noodling

The boys watched a show on PBS the other day about noodling where men go and catch these huge catfish with their hands. Carter is now officially obsessed with it and even knows in which states it is legal. He is convinced that I am going to take him one day - never mind the men's reports of loss of fingers....
So, this morning, the boys are playing "noodling" with their stuffed animals and hanging their catch from the bunk beds. Laurel is occupied with a baby Einstein video and I actually showered without someone peeping in the shower to watch me or ask me for a drink, snack, to cut something....
The past few days I have been really hurting in my lower back. So it's been a lot of nothing around here except for me sitting down. Davis has had to pick up my slack and it couldn't have come at a worse time since he is really busy at work right now. Today is a much better day though and hopefully the rain will stay away so we can hit the pool later.
Monday is John Michael's kindergarten testing and Friday is the orientation. School is only one week away. Yuck~ I am so not ready......

Good morning!

Since everyone has been so sweet this morning, I have rewarded them by making them a sweet treat of funny cakes aka funnel cakes. Laurel especially loved them! There is powdered sugar all over my kitchen!

Go stars!

Today we went to the pool for a little while after school supply shopping. I tell you, the boys each have a huge long list of supplies needed, so I have to shop around for various deals. Today, we went to Staples and bought new backpacks and will get the full amount rewarded to us in staples rewards. And they were half off! Last year, Carter went through 3, yes 3, backpacks. He yanks them off the hook and when he can't hang them up, they have to get a new one. What a mess! Tonight, we went to see our minor league baseball team play, the Stars. It was "tools for schools" night so we brought school supplies in exchange for tickets - much much cheaper! They all had a blast - even Laurel. Davis spent the entire night teaching them about baseball rules. Trust me, I think I have the only boys who know the rules as intimately as a major league umpire!
I don't know what tomorrow will bring us. I think we might do a little shoe shopping and we all need socks. Sounds exciting, right? We definitely have to mow. I could lose Laurel in the backyard right now. Probably we will grill out. Just a lazy kind of day I hope!

Passing the days....

We have discovered... or more accurately I should say Carter has discovered that he can print out coloring pictures on the computer. Needless to say, we have gone through about two pounds of paper in a few short days! Last night we made tacos and went for a long bike ride. It was nice except John Michael has a tendency to just hop off the bike in the middle of the road whenever a car is anyway near him - whether parked or moving. It makes for a nervous mother! I have yet to take the three children out on my own on the roads for a ride yet, although school starts in just two weeks and I really need to practice with them.
Davis has also been working on my piece of crap car but it always seems to be something with it lately! One day I will have money and be able to buy a car that doesn't periodically stop whenever it feels like it or squeal for no reason. That is my mantra!
The boys are going with Wa Wa today to the movies so it is just Laurel and I again for a little while. What to do? Hopefully, the girl will nap and I can finish my novel - Life Sentences - which I am thoroughly enjoying and really don't want to put down. Maybe we might hit the pool as well.... since it is supposed to rain next week! Agh!!!
Some of the pictures are from our trip to the park the other day. Laurel loves to swing so much, but there were about eight thousand children there so we had to cut it short. I couldn't watch them all by myself and keep good track of them in that space.

Might as well Jump!

One of our favorite night time activities is to jump on the trampoline. The boys like us to bounce them high and Laurel laughs so hard. She is one tough little cookie. Tougher than any of the boys ever were (or are!) A lot of the time, the crazy cat will also join us. Here are a couple pictures and videos from last night's jumpfest. It was a perfect night.

Football camp

About a month ago I signed Carter up for a free football camp put on by Amobi Okoye who graduated from school here and now plays for Dallas. A friend of Carter's also signed up and so we picked him up this morning and took off for the stadium. I thought it would super crowded since it was free, lunch included, and they had registrations all over the city. But there were only like 150 children there and about three hundred adult volunteers! So anyway, I am dropping off Carter and hear them divide them into ago groups and one of the groups was 5-7. I went by the sign in table and asked about that since I was under the impression you had to be at least 8 to attend. But they changed it so I asked little man if he wanted to go. He smiled from ear to ear and was super excited! And, as hesitant as I was to leave him in that mass chaos of men, I left and took Laurel home for a little while. When I went to pick them up, I had three boys who were exhausted and hungry. SO HUNGRY! We then headed to the pool and they swam like mad. Now it is time for a few video games and then supper. I bet everyone sleeps hard tonight.

Summer is closing in on me!

I am lamenting today because we only have four weeks until school starts again! That's nothing! I can not believe that this summer has flown by so fast. We are not prepared to begin again because then, before I know it, Christmas will be here. I don't even want to think about it!
I haven't posted in a while but we really haven't done anything noteworthy. We went to Lowe's last Saturday and built treasure chests. I thought they were going to lead us in a step by step exercise but it was just a free for all really. Thankfully, Carter is a master direction reader and did his all on his own. John Michael needed help and doing that while holding a screaming baby was a real challenge!
Last night we went to the Sauta Cave to see the grey bats. It is a nursery cave so in July and August, it is really amazing. There are just hundreds of thousands of bats. Carter likes it because there is a stream next to it and he catches frogs and lizards and crawdaddies. You can walk right up to the mouth of the cave and it is so cool * you know caves are a constant 68 degrees.* They just had so much fun there!
John Michael got a little courageous yesterday and started playing gator in the pool with the big boys. That is all he is talking about today! How they didn't even catch him. He just attracts all sorts of friends and they just all adore him. I think it is because he is so easy going and likable.
Laurel has been waking up extremely early as of late and it is making me tired. I can handle the lack of sleep, it is the get right-to-itness that makes it a rough start to the day.
Carter went fishing with my father and talked about bass for the next two days. He absolutely loves to fish more than anyone I know, and I think that also includes my father! He had the best time because, not only did he get to fish, he got to be alone without his siblings. He needed it! Everyone likes a little attention to themselves once and a while.
And we have soccer sign ups this week! Ugh! Davis is once again soccer coordinator so it will be busy, busy!

Happy birthday John Michael!

Can you believe this funny little boy is already five? It amazes me how time flies and can stay still all at once. I am also amazed and blessed that this creature is in my life. I can not imagine anyone more special and sweet and so freaking cute than him. Today we went to the pool and had a big putt putt party after dinner at the chinese place. It was a huge hit and he had TONS of fun! Now we are going through all of his new presents and opening everything. There is junk all over the house and little lego pieces as well. He has also wrapped a beach towel that he received around his shoulders. It makes for a nice picture. Personally, I would like him to stay this age forever. He is just so loving and kind, generous with everyone and makes me want to weep with gratitude that I know him. How lucky can one person be?

Florida or Bust!

Since Davis has a brand new job that pays him for having holidays off now, we decided to go to Florida to pick up Carter and John Michael. We left after he got off work on Thursday and headed out. Not even 30 minutes away from the house, the car made a horrible noise! Our serpentine belt had snapped. We limped our way off and put on a new one. Got back on the interstate, and Snap! AGAIN! So we limped off again and then not even a few minutes after we were sitting there, KABOOM! Our radiator had cracked. Hence the tow truck and subsequent hundreds of dollars spent on fixing all of this junk. But that didn't stop our journey! We arrived in Florida around 4 the next morning, but were woken up with sweet hugs and kisses! I missed those boys something fierce!
We swam hard and played hard. We let the boys shoot off fireworks for the first time on the beach and we enjoyed watching the fishermen bring their catch in. One day, I promised Carter, we will take him on a boat to go fishing. We fished every day and used the casting net all the time as well. We caught a crab and even a few tiny fish in the ocean! John Michael played tons of beach baseball, and we couldn't stretch the daddy far enough. Very relaxing! We made it back last night and found everything the same - which is always a plus.
Since today is John Michael's birthday, we have a BIG day planned of fun with a birthday party to top it off tonight!