin.

Rebecca assigning the official book.

Rebecca was asked to be the person who received the official keys. The current officers passed them on to her and she had a brief speaking roll!

Rebecca with the keys!

Rebecca & her friend, Alexis
Our Beautiful Daughter - so proud of her!

Braces!

2011-04-19T17:39:00.011-05:00

Both Christian & Rebecca got braces! Merry Christmas. They look cute as can be... Rebecca - Before Rebecca - After Christian - Before Christian - After

Now that's a lot of metal!!! And we went through a lot of Advil, too!!!

Valentine's Day

2011-04-19T16:36:00.010-05:00

I always like to make a big deal for my family for Valentine's Day - it's my opportunity to show my family how much I love them. Well, this year, the kids had orthodontist appointments after school and I'd had a very busy day so my nice dinner had to be altered. Normally we get out the fine china and have a fancy dinner.... not so much this year.

I heard that Papa Murphy's pizza (which is a take & bake place we'd never been to) was making $5 heart shaped pizzas. So we thought that would be fun. Well, of course nothing quite went as planned but we eventually made it home and had dinner.

So here are my pictures:

I substituted paper plates for our fine china. These are the pizza's before we baked them.

Baked pizza

My beautiful daughters

What cute kids

My kiddos with me

My Valentine!

I made Red Velvet Cupcakes with a cream cheese icing - wow - they were soooo good!

Part of Rebecca's little gift

Julianna got new pink earrings

Christian got some slime and boy stuff!

More Snow!!!!

2011-03-28T16:38:00.030-05:00

So we got even more snow. We've had so much snow that the newness of it has worn off and we're ready for spring.

However this snow was a lot of fun. There was a lot of it and it was packed well and great for playing and sledding. So we took advantage of it.

Our little table on the back porch - that's a lot of snow

Rebecca in our front yard

Our cute little house - in a lot of snow

Heading to the hill for a little sledding

This is a new sled that Matthew bought - Julianna is figuring out how to steer it!

Can you hear the screams??

Fun, fun!

Playing in the snow

Rebecca heads down the hill...

Whoa......

Whoops....

Great picture

Christian attempting to use it as a snowboard

Didn't work out so well

Christian's friend Cameron was over and they were playing together here

Whipping down the hill

Hold on!!!

Somehow they recovered (their faces are so funny)

Rebecca did something to Julianna so she somehow convinced Rebecca to let her get her in her face!

Julianna got her good and you can tell she thought it was funny

We went with Christian and a bunch of his friends to a better hill and hung with them for a while - not sure what's up with Julianna here!

Obviously this was steeper and faster - check Julianna out!

She was FLYING down the hill

She is so cute!

Christian & Cameron again

They'd set up this ramp - this is one of their friends, Brad, who hit it right on - love this picture!

Triangle Fellowships

2011-03-28T16:04:00.008-05:00

We recently started a new thing at church. It was something we did at our previous church in East Tennessee and was very successful so we thought it would be great to try at CCC. It's called Triangle Fellowships. Families sign up to be involved and then they are assigned to be in a Triangle - a group of three families that will meet together once a month for 3 months and just get to know each other. Even though we all attend church together, it's amazing how we really don't know each other. So this is a great tool.

We started our first set in January and went from Jan-March. We had a great group. And we had so much fun! We hosted the first one at our house and we had told everyone beforehand to come up with 2 truths and 1 lie about themselves (including the kids). Then when everyone got to our house, we put all the cards in a bucket and drew them out and read them and tried to guess whose card it was and then which one was the lie. It was so fun.

Our group had 3 families and one single lady. There ended up being 5 Middle School/High Schoolers and Julianna, so the big kids loved it and Julianna hung in there with them. We took a few pictures at some of ours and they were just cute so I thought I'd share them!

Julianna just fell in love with Rick and cuddled all evening with him at our house!

Rebecca & Faith were fixing their plates - we served Frito Pie & it was YUMMY!

This is the group of kids in our Triangle. The 2 girls on the ends are Faith & Hope. Their family is new to the church so it was great for them to get to know our kids and Madisyn through these 3 months.

Here we are - Rick & Rachel Shear, Matt & Katie and Marjorie & Mark Jarrett! Such sweet couples

This is a group shot, which includes Dana Ashley (who couldn't make our first one). This was hosted by the Jarretts and they live so far out that the rest of us loaded into the church van and went out there together. It was a great time and we were all a bit sad knowing this will only last for 3 months, however I know the friendships will last forever!

Snow!

2011-03-26T20:52:00.017-05:00

We got a pretty good snow fall in January. Julianna's friend Connor came over and spent the day with us. His grandmother was in the hospital and his Mom needed some help. We were glad she asked us. They have been friends since they were 1 and in Mother's Day Out together but they go to different preschools this year, so they don't see each other as much.

Here's our house!

The back porch

Julianna and Connor played the Wii together for a while before we went outside

But then it was time to go and play

Unfortunately there's not much of a hill in our yard but Connor sure tried to slide through the yard

What a cutie!

Having fun!

The trampoline was covered in snow so Rebecca got out there with them and bounced them around!

I think this was after she went down the slide. Silly (and cold!) Rebecca

Such good friends!

Christian's friend Cameron was over spending the night so they got out and played and built snow walls with the kids

Rebecca and these 2 filled up the wagon with snow and then Rebecca pulled them around.

Once we came back in and got warmed up, they pulled out all the stuffed animals and were having "Webkinz Wars" (notice Connor's face - not sure he wanted me to take a picture of it!)

And of course the afternoon ended with Popcorn and a movie!!

Girlfriends Weekend 2011

2011-03-26T19:58:00.015-05:00

For many years now, my closest 5 girlfriends from Bryan College and I have had the opportunity to get together at least once a year. Words can hardly convey what this means to me. These are the kinds of friends where you can go months without ever communicating and yet when you do, things are picked up like you didn't skip a beat. I'm finding these friendships are more rare as you get older so I highly value these girls.

We went to the lake house again this year. We had lots of discussions of doing something different and big since in 2010, we all turned 40. However life took over and we gave up and landed at the lake again. Although I don't think anyone really minded when we stayed in all weekend and lounged in our jammies and watched movies and ate popcorn and caught up with each other!!!

We didn't do anything exciting enough to even get our cameras out other than the "have to" pictures of us. Here's one of my favorites!

Sheri, Susan & Katie
Marcy, Kim & Laura

Another good one of the 6 of us.

Susan took this of us and I really liked it so I posted it (sorry Marcy!) :-)

Susan brought sweet little Kinsey Arielle with her. She was just weeks old and we adored her.

So we have to set the camera on a time to get the shots of the 6 of us. While trying to place the camera, I couldn't help but snap a few of my "homies"

We discovered that you could set it up for up to 10 automatic shots so we took advantage. Alright girls....hands on your hips!

Gangster poses!!

Charlie's Angels!

Sexy???

We were just hee-hawing by the end - so funny!

Then we tried it again at a different location - I think this was a "switch from the front to the back" pose!

More fun!

I loves girls with all my heart and am so thankful for their friendships.

Family Picture - January, 2011

2011-02-07T22:17:00.004-06:00

A couple of years ago, I started a digital scrapbook. I did a book for our family for the year. I didn't have a single family picture until Easter that year and that frustrated me since I wanted to start the book with our picture. So since then, I've insisted on a family picture taken each January...... so here it is - our 2011 Family picture!

Rebecca's first Pedicure

2011-01-29T08:00:00.000-06:00

A sweet friend of mine gave me a card this summer with a gift certificate for a pedicure. I kept putting it off, not finding the right time to use it. Well, it expired in December, so on December 31st, I took Rebecca with me and we both got pedicures. It was fun, but I don't think it was quite what she expected.

Rebecca actually didn't like the massaging chairs. I, on the other hand, loved it, but I guess she doesn't have the same old worn out muscles that her mother does!

She didn't like how long she had to wait for the toes to dry, but she did like the cool little flip flops!

Beautiful Mom & Daughter Toes!!

Pampering Party

2011-01-28T08:00:00.000-06:00

Julianna was invited to a special birthday party with a friend she used to be in Mother's Day Out with. Faith invited 3 special friends to go have a Pampered afternoon - actually, it was a surprise to Faith done by her Aunt. The girls had manicures, pedicures, massages and makeovers. They had a fun time. I had to post some of Julianna's first mani/pedi pictures!

Julianna's pedicure!

Not so sure about the color she picked though.......

A make over!

Beautiful!

Manicure Time

The massage - when asked, THIS was her favorite part - she went back a few times!

Enjoying cupcakes

The birthday attendees

Wanna bet Julianna had something to do with this Silly picture?!?

Fun in the Snow

2011-01-26T21:10:00.027-06:00

We've had a lot of snow here in Tennessee already this year. I did get any pictures during the first couple of them, but we woke up to a couple of inches one Monday morning and schools were canceled. Our neighbors to the south (in Nashville and below) got a lot more than we did but we enjoyed the little we got.

We have friends from church who live close by and have a pretty nice slope in their back yard so we piled into the car and carefully headed over to there house. We were only there an hour or so but we had a blast!!

My girls walking back up the hill

Going down again

Cameron - one of the Lewis boys

Braden, their oldest - I think he was going to throw something at someone!

My girls got quite creatie on this tube!

Whoops - they got turned around!

Colton - the youngest Lewis boy!

And the Mommy - Heather!!!

Rebecca! Watch out for that pipe!!!!

Crash!

And Harrison - the 2nd of the 4 boys!

Christian

Even Matt a little fun with the rest of the kids!

Okay - girls, now watch out for that tree!

Whoops (again) - I'm not so confident in Rebecca's ability to drive or navigate this tube!

Look at those cold, red cheeks!

Fun with Daddy

Whoo-hoo!

The Lewis's got this Zipee for Christmas! Man, it was fun & fast!

SSSSCCCCRRREEEAAAMMMMM!!

So sweet

Building a snow fort

Mama's turn - not so sure!

Wheeeee!!!

Christmas with the Paynes

2011-01-26T14:47:00.022-06:00

We were able to go spend a couple of days with my family in Leiper's Fork. Unfortunately, my youngest sister, Rachel and her family were not here - Washington State is just tooo far away. Justin & his family made it from Memphis so we had a fun time together for a couple of days.

Pops playing Santa - Santa was trying to stir up the hornets nest here, trying to figure out "how" we were going to open gifts - he likes the wild and crazy and madness.....then afterward, he quietly slips to a corner and slowly and calmly opens his. We had a bit of a compromise this year!

Uncle Tim and the little girls anxiously waiting!

More kids waiting!

Ruth & Julianna

Aunt Mandy is awesome - she painted each of the kids these awesome pictures for their rooms. As you can tell, the kids were so thrilled!!

We brought the game Quelf. While some of the little kids were napping, I grabbed a group to play with me. The funny thing about this game is that the people watching laugh as much as those of us playing. It only ended up being Mandy, Anna Blair, Rebecca and me playing, although we had some spectators that were quite active in the game (JUSTIN!). This is the craziest game and so much fun..... see below for pictures!

Rebecca had to keep her thumbs in her mouth and her hands on her shoulders until it was her turn (or until another action card was drawn). She was not so happy, yet Caleb seems entertained by her!

Anna Blair had to lick this piece of paper and stick it to her forehead and keep it there until the time ran out or pay the penalty! She did great with her licking and paid no penalty!

Mandy the artist got this one -I had to draw 5 different shapes and some lines on a paper and she had to draw an illustration for a children's book and I think tell the story - she's quite proud!

I had to be a human pretzel here - there were many instructions on whose ankle, shoulder and knee I had to touch - not comfortable.....but awfully funny!

I believe Mandy may be speaking in her best ganster rap here!!

Caleb & Christian

Justin & Mandy

Uncle Matthew reads Josiah a book.

Sweet Lydia!

Justin & Mandy were playing Christian's new game, Loopz

Christian & James

2011-01-26T13:22:00.009-06:00

My next blog should be about our Christmas celebration with my family. However, my sister beat me to the blog with MY pictures so I was going through mine and trying to find what I was going to put on there. I ran across these of my nephew, James and Christian. There seemed to be a hat theme so I thought I'd post them. They're awfully cute!

This is James. He's my brother, Justin's son. He is 1 1/2 here.

This is Mandy, Justin's wife with James. He wasn't so sure about his new winter hat.

Not so sure, here, about the Dallas Cowboys helmet, either

Helping Christian with his hat!

Christian showing James the phones - I love how he's looking at Christian

Hello???

And finally, with the reindeer ears! So cute!

Sweet Tooth

2011-01-26T13:13:00.002-06:00

This is a picture of the sweets we had in our house the week of Christmas. I had my annual cookie swap but we had a lot of goodies shared with us from friends and neighbors. Needless to say, we were not lacking in the area of sweets this year!

A Christmas Visit from the Warrens

2011-01-19T08:00:00.000-06:00

We had a very busy schedule during the holiday, especially due to how Christmas fell around Christmas. We were so excited to hear that Matthew's parents, Grumps & Gigi, were going to come up on Christmas afternoon. The weather made things a bit complicated and once they arrived, we found out they were going to head back to Chattanooga that evening, so it was definitely a shortened visit. But we took advantage of every moment and thoroughly enjoyed our time with them.

Julianna was very eager to open some gifts - can you tell?

Christian got an upgrade to his Ipod touch - he was thrilled!

LOVE this picture - Julianna loved what she was given and jumped up and threw herself at Gigi!

Rebecca got the pretties Vera Bradley backpack purse!

Rebecca modeling her new night gown, robe & slippers

Julianna modeling this darling dachshund outfit with match purse and a tu-tu. Gigi even painted the hair on the girl on the shirt blond to match Julianna's hair.

Playing one of Julianna's new games

Awesome picture

And of course the silly picture

We broke out the china for a nice manicotti dinner - it was a bit rushed and there were a few things missing (bread) but it turned out nice.

Thank you Grumps & Gigi for the special Christmas visit.

Christmas Day

2011-01-18T08:00:00.000-06:00

We had a wonderful Christmas Day. Sweet Julianna slept in until 7:45am, although the big kids had been up since 2:30am!!! Christian walked through the den to go to the bathroom and found Rebecca playing with her ipod on the couch. They texted each other for a while from different rooms, then got together and waited what seemed FOREVER for Julianna to get up. They are so funny!

Love this picture - sleepy heads yet very excited!

Big kids got pillow pets & phones from Santa and Julianna got a Fur Real puppy that walks on a leash!!

Julianna got Maggie a chew bone and as you can see - she was sooo excited (Maggie that is)

Julianna has outgrown her Dora hooded towel (according to her) and asked for a big girl towel. My sweet friend, Melanie whipped this out for me and even delivered it to me the week of Christmas. Can you tell she loved it?

Christian loved his Perry the Platypus shirt!

Love Rebecca's Muggle shirt from Harry Potter - so does she!

Christian is reenacting a scene from one of our favorite Christmas movie - Arthur's Perfect Christmas - the little sister DW is ready to open presents and Arthur has to run up to his room for something - DW is shaking and all, just waiting - too funny!

Sweet Julianna had a Santa Shop at school and got to pick out gifts for each of us. She did a great job picking things out and was so proud of herself. A side note here - when I asked her if she'd tell me what she got Daddy, she made me promise not to tell him. Then she tried to explain and said this: "You know if Daddy goes to his office and cries, then he can use them." What??? "Well, if he has a runny nose and needs to blow snot in it, he can use it." "OHHH - you mean a handkerchief??" "Yeah, that's it!" :-)

Christian got some Army men

Rebecca got a cat calendar

And I got a wonderful note pad for my grocery list to put on the fridge!

I used a number system this year with gifts and just put a number on them so they wouldn't have any idea whose box was whose. When they helped me label them - Christian decorated his own box. So when he opened it, he showed it to me.

Very proud of his Perry the Platypus flatbill hat.

Christian loved his Auburn Snuggie

Our traditional breakfast - but with the silly pose

Enjoying Christmas

My sweet Rebecca in her new Georgia shirt!

Visit from Santa

2011-01-17T08:00:00.000-06:00

We had a really nice Christmas Eve service at church on Friday night. Afterward, we came home and had a yummy dinner of Chili and then watched our traditional "Arthur's Perfect Christmas".

Then it was time for Julianna to feed the reindeer, place the cookies out for Santa, and go to bed. Then we wait patiently to see if Santa comes....

See the snow on the ground??? She is sprinkling her oats with glitter so the reindeer with see from the sky and visit us.

Julianna with the cookies!

Christian must have gotten a little nervous near the end because he put this note out for Santa!

Looks like Santa came for Julianna. Plenty of Polly Pockets & Strawberry Shortcake!

Hmmm... Seems Christian didn't get coal afterall.

Surprise!

Wow - we were 3 for 3 with Santa visits!

An even bigger surprise!

Thanks, Santa!!

Preschool Christmas Party

2011-01-16T08:00:00.000-06:00

I got the opportunity to be a chaperone at Julianna's preschool party at school. It is fun to be able to do this. It's great to meet her friends and see her interaction with everyone.

I led the pink group around so I got to be with this great group of kids

Glue & glitter on pine cones - they turned out really pretty

A Christmas frame

Julianna with Katie & Makenzie

Fun on the jumpy!

This picture cracks me up - Julianna and Matthew crashing

Bean bag toss

Makenzie, Julianna & Hannah - such sweet girls

Ms. Christy helps with the finishing for goody bags

Sign Language Program

2011-01-15T08:00:00.000-06:00

Some of the children at church performed Silent Night in sign language during the Sunday morning worship. Some of the older preschoolers were invited to perform and practice on Wednesday nights with them. Julianna was involved and did SUCH a great job! We were so proud of her.

She's growing up so fast!

Winter Formal

2011-01-14T08:00:00.000-06:00

The 7th & 8th grader from the middle school were invited to a Winter Formal. It is put on by the High School Student Council as a fundraiser and they have it prior to the high school's formal. So Christian got the opportunity to go.

He asked one of his friends, Cassidy to go with him. Her family asked us to come pick her up so they could get pictures taken together. Then we drove them there and dropped them off. We enjoyed the ride with Cassidy - she is a very sweet girl.

Christian found this Christmas tie that played Jingle Bells (made me think of my Papa Payne)

What handsome guy!

Christian & Cassidy

Christian's M.S. Basketball Season

2011-01-13T08:00:00.001-06:00

Christian made the basketball team again this year. It's been a bit of an unusual year with quite a few cancellations due to weather, but we had our camera at one of the games at a different gym that has better lighting than ours.

This is at our gym - love seeing his name on the wall! :-)

About to warm up

Passing the ball

Rebounding the ball

I'll probably have more pictures later in the season! Just wanted to share these now.

A Little bit of Bah-Humbug

2011-01-12T08:00:00.000-06:00

We have been so busy that it was a bit difficult to get into the Christmas spirit this year. After Julianna's preschool Christmas program, we told the kids we would decorate the house and put up the tree. Typically, this goes smoothly but for some reason this year, we had some light issues. It brought back TONS of memories of my parents not-so-patiently fighting with the tree lights while my siblings and I are chomping at the bit waiting to put the ornaments on. It wasn't quite that bad for us, but it was a bit frustrating for Matthew. He's ready for a pre-lit tree!

We finally got it up and lost a bit of the bah-humbugish attitude and began to get excited for the holiday spirit.

Trying to find that darn bulb.......

Julianna's job was to set up the Veggie Tales Nativity

Christian and Rebecca worked together to set up the Willow Tree Nativity Scene. Since we have the piano this year, we got to put it in a new location.

One of the kids captured our discussion about the lights!

We gave the kids the opportunity to watch one of the Veggie Tales Christmas while we finished up the lights and got the rest of the decorations out of the attic

What do you know if it wasn't snowing while we were decorating. That was pretty cool!

Pretty

Tree decorated and getting an ice cream reward!

Julianna's Preschool Christmas Program

2011-01-11T08:00:00.000-06:00

This is Ms. Kim & Ms. Christy - Julianna ADORES these two ladies, who are her preschool teachers!

Julianna was one of about 5 or 6 kids who had a speaking part in the preschool Christmas Program. Here she is saying, "For Unto Us a Son is Given."

"The Little Lord Jesus asleep on the hay."

Loved being on stage - she practiced & practiced her songs and still sings them. We have a video of the whole performance but didn't think you really wanted to see the whole thing. We'll at least make the Grandparents watch it!

Santa!!!

2011-01-09T18:35:00.003-06:00

At Julianna's school Christmas program, they had Santa come for pictures. How Awesome is this???

Fun times with Family

2011-01-09T08:00:00.000-06:00

We had a lot of fun at the lake during the Thanksgiving weekend. We had nice weather so the kids were in and out a lot and the guys did a lot of raking and blowing and burning leaves. I got a lot of funny people picture this year - not sure why but they're too fun not to share!

Madeline puts her Daddy's hair in a pig tail!

We have some very talented Warrens

See? More talented Warrens...

Christian & Mitch run the go-kart through the pile of leaves

"That was fun!"

Christian sporting his new Auburn shirt!

Rebecca and Julianna take a turn on the go-kart

Beautiful Blakesly - who by the way has turned 15 and found many excuses to need to go to the local Wal-Mart so she could drive!

Oh look - another talented Warren

Mary Harper & Julianna enjoy a bath together

Julianna training the younger Warrens on how to make a silly picture!

Gigi brought Gingerbread houses to help the kids keep occupied

Mary Harper enjoys eating the candy

These goofy boys rode with us to Walmart and Christian spent his quarters to buy facial hair from a gumball machine

Julianna sporting the Batmat mask

Mary Harper is very selective in her friends and it often takes a while to "break in" with her. Uncle Matthew worked hard and finally found the key to his friendship was playing Barbies with her!

Christian came in from outside and had no idea he had this leaf behind his ear - those leaves were everywhere!

Sunset at the lake

Another beautiful picture

The Dad's

There were plenty of games played this weekend - the favorite being Quelf but then we moved to Apples to Apples and had a fun time.

Christian showing off his guns

Rebecca and Aunt Crissy having fun

These 2 boys are so funny when they get together - being creative with their Georgia Tech pj's

Thanksgiving Lunch

2011-01-07T16:08:00.017-06:00

For Thanksgiving, we met the Warren Clan at the lake house again. We had really nice weather and got to spend some time outside.

As the girls were finished setting the table and about to place the food on it, we looked outside and saw the beautiful sun's reflection on the lake and beautiful warm temperatures so we decided to ask the men to move the table outside and enjoy our lunch on the lawn. The guys weren't too thrilled about it but obliged without too much complaint.

We ended up with some really pretty pictures and a great time and many memories were made that day.

We even moved the kid's table outside, too

The adult table

The sun kept coming in and out from behind the clouds

Blakesly sits at the adult table but may be wondering here by Uncle Brett gets to!

Matthew & Katie

These kids had gone on an adventure walk and came back with all sorts of treasures from the lake

Done with lunch - visiting around the table

Aunt Michelle & Lydian

We found a lizard that provided some after dinner entertainment for all

It jumped onto Gigi's Back - she handled it very well!

Okay - enough pictures!!!!