African Tribal Dancing...Kentucky Style!!

Our new favorite song from an old CD is "By and By" from Selah's Greatest Hymns. It is an English song that is sung (is that correct grammar??) in Kituba, which apparently is a creole based language widely used in Central Africa. (Yeah. I googled it.) The boys want to listen to it over and over and over and over...

I asked Charlie if it reminded him of something he heard in Ethiopia, but I guess Amharic and Kituba don't sound the same.


Today they got to dancing and being really silly with their buddy Emma, so I had to document. I'm not really sure what Charlie is doing with his cape, eyes closed and hands raised, but it's pretty stinkin' hilarious in person! I promise I'm not raising some charismatic crazy...he came to us like this! :)

NOTE: The whole song is on here, but once you have seen about 30 seconds of it, you have seen it all...they just kept dancing! And you will need to turn your volume all the way up to get the full African effect!!

Birmingham

The boys and I randomly took off for Birmingham for a few days last week. Honestly, it's way easier to do it this way than tackling the madness of the holidays. But we have fun either way!


The boy's had fun helping Papa wash his truck (in the rain, might I add...what a Papa will do for his grandkids!), we rode our bikes everywhere we went (including a wild ride by Sam down a rather steep driveway), experienced our first tornado (fortunately, Charlie slept through it since we had scared him to death trying to explain what a tornado was), cousin Tristan chased Sam relentlessly and we found a new love in beating each other with foam swords from great-grandmother, Honey.

Growin' Farm Boys

These boys seriously love anything with wheels...cars, trucks, trains, bikes, tractors, motorcycles...so, they were ecstatic to learn that Dwayne had broken out Grandpa's John Deere to give them a ride the other day. And that the power wheels had been broken out of storage now that the weather is warmer! (Notice the death grip Sam has on Dwayne...and if he had two more hands, they would have been covering his ears!)



And don't worry, we let Charlie ride the big tractor...he actually got to "drive and park" the tractor back in the barn...


Sidebar :: Emma explained to Charlie the other day that he could make a wish by blowing on a fuzzy dandelion and he could wish for anything he wanted and, in doing so, implying to him that his wish would most definitely come true. Needless to say, I had to explain what a wish was, that they don't always come true, and NO...he couldn't have a motorcycle! He was very disappointed, to say the least!

Bike Ridin' Boys!

Once again the detriments of having a girl as your best friend...when you are learning to ride a bike, it's likely to be pink!

We bought Charlie a bike (a red one) soon after they came home, but even though we bought what he needed based on his height, it was just too tall for his skinny like legs to handle. He couldn't keep the thing upright, even with training wheels. And Sam really just preferred to push his bike around.

Now, given a couple of months and some practice, Charlie is riding a bike just a little smaller (a pink one) and barely using the help of the training wheels and Sam is mastering the whole pedaling thing pretty well.



The annoying squeaking sound you hear throughout the video is Charlie's impression of Curious George. He makes that sound ALL THE TIME. Can you tell it's not my favorite thing he does?





Now, if we could just learn to use the brakes, instead of running into each other to stop...

UPDATE: Before I even got the chance to post this, the traning wheels were removed and we now have a full fledged bike rider! He is so proud of himself, to say the least...

Bedtime Prayers

I don't remember the circumstances surrounding it, but at some point over the last few months, we taught the boys the "God is good" prayer. I think they were feeling a little left out when Kenny or I would pray at meal times or at bedtime and they wanted to join in. Now, it is imperative that I remember who prayed at the last meal, so that everyone gets equal turns to pray throughout the day. (I just hope they always have this same eagerness towards prayer!)

Occasionally, Sam will ask to pray during our bedtime prayers as well. He will recite his prayer, followed by Charlie laughing at him because he just prayed for food and we are clearly not eating!

Last night, they both wanted to pray. So, Kenny started and when he finished told Charlie it was his turn...

"God is good. God is great. Let us thank him, for our...sleep!"

My first thought was that is really cute...he prayed for sleep. Then it hit me that maybe he is slowly grasping that we thank God for things we are thankful for...I asked him what other things he wanted to thank God for. He said food (of course!) and after very little prompting, he also said Mommy, Daddy and Sam.

Now, if I could just get them to enjoy that "sleep" until about 9 AM or so, I would be super-thankful!!

"Baycation" in the Woods

Last week for Spring Break, we took off to a little cabin in the woods in Townsend, TN with our good friends, the Jolly's. I love the mountains...and can now honestly say, I have no reason to ever stay IN Gatlinburg again! The only reason I need to go to Gatlinburg is for the outlets (which we did one day). Other than that, I would rather avoid the over-crowded, Panama-City-in-the-woods type atmosphere provided by Gatlinburg and Pigeon Forge. Townsend is about 25 minutes from Pigeon Forge and is the perfect place to be close to the state park and just close enough to all the action if you feel the need to be over stimulated. (We also did that one day when we went to Dollywood. I don't think I'm ready for the whole Disney thing yet...although we did have fun on the one day of the week they threatened to close the gates due to being over capacity!)

I think my favorite day was when we went into Cades Cove and just let the kids play in the water at one of the creeks. The kids loved it and it was way cheaper that the roller coasters!

And we hit up several state parks...yeah, you can call us nerds. On the way down, we stopped at Cumberland Falls State Park. Hit up the Great Smoky Mountain National Park while in Townsend and the adventurous side in us all came out when we were looking for a place to have a picnic lunch on the way home and I found Cove Lake State Park just off of I-75 before you get to the Kentucky state line. (Don't leave the house without your atlas! Who needs a GPS when you have a well-worn 2005 United States Atlas from Walmart??) We knew nothing about the place, just decided to stop...and we found a great little place with a playground, picnicing areas and lots of ducks!

Here's some (ok, a lot!) of my favorite pictures... And if you are a grandparent (or any other obsessed fan) and desire to see all 333 pictures that were taken last week, you can do that HERE. Enjoy!


That's Cumberland Falls behind us. And Charlie thinks it's raining...


Showing the kids that the water wasn't that cold. Except it really was. And you see that black area...yeah, when you step on that, you just sink. Could have been a really, really funny picture...


Safety first. Don't want anyone falling in!


He stood here for a while trying to decide if he wanted to cross this fallen tree to the other side...


...Until this happened, and he couldn't be outdone by Sam!!


So, we all crossed together! Well, all except Nicole who was still thinking one of us was gonna fall and crack our skull on the rocks below and refused to join us. I kinda thought that too, but I kept my freak out on the inside...










Finally ventured out into the deeper water. And this was right before he had a panic attack when he realized he was a little too far away from Mommy...Don't worry. Emma saved him!


















Could you find any four cuter kids??


Our chauffers, packers, grillers, navigators, protector from bears, superduper dads! And the one on the right is lookin' pretty good!! No offense, Dwayne...


Our "1978 Senior Picture" picture. Officially. Dorks.

I'm tired.

Just returned from vacationing with BFF's The Jolly Family in the Great Smoky Mountains. More fun pictures like this to come soon...

Silly, silly boys!

Daddy and Sam being really, really SILLY! But then again, it doesn't take much to make this goofball laugh...



Some explanation...they are actually blowing on each other. But to blow really hard, you apparently must open your mouth really big first, in order to get maximum force behind the blow. And to think we spend money on toys, when this is all it really takes...

Eggs. Or the lack thereof.

In lieu of dying eggs with the boys (which I could only imagine would end up making a tremendous mess), we made Rice Krispie Easter Egg Dipper Treats. Couple drippy, melted chocolate with mounds of Rice Krispies and sprinkles and we probably had a similarly sized mess, but we had fun and that's all that matters, right? (If you attempt this, please see notes at the bottom on how to make it work better.) I know you have seen the commercial with the mom and her two kids making these. I'm not sure how they were so huggy and happy while they did this because we were a mess.


Charlie dipping the first one. I know it's the first one because all the sprinkles are still in the bowl here. Sam is still contemplating whether he wants to be involved or if he would just rather go back to playing with his Thomas.


Charlie trying it out...(excuse the towels in the background, but a girls gotta get the laundry done at some point!)


Sam trying it out and showing us how it looks plastered to his teeth.


The finished product delicately placed in it's very own green "grass".

And we opted for the Easter Bunny to visit a little early since Sunday mornings around here are never a good time to enter extracurricular activities. Especially ones that include fun new things that must be played with. We do good to eat and get dressed.


And this is when my camera died. And I can't find my charger. So it may be cell phone pics for the next foreseeable future...

NOTE: Rice Krispie treat are really, really sticky. And therefore not conducive to being shaped into little eggs. Spray your hands with a little cooking spray prior to diving in and save yourself some headache. And after shaping the eggs, stick them in the fridge while you are melting your chocolate and that way they don't fall apart when they are handed over to a 3-year-old. I also used a muffin tin to help hold up the finished product while we waited on the chocolate to "dry".

On the hunt...

Charlie is very competitive. Very. And even though this was our first Easter Egg Hunt, he was serious about collecting these eggs and making sure he got the most. I could barely keep him in the door while the daddies hid the eggs in the back yard...And he was appalled that I told him to save the easy to find eggs for the little kids!! How could he ever "win" if he passed up eggs??!!


Sam was just happy to find anything...Easter egg, a sock, dog toys, chewed up baseball, a used ring pop...it all went in his basket. Our friend Jimmy, on the other hand, picked up the eggs, took out the candy and discarded the egg. While Charlie followed in his footsteps and picked up the eggs, thinking he was hitting the jackpot. That's a preacher's kid for 'ya!




But I would like to speak to whoever put the noise makers in the eggs...I have something to return to your house!!

He is RISEN!!

He is not here; he has risen! Remember how he told you, while he was still with you in Galilee: "The Son of Man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men, be crucified and on the third day be raised again." Then they remembered his words. Luke 24:6-8

An averted disaster

Call me crazy. Call me mean. But Friday, I scheduled portraits for the boys and dentist appointments in the same day. And during nap time. No, this wasn't a rookie mom mistake. It was a calculated and well thought out plan. Bottom line...Daddy was off work. Which meant it was an even match, instead of an out numbered Mommy.


(Yes. I took a picture of a picture. I was too cheap to buy the CD.)

The pictures turned out great!! We had some individual and family shots done back in November, but I really wanted some of them together. We tried the togetherness in November, but our English wasn't good enough to know what, "Stand next to Sam and act like you like each other!" meant. This time around, Charlie actually told me he had fun getting his picture taken. Believe me, I will remind him of that in the future!


I don't know how normal 3-year-olds handle the dentist, but this one is a trooper. Besides being a little wiggly (ok, a lot wiggly), he sat there with his mouth wide open while the hygienist did her business. (His head was being still, it was the rest of him that just couldn't stop moving.) He was good as long as he could hold his new "brush your teeth". Translation: toothbrush. "Sam hold your brush your teeth."

This was our 2nd trip to the dentist. Both the boys did a spectacular job and now we are sporting new flashing toothbrushes to let us know how long to brush. It's really the little things in life that cause pure joy for a child...

So, disaster averted. With some cleverly placed gum, cheeseburgers and cookies, all went smoothly. (No, I'm not above rewarding--some may call it bribing--my kids for their good behavior.) And thanks Daddy, for spending a beautiful day coaxing smiles all day!!